Let's talk about the fashion trend that is never ever out ! You may say that there is no such a trend that has a prevailing and staying power. But , however, there is! It is Denim, baby! D E N I M.
I am more than certain that any of us, fashionistas ( and all the people on the planet Earth, for that matter ) has at least either one pair of jeans, or a jean jacket, or a pair of high-waisted shorts ( recent common craze ) in a closet. I remember when I was in college I totally banned jeans from my everyday attire list. I acquire a weird mentality that jeans didn't flatter my figure as in legs. I still wore jean jackets and shorts though. Years after that I tried a pair of jeans at some store and was absolutely dazzled by the way it complemented my legs! "Whataheck was wrong with me all this time?" - I thought.
Reverting back to the essentials of the topic , I want to give you a crush course on the history of denim and jeans ( because they are two different things, did you know that?! )
Denim , as a type of fabric, came from a French city of Nîmes in the Middles Ages and was a response to already-created italian production fabric - corduroy. The André family invented a durable twill fabric and named it Serge. It was reliably sturdy and practical, mostly used for workers' uniform production. It was going by Serge de Nîmes at the beginning . Later on it was shortened to denim.
A Bavarian-born businessman Levi Straus opened a wholesale business in 1983, selling work clothes. Later on he united his efforts with Jacob Davis , who earlier invited pocket rivets to ensure double durability ,but had no money to patent the idea.
In 1950s denim started to go en masse. It was no longer just a uniform for gold rush miners, painters and farmers, it went big! Idols like Marilyn Monroe and James Dean wore it in their movies and promoted it to the point that people were eager about incorporating denim "waist overalls" ( that is how it was referred to before Denim demand grew majorly ) into their everyday wear. It was considered to be a symbol of rebellious youth, it was banned from a lot of schools, restaurants and hotels. That was a breaking point from where denim pants were no longer hidden in the construction zone and mines.
Marilyn Monroe in The Misfits.
A scene from "A Rebel without a cause" with James Dean.
James Dean backstage on "A Rebel without a cause".
1950's street fashion . An original version of nowadays' boyfriend jeans.
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