By Joy Kraft
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Barbara Knott in a C jean jacket and coordinated C jeans, from Chico's, Rookwood Commons. (Enquirer photo) | ZOOM |

The jean jacket galloped onto the fashion front on the backs of Roy Rogers and other cowboys taming TV's prairies in the 1950s.

When childhood fans grew up, went to college and joined the '60s protests, they took their jean jackets along. Now, after a few years in the back of the closet, denim jackets are back in the spotlight, spanning generations as evidenced in Gap's "For Every Generation" ads featuring celebs from Willie Nelson, 69, to Ryan Adams, 28.

Bare-bellied teens and 20-year-olds like their jackets tiny and tight. Fifty- and 60-year-olds veer toward more classic styles with upturned collars, James Dean style. And those in between add sparkle, scarves, lace and fur to wear the jackets everywhere, from the office to the opera - blazer style, nipped at the waist, even skimming the knees.

"Don't leave home without it," Cher Moeller, vice president and national sales manager for Chico's, says about a denim jacket. "I've probably got 20 myself.

JEAN TIPS

• You can't miss with a tee or white shirt underneath. • Use pins and necklaces as accessories. Vest-styles can be held closed with bar pins. • Wear scarves on the outside, under the collar, hanging loose or knotted and wrapped around the neck. • Look for fabrics woven with copper thread or jackets with rhinestone trim, beads and sequins for evening wear. • Pushed-up sleeves and stand-up collars make for a longer, leaner line, especially for the over-30 fans. • Leave the skin-tight fit to the single-digit sizes. • Distressed and worn fabrics should never go to work.

"For a while, it wasn't very hip to wear a jacket with matching jeans, but this year we're seeing more of that," she says. "Wear it with everything."

"It's very versatile," says Catherine Hamilton, owner of SOHO in Hyde Park. "It lends itself to evening, worn with the addition of a rhinestone clip and a fur collar, or you can pair it with riding boots and go to Keeneland."

Donna Wesselman, owner of Bella Donna in Glendale, has simple jean jacket advice: "Wear it with everything."

"Throw it on with leather pants or skirt. Dress it up with a beaded skirt or sequined pants. We have one line - Emma Black - and everything she makes is shown with jean jackets . . . though that look may be a little slow to catch on here.

"I have a denim jacket in the store that's heavily beaded and goes over a strapless denim dress. It's very black-tie."