A History of Jeans

The Beginning

Jeans are a part of fashion culture. Dressed up with a button up and blazer or dressed down with a graphic tee, the common blue jean has become a staple in every closet. One might say that they’ve been around forever, but how and when did they originate? Let’s take a history lesson back to 1853. 

Photo: Vintage publicity still for the film Clash by Night, featuring Keith Andes and Marilyn Monroe, 1952

Back in Time

In March of 1853, young Levi Strauss left his family buisness in Germany and moved to San Francisco to open a dry goods store. He sold fine clothing, toothbrushes, boots and among them, denim. He became one of "San Francisco's best known merchants." ¹ Later, in 1872, Strauss received a letter from a tailor, Jacob Davis, saying that he had invented and later patented copper rivets on denim pants to secure "stress points" ² on areas of pocket corners and button flys. That is the start of their story. Strauss and Davis' clothing was intitially crafted for miners, ranchers and cowboys who needed sturdy clothing that didn't rip³ These work pants were sold in all Levi Strauss & Co retail shops across the American West. They're popularity grew. The name "jeans" was properly coined in the 1950s by baby boomers.⁵ Strauss continued to oversee the company until his death in 1902 as Davis oversaw manufacturing.⁶

LEVIS STRAUSS & CO

OREGON FARMERS 1939

Computer Room 1979

How Jeans Are Made

Jeans are made from spun cotton that is woven vertically and horizontally into the denim fabric. It’s then dyed in indigo for its color. After the design is chosen, a pattern is cut, using high speed machines to cut numerous layers at once. Then, belt loops, buttons, zippers, rivets and the label are added. 

See this video from Insider where a pair of Citizens of Humanity Jeans are created. 

Jeans in Today's Fasion

The style of jeans has evolved since the 1970s. Still durable, reliable and comfortalble, jeans have uncovered a way to be fashion forward as well. In this case, beauty is not pain. Varying from the varieties of bootcut, faded, ripped, bell-bottomed, or skinny, jeans can be worn to become a staple piece or an item that meshes well to complete a look. In 2001, Japanese designer, Junya Watanabe, collaborated with Levi's to put poetry on jeans. They read, "I'm shy to speak about love, but I just want to tell you that to be loved by you is my joy." Jeans have become the trademark of everyday attire, for the fashionable and non fashionable, across gender, and across age all around. They're what we wear on causal Friday's and on a date. Though they have reached beyond the intent of sturdy clothing for miners and cowboys, the legacy of Strauss and Davis lives on.

Here’s a look at various styles today.

Abercrombie Curve Love High Rise Mom Jean

True Religion Skinny Halle High Rise

Madewell Straight Leg Overalls in Lunar Wash

Levi's Crafted Barrel Jeans

Levi's Ribcage Bootcut Jeans

Good American Good 90's Weightless Jean

Good American Good Legs Straight Jean

Sources

^1-6 Downey, Lynn. “MY ADVENTURES WITH DENIM: Glimpses into Arizona’s Fashion History from the Levi Strauss & Co. Archives.” The Journal of Arizona History, vol. 54, no. 1, 2013, pp. 33–36. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24459197. Accessed 6 Aug. 2022.

Photos:

Oregon Farmers: Farmers that bought machinery cooperatively while working on the Miller farm in West Carlton, Yamhill County, Oregon. Photography by Dorothy Lange, October 1939. Credit: Granger

Computer Room: Two employees at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico reading a computer print out next to a Cray-1 supercomputer. Photographed in 1979. Credit: Granger