Often the term “jeans” refers to a particular style of trousers, called “blue jeans”, which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in partnership with Levi Strauss & Co. in 1871 and patented by Jacob W. Davis and Levi Strauss on May 20, 1873. Prior to the Levi Strauss patented trousers, the term “blue jeans” had been long in use for various garments (including trousers, overalls, and coats), constructed from blue-coloured denim.

Pritish Kumar Halder gives a brief illustration of Jeans, a type of pants, which is made from denim.

“Jean” also references a (historic) type of sturdy cloth commonly made with a cotton warp and wool weft (also known as “Virginia cloth”). Jean cloth can be entirely cotton as well, similar to denim. Originally designed for miners, modern jeans were popularized as casual wear by Marlon Brando and James Dean in their 1950s films, particularly

The Wild One and Rebel Without a Cause, leading to the fabric becoming a symbol of rebellion among teenagers, especially members of the greaser subculture. From the 1960s onwards, jeans became common among various youth subcultures and subsequently young members of the general population. Nowadays, they are one of the most popular types of specialty trousers in Western culture. Historic brands include Levi’s, Lee, and Wrangler.

History

Fabric

Research on the trade of jean fabric shows that it emerged in the cities of Genoa, Italy, and Nîmes, France. Gênes, the French word for Genoa, may be the origin of the word “jeans”. In Nîmes, weavers tried to reproduce jean fabric but instead developed a similar twill fabric that became known as denim, “de Nîmes” , meaning “from Nîmes”. Genoa’s jean fabric was a fustian textile of “medium quality and of reasonable cost”, very similar to cotton corduroy for which Genoa was famous, and was “used for work clothes in general”.

The Genoese navy equipped its sailors with jeans, as they needed a fabric which could be worn wet or dry. Nîmes’s “denim” was coarser, considered higher quality, and was used “for over garments such as smocks or overalls”. In 1576 a quantity of “jean fustians” arrived into the port of Barnstaple on a vessel from Bristol. Nearly all indigo, needed for dyeing, came from indigo bush plantations in India until the late 19th century. It was replaced by indigo synthesis methods developed in Germany.

Rivets

Initially, Strauss’s jeans were simply sturdy trousers worn by factory workers, miners, farmers, and cattlemen throughout the North American West. During this period, men’s jeans had the fly down the front, whereas women’s jeans had the fly down the left side. When Levi Strauss & Co. patented the modern, mass-produced prototype in the year 1873, there were two pockets in the front and one on the back right with copper rivets. The small riveted watch pocket was first added by Levi Strauss to their jeans in the late 1870s.

Manufacturing processes

Dyeing

Traditionally, jeans were dyed to a blue color using natural indigo dye. Most denim is now dyed using synthetic indigo. Approximately 20 thousand tons of indigo are produced annually for this purpose, though only a few grams of the dye are required for each pair. For other colors of denim other dyes must be used. Currently, jeans are produced in any color that can be achieved with cotton.

For more information on dyeing, refer to denim and the discussion there of using pigment dyes.

Pre-shrinking

In 1962 Levi Strauss introduced their own pre-shrunk jeans (Lee and Wrangler jeans had already long been pre-shrunk); these did not shrink further after purchase, allowing the consumer to purchase a correctly fitting size. Pre-shrink is most common in jeans nowadays. These jeans were known as the 505 regular fit jeans.

The 505s are almost identical to the 501s with the exception of the button-fly. The Levi’s Corporation also introduced a slim boot-cut fit known as 517 and 527. The difference between the two is that the 517s sit at the waist line and the 527s sit below the waist line. Later, Levi’s would develop other styles and fits such as the loose, slim, comfort, relaxed, skinny, and a regular fit with a tapered leg.

Used and distressed looks

The used or “acid wash” look is created by means of abrading the jeans or treating them with chemicals, such as acryl resin, phenol, a hypochlorite, potassium permanganate, caustic soda, acids etc.

Ripping or distressing of jeans, though also arising naturally as a result of wear and tear, is sometimes deliberately performed by suppliers—with distressed clothing sometimes selling for more than a nondistressed pair. For example, Pucci sold “embellished mid-rise boyfriend jeans” for £600 (US$860).

Sandblasting or abrading with sandpaper

Consumers wanting jeans that appear worn can buy jeans that have been specially treated. To give the fabrics the worn look, sandblasting done with chemicals or by adding pumice stone to the washing process or abrading with sandpaper is often done.

Variations on the basic type

1)Cigarette: Designed to fit quite closely, but not tightly, to the thigh area, with a less close fit to the calf.

2)Cropped: Where the leg is cut to a lesser length, to somewhere above the ankle.

3)Relaxed

4)Skinny: Worn to flatter the figure in the fashion of tight or close fitting.

5)Straight

6)Wide-leg; or with cropped variant: The waist line rides up past the wearer’s actual waist, material below the knee is altogether away from the leg and descends as a straight line, standard type descends down to the ankle; cropped variant: the leg ceases at the lower leg mid-way down (or stops further down toward the ankle)

Distressed jeans

Distressed denim emerged from the cultural punk movement in the 1970s. Early punks tore apart consumer goods as an expression of their anger towards society. Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols manifested the British punk ideology, which was fighting against the status quo. Denim became a key target of this politically fueled deconstruction, with both men and women donning torn pants and jackets, accessorized with safety pins and slogans.

The trend became popular again in the 1990s with the emergence of grunge fashion. If punk was “anti-fashion”, grunge was “non-fashion”. The grunge youth wore loose-fitting ripped jeans, flannel shirts or woolen Pendletons layered over T-shirts. Their anti-conformist approach to fashion led to the popularization of the casual chic look, a trend which continued into the 2000s.

0961-LeighJones.jpg: Recording artist Leigh Jones will entertain and visit with members of Warrior Transition Units and Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers May 6 at the Fort Belvoir Community Center.
Courtesy photo

Low-rise jeans

Media reported in 2017 that the trend of low-rise jeans, famous in 1990s and 2000s as sagging, was coming back into fashion due to celebrities like Justin Bieber endorsing it.

Low-rise jeans are usually worn 2–3 inches (5–8 cm) or more below the navel.

Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeans