I wrote a bit of a diatribe about labels once, must dig it out.
Different labels though.
This was about labelling [ithings[/i, not people or philosophies.
I believe it all started with my Mother's Tea, Coffee and Sugar jars that had me puzzled as a kid.
Tea came in 4 ounce packets, sugar came in big two-pound blue bags and coffee came in its own jar anyway but the jars in the kitchen labelled Tea Coffee and Sugar were [iall the same size[/i.
Later, you could get baking dishes labelled with a recipe printed inside it ... yes, [iinside[/i it.

Then later again, you could get a plates with PIZZA written on them ... so that you could find out what you'd just eaten I guess.

It got worse and worse until nowadays you can get jugs with JUG written on them, and Utensils jars with UTENSILS written on them ... like you'd stand looking at it standing there with a balloon whisk and a few wooden spoons sticking out of the top of it, wondering what the contents were until you saw the label "Ah, utensils, that's what they are".

You can get clothes with the label on the outside.
And mandarins with little stickers on saying "Mandarin".

Madness.

I used to wear a blue star on my suit lapel in the 80's. Does that count? They were giving them away in my local wine bar in W1. It was a Newcastle Brown Ale promotion. True. You can tell it was a posh Wine Bar.

If you're talking about suits with labels on the left cuff, they are supposed to be cut off before being worn. Although I have seen any number of people wearing them, including Terry Wogan and the last one was that Chris Jefferies when he appeared at the Levenson enquiry. I put that down to them both being too thick to understand. A proper suit should only have the maker's label inside an inside pocket

Jeans have had labels on the outside since before you and I were born

QED (OP)

I was meaning the sort of thing where the a sweatshirt might have SUPERDRY or ABERCROMBIE & FITCH in huge letters ... where the label has become so much more important than the actual garment that it appears on the outside.
But, yes, your example is a good one.


Hmm, good point, but in general they'd be covered by the belt... except for the identifiable stitching pattern on the rear pockets.

I think you have pointed out where that idea originated.
I'll build that into my general theory on labels.