In 1922, Levi Strauss & Co. added belt loops to its 501 jeans, responding to changing fashion preferences and the practical need for a more secure fit. Previously, jeans were held up by suspenders attached to buttons on the waistband. The addition of belt loops marked a significant design evolution, aligning denim with mainstream menswear and paving the way for the casualization of American dress.

The introduction of belt loops to jeans represented a small but significant shift in the material culture of everyday life, the kind of detail that poets of the Objectivist school, like William Carlos Williams, might have celebrated for its unpretentious practicality. The belt loop, a minor innovation, also symbolized the gradual movement of denim from workwear to leisurewear, a transition that would be chronicled in the social poetry of the 1920s and 1930s. The design change reflected broader cultural shifts toward comfort and informality that poets like Kenneth Fearing explored in their critiques of American consumerism.