Delicious Denim

History Of Blue Jean Pants

Posted on 19. Aug, 2008 by denimlicious.

Jeans are pants or trousers made of denim. Many fits are available for designer jeans these days, according to styles, sex and manufacturer. Among the many fits are baggy, boy cut (for women), low-rise, flares, boot cut, relaxed fit, skinny, straight cut, wide leg, and so forth.

Jeans is said to get its name from bleu de Gênes or blue of Genoa. This is because in the 1600s, the first jeans were made for sailors there. They were required to wear multi-purpose pants that could be worn either wet or dry, and the legs of the jeans could be rolled up to wear while wiping the deck. During that time, the jeans would be washed by dragging them in large nets behind the ship, and frequent washing in the salty seawater had caused their indigo color to fade. The raw material initially came from the city of Nîmes in France, or in French, de Nîmes. It was then shortened to just denim.

In the 1850s, Levi Strauss, a German-Jewish immigrant started his dry goods business and one of the items he sold was fabric intended for making tents. He wanted to sell his goods to the miners in California, but during the time, the miners requested the fabric to be made into work pants. They loved the pants, but complained that the pants scrape easily, due to the rough conditions of working in the mines. Strauss then used denim to make the pants.

Jacob Davis is a tailor, who frequently buys the denim fabric from Strauss. One of Davis’s customers kept on purchasing more cloth to strengthen frayed pants. This has made Davis came out with an idea to use copper rivets or press-studs to strengthen the points of strain, such as on the pocket corners and at the top of the button fly. Davis wanted to get a patent for it but was short of money to pay for an application form for a patent. He then wrote a letter to Strauss. He suggested that they collaborate and start a business together. Much to Davis’s delight, Strauss accepted Davis’s offer and soon after, on May 20, 1873, they received U.S. Patent 139,121, for an “Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings.” This date is now widely accepted as the birth date of modern blue jeans.

Levi’s began selling nationally by the 1950s. Other brands were available, such as Wrangler and Lee Cooper, both with their own signature fits. In the 1960s and 1970s, the fad to personalize and adorn jeans began with the rise of the hippie groups. Jeans became a huge craze and everyone wore flares, bell-bottoms, and hip-huggers. Denim evolved into designer jeans by the 1980s. Slimmer, tight, butt-hugging and designer jeans were created and made popular by Calvin Klein and the likes. Denim was still hot in the 1990s. However, the 90s new generation changed tastes to other materials such as chinos and khakis.

Nowadays, everyone almost everywhere are wearing jeans and designer jeans at that now. Denim has been made into jackets, skirts, and accessories like handbags. Jeans are even seen being worn on runways and by Hollywood celebrities as their fashion statement. Being one of the most versatile items of clothing, there is no doubt that jeans will never go out of style.

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