Vintage orange tab Bell Bottoms

Fifty years ago, Jimi Hendrix took the stage at the Woodstock Festival in an outfit that would become the epitome of the 1969 style scene. The rock legend pulled off a pair of bell bottoms, a style the Levi’s® brand would capitalize on not long after the crowds returned from the festival.

Levi’s® 646 bell bottoms and 517 boot cut jeans were born in a time of ultimate self-expression. Hippies and others would split the seams of their jeans to widen the leg openings, sewing in panels of contrasting fabric, bandana prints, or denim remnants. The fuller fits could accommodate boots, and wider pant legs added movement and flow — perfect for the street or stage.  

Hendrix’s look was inspired by styles from the famed hippie hot bed, the Haight-Ashbury, located just blocks away from Levi Strauss & Co.’s factory in San Francisco. Hendrix was a frequent customer at Mnasidika, a Haight shop owned by Peggy Caserta from 1965 to 1968.