Think: off the top of your head, name the quintessential piece of American clothing. That’s right, the blue jean. But you may be surprised to learn that blue jeans are about as American as apple pie (which was in fact invented in Europe during the Middle Ages).
The first people to wear jeans were the sailors of Genoa Italy in the 16th century. The blue pants they wore were not made of denim, but of a blend of cotton, wool and linen. However, it is generally thought that the word “jeans” came from the nickname of these sailors, the “Genoese”.
It is thought that the word “denim” could have come from the English translation of “Serge de Nimes,” (de nimes, denim, I guess they sound kind of similar) a French phrase that originated in the southern French town of Nimes, where they produced serge, a mix of wool and silk fabric.
19th century England also had its own type of blue jeans, which were used by laborers for the sturdy fabric.
Blue jeans didn’t arrive in America until the mid-19th century, thanks to a German immigrant named Leob (later changed to Levi) Strauss who provided denim pants reinforced with copper rivets to miners during the California Gold Rush.
They were originally considered blue-collar and were worn almost exclusively by men, and it wasn’t until the 20th century that blue jeans became popular. In the 1930s they were worn by cowboys in movies, which created a certain appeal amongst the masses.
In the ‘40s, not much denim was produced due to World War II, when all supplies were being sent to soldiers. It was at this time however that they began to be popular among women, who were working outside the home for the first time.
In the ‘50s, jeans became a symbol of teenage rebellion on TV and in the movies, and as a result were banned in some schools. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, blue jeans were embraced by the hippies, who began to alter them, sewing on colorful patches, painting them and embroidering them. This was also the time that American jeans were a hot commodity abroad, especially in Soviet Russia, where they were so valuable that they were even used as currency on the black market. It wasn’t until the 1980s that jeans became “high fashion,” and famous designers like Calvin Klein and Sergio Valente began making their own styles. In the ‘90s, lycra was added to jeans to make them more comfortable.
Today, I think it is fair to say that blue jeans have transcended all classes of society. They are both practical workers’ attire and high fashion designer wear.
The jeans of today come in every shape and style imaginable — low-rise, ultra low-rise, boot cut, stonewashed, flare, distressed, destroyed, straight cut and skinny. They also come in different colors — white, black, gray, pink, green and every shade of blue imaginable. Even the original Levi’s jeans (did you pick up on that?) have come a long way since the days of the gold rush (although you can still buy a pair of their “original” Levi’s 501 that were developed in the ‘60s).
Just as they started, blue jeans have again become a global product, reaching all parts of the world. Even the jeans you buy here in the United States were probably not made in America. The cotton that your jeans are made of was probably grown in Turkey or Azerbaijan, dyed in Italy, cut in India and then sewn in China.
I’ll leave you with an interesting fact to mull over: in 1885, a pair of jeans cost $1.25. Today, a pair of True Religion jeans costs $319 and a pair of “the original” Levi 501’s costs $80.
For all of you stuck without a calculator or a friendly math major, that means that in 1885 you could buy 255 pairs of Levi’s jeans for the price of one pair of True Religions, or 64 pairs for the price of one Levi’s 501 jeans (yes I am ignoring inflation).
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