diff --git a/modules/field/field.module b/modules/field/field.module
index af9e8c8..a0d779b 100644
--- a/modules/field/field.module
+++ b/modules/field/field.module
@@ -1042,6 +1042,10 @@ function template_preprocess_field(&$variables, $hook) {
       $variables['items'][$delta] = $element[$delta];
     }
   }
+  
+  // Pre-compute the maximum delta of an items array to easily implement first 
+  // and last classes.
+  $variables['max_delta'] = count($variables['items']) - 1;  
 
   // Add default CSS classes. Since there can be many fields rendered on a page,
   // save some overhead by calling strtr() directly instead of
@@ -1163,8 +1167,9 @@ function theme_field($variables) {
 
   // Render the items.
   $output .= '<div class="field-items"' . $variables['content_attributes'] . '>';
+  $max_delta = count($variables['items']) - 1;
   foreach ($variables['items'] as $delta => $item) {
-    $classes = 'field-item ' . ($delta % 2 ? 'odd' : 'even');
+    $classes = 'field-item ' . ($delta % 2 ? 'odd' : 'even') . ($delta == 0 ? ' first' : '') . ($delta == $max_delta ? ' last' : '');
     $output .= '<div class="' . $classes . '"' . $variables['item_attributes'][$delta] . '>' . drupal_render($item) . '</div>';
   }
   $output .= '</div>';
diff --git a/modules/field/theme/field.tpl.php b/modules/field/theme/field.tpl.php
index e4cd85c..15afdf7 100644
--- a/modules/field/theme/field.tpl.php
+++ b/modules/field/theme/field.tpl.php
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ HTML comment.
   <?php endif; ?>
   <div class="field-items"<?php print $content_attributes; ?>>
     <?php foreach ($items as $delta => $item) : ?>
-      <div class="field-item <?php print $delta % 2 ? 'odd' : 'even'; ?>"<?php print $item_attributes[$delta]; ?>><?php print render($item); ?></div>
+      <div class="field-item <?php print $delta % 2 ? 'odd' : 'even'; ?><?php print $delta == 0 ? ' first' : ''; ?><?php print $delta == $max_delta ? ' last' : ''; ?>"<?php print $item_attributes[$delta]; ?>><?php print render($item); ?></div>
     <?php endforeach; ?>
   </div>
 </div>