American Blue Jeans

The origin of word “jean” came from sailors from Genoa, Italy who wore clothes made from the material in the 1800s.  In America, blue jeans began as sturdy workman’s clothing and increased in popularity when Löb, changed to Levi, Strauss started a company selling denim clothes to gold miners in the 1853 in San Francisco. With help of Jacob Davis, they created waist overalls with metal rivets to keep pockets from tearing away. In the American West, cowboys wore jeans, which then travelled east as individuals brought them back after traveling and through western films. By the 1950’s the association of rebel youth and jeans was perpetuated by James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, and they were even banned in some public places.  In the 1970’s they grew beyond just casual wear for American youth, and became a symbol of the West in outside the United States. Levi Strauss had been the main company producing blue jeans in the 20th century but the 1980s introduced jeans by fashionable designer labels. They now come in various styles for all ages and genders that would not be practical for how they were originally designed for. 

When one comes across an old pair of jeans they often can tell the story of the person who wore them. The worn areas of the pants reveal for what job they were used, such as a cowboy would have wear on the inside on the pant legs. Design and construction can reveal the year they were made, for example, Levi Strauss company could not use unnecessary embroidery as mandated by the government as way save materials for the war effort during World War II,.