Decoration has always been a part of the clothing or fashion scene and no less than in the arena of denim over a century ago. Embroidered and appliqué motifs have a naive simplistic charm randomly positioned across a jacket. For it was jackets that were then mainly used as vehicles for decoration. We also see examples of vintage embellishment where the stitchery has proliferated for its own sake, the jean or jacket becoming a blank canvas for colour and pattern in overworked threads.

Embroidered motifs and applique were and still are used to decorate and make a statement - jeanswear was the clothing sector in which such personalisation proliferated.

Decorations were mostly naive imagery - almost childlike in their simplicity but jeans were also used as a canvas for political statement.