May 20th holds an important place in the history of “Jeans” as birthday of “Blue Jeans”. On this date in 1873, Blue Jean made its debut, as one of the American companies received a US patent for this.
This year, Sunday May 20th marks 145th Birthday of Blue Jeans.
Jeans is iconic garment made by “Denim” fabric, which is sturdy cotton warp-faced fabric having white filling in reverse direction. Jeans is generally characterized by strength, tear resistance and visually appealing blue shade, which fades each time the garment, undergoes laundering.
Changing fashion styles and attitudes altered the look of the blue jean over time, but until recently, the blue jean had remained true blue to its cotton origins. The recent influx of man-made fibers into blue jeans is not a good fit for many consumers and could affect the care, wear and expected five-year longevity of their beloved blue jeans.
The history of denim as being all cotton, comfortable and crazy durable earned it a spot quickly with folks who work hard physically like farmers and workers in the industrial spaces like miners, mechanics, shop floor workers.
The denim fabric from which jeans are made is very strong, rugged and has good tear resistance, thus protecting the wearer in these work profiles and lasting longer as required by the professional requirements and economic conditions.
Denim and the beloved blue jeans have continued to catch on and now we can find really expensive fashion jeans or cheaper work cuts.
While the addition of a small amount of spandex or something to cotton to help jeans keep their shape, king cotton hits the nail on the head when it comes to denim that includes higher percentages of man-made fibers.
Consumers love denim. Lifestyle Monitor data indicates that U.S. consumers own an average of 7 pairs of denim and wear jeans an average of four days a week. We also feel that almost 60% of consumers would pay a little extra to get more cotton back into those jeans, which justifies the higher cost of cotton over synthetics.
And when traveling across the globe, you find denim as the largest adorned garment across all age groups and sex. Initially, Jeans were meant for men only and jeans for women made debut in 1934.
Initially all the jeans had buttons in their fly instead of zippers like nowadays. But in 1954 zippers were introduced in Jeans and they still are used to this day.
In late 1970s, another synthetic fiber got introduced as ingredient in jeans and this led to new category of stretch jeans, thus slimming down the shape and fit of these jeans which were initially made in a baggy style to suit the needs of primary consumers. This gave rise to designer jeans in the fashion and life space.
These days, variation of jeans falling in super stretch category is also available in fashion space and loosely termed as jeggings, but still the demand of old Blue Jeans is ever increasing proving the impact it has on our lives and our grown attachment to it.
Jeans is such a garment that is found in almost every individual’s wardrobe regardless of the geographic, ethnic or religious stance.
Let’s celebrate the birthday of the remarkable piece of history, fashion and lifestyle on this Sunday, May 20th.