Denim Jeans, Their Progress Through Fashion; Still Making History

Posted on April 9, 2008

Hollywood stars like Katherine Hepburn
aided denim’s progress through fashion in the 70’s. And now Savile Row tailors
champion its continuing success, as they cut denim suits for some of the most
famous names in the world. But what of its origins, Denim and Jeans have
travelled the world.

Denim jeans and attire have been associated with heavy industry to high
fashion and become one of the most versatile and enduring clothing styles in
fashion history.

Captured in denim the Americans invented, commercialised, stylised, or
popularised, in a word, Levis,
American Wild West culture. But the fabric was adopted from another continent
by early Americans who created functional hard wearing work gear. At the same
time they introduced a style without the aid of catwalks and drop dead handsome
models.

Mr Jacob Davis a tailor from Reno Nevada
decided to put copper rivets on the corners of his denim trouser pockets to
prevent them from ripping. Unable to cover the cost of patenting the idea he
sought help from prosperous clothing distributor Mr Levi Strauss. Mr Strauss
added his own style by putting the garment label on the outside rather than on
the inside. Thus a new style was born.

Denim (derived from De-Nimes in France)
had already been styled into bell bottom trousers and worn by Italian sailors
from Genoa and given the name Geans
(Jeans). These trousers had very practical applications. If a sailor went
overboard he could easily slip off his trousers without his feet getting caught
and thus stand a better chance of staying afloat.

The style has gone from De-Nimes, to Denim, from Genoa
to Jeans, from France
to America and
travelled the world. Style knows no cultural or geographic boundaries.
Experience the history.

Now here are a couple of style tips. With this in mind you could chose a
denim shirt by King Gee (Australia), floral , just ask Vivienne Westwood

About the author

Purveyor
of finely crafted men’s fashion accessories: designer silk ties, handmade silver
cufflinks & leather wallets, by British Designers, like, Vivienne Westwood,
Timothy Everest, Ian Flaherty, Veritas Gifts, LBB London and Victoria Richards,
Patrick McMurray and Shane McCoubrey

Tags: bell bottom trousers, clothing styles, copper rivets, denim trouser, denims, fashion history, fashion in the 70s, garment label, geographic boundaries, handsome models, high fashion, jacob davis, katherine hepburn, king gee, levi strauss, mr jacob, reno nevada, savile row tailors, vivienne westwood, world style