Everything about Blue Jeans totally explained
Jeans are
trousers made from
denim. Originally intended for
work, they became popular among
teenagers starting in the 1950s. Historic brands include
Levi's,
Jordache, and
Wrangler. Today jeans are a very popular form of
casual dress around the world and come in many styles and colors, with the "blue jeans" particularly identified with the
American culture, especially the
American Old West.
History
The earliest known precursor to jeans is the
Indian export of a thick cotton cloth, in the 16th century, known as
dungaree. Dyed in
indigo, it was sold near the Dongarii Fort near
Bombay. Sailors cut it to suit them.
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Jeans fabric was made in
Chieri, a town near
Turin (
Italy), as early as the 1600s. It was sold through the harbour of
Genoa, that was the capital of an independent
republic, and a naval power. The first were made for the Genoese Navy because it required all-purpose pants for its sailors that could be worn wet or dry, and whose legs could easily be rolled up to wear while swabbing the deck. These jeans would be laundered by dragging them in large mesh nets behind the ship, and the sea water would bleach them white.
According to many people the jeans name comes from
bleu de Genes, for example,
blue of Genoa. The raw material used to come from the city of
Nîmes (
France)
de Nîmes for example
denim.
Riveted jeans
In the 1850s
Levi Strauss, a
German dry goods merchant living in
San Francisco, was selling blue jeans under the "Levi's" name to the mining communities of
California. One of Strauss's customers was
Jacob Davis, a tailor who frequently purchased bolts of cloth from the Levi Strauss & Co
wholesale house. After one of Davis's customers kept purchasing cloth to reinforce torn pants, he'd an idea to use
copper rivets to reinforce the points of strain, such as on the pocket corners and at the base of the button fly. Davis didn't have the required money to purchase a
patent, so he wrote to Strauss suggesting that they both go into business together. After Strauss accepted Davis's offer, on
May 20,
1873, the two men received patent #139,921, a patent for an "Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings," from the
United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Jeans in popular culture
Blue jeans
Initially, blue jeans were simply sturdy trousers worn by
workers, especially in the factories during
World War II. During this period, men's jeans had the zipper down the front, whereas women's jeans had the zipper down the right side. By the 1960s, both men's and women's jeans had the
zipper down the front. In the
United States during the 1950s, wearing of blue jeans by
teenagers and
young adults became symbolic of mild protest against conformity. This was considered by some older adults as disruptive; for example, some movie theaters and restaurants refused to admit patrons who wore blue jeans. During the 1960s the wearing of blue jeans became more acceptable and by the 1970s had become general fashion in the United States, at least for informal wear. Notably, in the mid-1950s the
denim and
textiles
industry was revolutionized by the introduction of the
stone-washing technique by GWG (
Great Western Garment Co.). Entrepreneur, importer and noted
eccentric,
Donald Freeland of
Edmonton, Alberta, pioneered the method which helped to bring
denim to a larger and more versatile market.
Denim suddenly became an attractive product for all age groups and Freeland became one of the most important innovators in the history of denim and denim products. It should be noted, also, that Freeland contributed to a variety of other denim
textile developments throughout his
career with Great Western Garments (GWG)
(External Link) Acceptance of jeans continued through the 1980s and 1990s to the point where jeans are now a wardrobe staple, with the average North American owning seven pairs.
Being imported American products, especially in the case of the
Soviet Union which restricted hard currency imports, jeans were somewhat expensive. In Spain they're known as
vaqueros or "cowboys," in
Danish cowboybukser meaning "cowboy pants" and in
Chinese niuzaiku (
SC: 牛仔裤), literally, "cowboy pants" (trousers), indicating their association with the
American West, cowboy culture, and outdoors work.
Jeans can be worn very loose in a manner that completely conceals the shape of the wearer's lower body, or they can be snugly fitting and accentuate the body. Historic photographs indicate that in the decades before they became a staple of fashion, jeans generally fit quite loosely, much like a pair of bib overalls without the bib. Indeed, until 1960, Levi Strauss denominated its flagship product "waist overalls" rather than "jeans".
Blue jean insulation
Recycled blue jean is becoming a popular insulation material (sometimes called
Cotton Batt insulation) used in the construction of houses. Due to its low relative synthetic chemical composition and because it's made of recycled materials, it's gaining prominence in
green building circles. Like conventional insulation, it moderates heat transfer and reduces sound transfer between floors or rooms. Blue Jean insulation has an excellent
R-Value of 3.7, making it a preferable insulator to typical fiberglass batts even without taking into account the environmental considerations.
Fits
Fits of jeans are determined by current styles, sex, and by the manufacturer. Here are some of the fits produced for jeans:
Rises in jeans (the distance from the crotch to the waistband) range from high-waisted to superlow-rise (Low rise can be called Low Riders). Jeans for men usually have a longer rise and zipper, whereas women have a shorter rise and zipper, although exceptions do exist and this is largely a function of current trends. In decades past, when high-waisted jeans were popular, it was often the women's that featured a longer rise.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Blue Jeans'.
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