Facts About Blue Jeans - You Might Not Be Aware Of

Interesting Facts About Blue Jeans

This article takes you through the history of Blue Jeans along with interesting facts which you might not be aware of.

Denim or Jeans is one of the most popular fabric for clothing today. The word 'Jeans' resonates with the style statement of youth. 

Image by Sandeep Barot from Pixabay 

History of Blue Jeans:

May 20, 1873 marked a historic day: the birth of Blue Jeans. It was on that day that Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis obtained a U.S. patent on the process of putting rivets in men’s work pants for the very first time.

Research shows that name 'Jeans' emerged at two places -

•   Genoa, Italy
•   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, from de Nîmes, meaning "from Nîmes". 

Jeans was made using a twill weave, with the weft passing under the warp threads. The weavers used Indigo color to dye the warp threads blue and did not applied any color to weft threads which means it was white in color. This combination looked beautiful in addition to being economical.

Originally Jeans was designed for miners. Miners usually wore loose trousers which mostly used to get torn at knees. Hence, Levi Strauss created pants of denim material with large patches at knee so that it does not tear easily and are durable. We know now, our Jeans were invented to last long, as they do!

Why Colour of Jeans was Blue:

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay 

This is one of the interesting fact about Jeans which we have never thought of while wearing a pair of Jeans. Indigo colour was the first choice for Jeans. It was believed that Indigo was the best colour to hide dirt which would get onto the clothing – ideal for miners and sailors. 

Indigo color was produced from the plants of the Genus Indigofera. This plant is native to India and research shows that India was the first country using Indigo dyeing. Also, Indigo color was used to dye the warp threads and weft threads were kept in original white color. This is why inside of denim garments are white.

Today, synthetic Indigo color is being used which further reduces cost in addition to being available everywhere and eliminating dependency on some countries for procurement.

Rivets and that too in Jeans, Why?

Image by 2goldi from Pixabay 

Who would have imagined of using rivets in clothing at that time, answer is Davis and Strauss. Yes, they have used rivets for a purpose. 

When we look at Jeans we can see rivets on Jeans but have we ever thought of this interesting fact i.e. how Rivets find place in Jeans. Copper rivets were used to reinforce the points of stress such as pocket corners. Main purpose of using copper rivets was to reinforce the jeans in areas where they could be ripped apart. Today, as Jeans are being used as a fashion statement, Rivets are being used to maintain history apart from giving an aesthetic look.

Jeans a Symbol of Rebellion, Really?

After James Dean popularised them in the movie Rebel Without a Cause, wearing jeans became a symbol of youth rebellion during the 1950. There are many stories wherein some youths wearing jeans were considered rebellion and were not allowed to enter some places.  George W. Bush banned jeans in White House for 6 days.

Do You Know?

1. May 20th is regarded as the birthday of Blue Jeans, since it was the day when Levi Strauss patented his idea.
2. The small pocket in the larger pocket of your Jeans was originally designed to hold a pocket watch.
3. One of the common features of Levi’s Jeans is orange (or copper) stitching, which is mostly seen on jeans. This was first used to match the copper rivets which were first used on Jeans.
4. Jeans were originally named as "Waist Overalls" by Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss in 1873.
5. American Motor Corporation (AMC) collaborated with Levi's for Blue Gremlin - A Car, that wore the Pants made of Denim.
6. Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha is the company which makes 90% of the world’s zippers for jeans. The initials YKK can often be found on the zippers. 
7. In 1951, Bing Crosby was denied entry to a Canadian hotel for wearing his Levi's denim jeans. Later Levi's presented him a denim tuxedo in Nevada. And that's how Canadian Tuxedo was born.
8. An original pair of Levi Strauss & Co (USA) 501 jeans aged over 115 years old were sold by Randy Knight (USA) to an anonymous collector (Japan) for $60,000,00 (£33,230) through internet auction site eBay on 15 June 2005.
9. It is believed that Levi Strauss never wore his own jeans.
10. Statistically each person in America owns an average of 7 pairs of jeans.

There are lot more fun and interesting facts about Jeans but I selected these facts as I was inquisitive about them. In case, you would like to share any other facts about Jeans, please feel free to comment. Also, if you have any feedback for these facts related to Jeans or would like to know such facts about anything else, please do let us know.

Happy Reading!