Amazon: Forever in Blue Jeans?

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Shoppers have been able to buy blue jeans through Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) for years, but now they're getting a dedicated virtual storefront.

The leading online retailer is introducing Denim Shop this week, offering free shipping -- and returns -- on premium and classic blue jeans.

VF's (NYSE: VFC) 7 for All Mankind, Quiksilver (NYSE: ZQK), and Liz Claiborne's (NYSE: LIZ) Lucky Brand are featured prominently, but not every upscale player is available. True Religion (Nasdaq: TRLG), for instance, is nowhere to be found.

There are a few interesting things about this week's rollout. For starters, you have to love the timing. We're now just two weeks away from the start of the holiday shopping season. Emphasizing the "free returns" is also bound to be an appealing marketing angle, as gift-buyers fear that they are underestimating the waistlines of holiday overeaters.

It's also intriguing to see that Amazon is simply launching this as a category within Amazon.com. This isn't the same approach it had when it debuted Endless.com two years ago, pitching high-end handbags and accessories through a stand-alone domain name. Between Endless and Gap's (NYSE: GPS) Piperlime, it seemed as if mainstream retailers were launching new sites for high-end wares.

Amazon's purchase of Zappos this year and this week's Denim Shop unveiling show that the e-tailer that made a name for itself selling books, CD, and DVD media also wants to be known for its fashion sense. It's hard to argue against Amazon's strategy as a catchall online retailer, since it has worked out great so far.

Now I just want to know what to do if I get a 404 error while shopping for my 501s.