February 23, 2012

The Origin of the Jeans

jeans for men

Image via Wikipedia

You slip them on just about every day. You have for years. Do you know where the blue jean comes from, though? Those pants you enjoy wearing and that come in so many styles, colors and patterns, have a long history of providing function, durability and style to people.

Learning the Jeans’ History

You will find it in everything from baby costumes to dresses. Jean material is something that started long ago, when a man named Levi Strauss first arrived in San Francisco in 1860.

  • The jeans’ invention stems from necessity. Strauss noticed the need that gold miners had as they worked out in the mines and fields for durable trousers. After selling canvas products, he later created pants using a product called denim. This added more comfort to the pants.
  • The first denim material, though, was not from Strauss. Rather, manufacturers began creating denim in Genoa, Italy.
  • Adding copper rivets happened to the jean pants in 1893. The addition helped to create more strength in the stress points of the pants. Work tools of those who wore these pants pulled at these locations as they hung on pockets and belt loops.
  • The name “jeans” hit in the 1920′s. It stems from the French Revolutionary period when the term “jeans,” which sounds like “johns” in French, then applied to the heavy cotton fabric created in Italy.

It would be some time before the material became more commonplace in American society. With the advent of fashion designers, though, the creation of this material was more for fashion than for functional use by the middle of the 1960′s.

A Look at How Fashion History Repeats Itself

We have all heard of the phrase that states history repeats itself.  Well, we could go one further and say that fashion history also repeats itself.  Fashion designers, like many other creative professions, often look to those styles and designers that came before them when they are looking for inspiration.  And if you take a stroll down almost any street that has stores selling fashion, you are bound to come upon a vintage fashion store.  There are clothes that come back into favor.  There are shoes that return to the shelves.  There is jewelry that comes back into style.  There was a time when bell bottom jeans were laughed at once their time had passed.  Then almost overnight and many years later, there they were again on the shelves.

There was a time when younger kids went out at night to dance clubs.  They wore casual clothes and drank beer and simple mixed drinks.  Then the next thing you know, martinis were back in style.  And nights on the town were formal from the Mikimoto pearls to the long, black dresses.  How this happens is often a mystery.  Perhaps it comes from boredom and the need to do something different.  Perhaps it is something that is set in motion by those in the fashion industry.  Either way, it is something that happens over and over.  What trends will we see next?

A good place to find the answer to that question is to once again look at the vintage stores.  You can find styles that span the decades as far back as the 1920’s.  You can find formal clothes.  You can find casual clothes.  These stores have almost every accessory you could imaging from various historical fashion trends as well.  From belts to necklaces, you can mix and match trends and create your own style.  And that is the real key.  Set your own style and dress as you wish no matter what decade you choose for your fashion trend.