Blue Jeans History

Impact of today’s culture and fashion

Denim has affected Americans in many ways. Over the last few decades there have been many styles that have come from the original jean pant. Many of these different styles that were very popular during different years have come back into fashion more recently.

In the 1970s unisex clothing was very popular. Women started working more than ever before which led for unisex to become more important. ^[1]Kim Friday. “The American Way: Denim Through the Decades.” WWD. Penske Media Corporation, 06 Sept. 2012. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.. Pantsuits were very popular at this time. Blue jeans were “worn by men, women and children across the country, coming in a variety of different styles” ^[2]Hannah Kamal. “American Fashion Through the Decades.” InterExchange. N/a, 24 Sept. 2015. Web. 01 Apr. 2017.. Distressed worn in jeans just started to become popular in this decade as well. ^[3]Alyssa Bailey. “What Jeans Looked Like the Year You Were Born.” ELLE. Hearst Communications, INC, 14 Oct. 2016. Web. 01 Apr. 2017.. Patchwork had also come in style on jeans. While patchwork on jeans is not too popular today you can find some people still wearing jeans with patches. They seem to be coming back in style, at some stores that sell jeans, for example, Forever 21, there are different cut-off denim shorts that have patches on them. One example of a jean style coming back into fashion is the flare jean. Flare Jeans originated in the 1970s and were called bootcut jeans at the time. However, they have been adapted by becoming slimmer and being renamed to flare jeans now. Cut off jeans that just started to get popular in this time are still worn by many americans today. ^[4]Kamal., 

^[5]Flare Jeans. Digital image. Polyvore. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2017. 

 

In the 1980s fashion started to change to be more creative and colorful. Mini skirts made of denim started to become popular. ^[6]Kamal., Actresses started to wear cut off denim shorts much shorter than ever before ^[7]Bailey., . Jeans got to be much tighter than in the past as well as more faded and lighter. ^[8]Bailey., “Treatments including bleaching, acid or stone wash and distressing gain popularity” ^[9]Friday., . Grunge was very popular towards the mid to late 80s. Faded jeans are still very popular today as well as worn in jeans. The look of buying jeans with holes in them for fashion would never have been considered in previous decades but now was all the rage and still is today.^[10]Friday.,

^[11]Staff. Clothing: Our Favourite Faded Jeans for the Summer. Digital image. Marcus Troy. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

In the 1990s fashion stopped being so colorful and out there. Adults tended to wear “relaxed fit jeans with plain t-shirts and knit sweaters” Teenagers started off the 90s by wearing bright colors and later on ended up wearing more lighter shades. ^[12]Friday., In 1992 grunge became very in. “plaid flannels, stonewashed jeans, and dark colors” were very popular. By 1995 “wide leg jeans” from the 70s decade were back in fashion. Later in the 90s low-rise jeans became popular ^[13]Kamal., . Low-rise jeans are still around today in most stores that sell jeans.

In the 2000s women continued to wear denim miniskirts and low rise jeans. Men tended to wear sweatshirts and bootcut jeans ^[14]Kamal., . Jeans originally only had a handful of companies compared to today where there are thousands of different companies making jeans. ^[15]“Top Denim Jeans Brands from USA.” Top Denim Jeans Brands from USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2017. Men tend to wear straight leg to boot cut jeans today.

There really isn’t a standard denim color that people wear for daily jeans because there are so many variations in styles, cuts, colors, brands that would never have happened without Levi’s original jeans.

After a few years Levi Strauss’s company started to get competition and wanted to show their brand off easily and so they added a patch with their logo to make them stand out from others. Later on the back jean pockets also got a stitched on logo. This branding made Levi Strauss’s jeans distinctly different than other companies because you could see the brand so easily.  ^[16]Bailey.,

 

^[17]Light wash levi jeans with logo. Digital image. Wanelo. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

 

 

This kind of name branding was very important and had not been big before this. Today you can tell jeans apart just by the logo or stitching on back pockets. You can easily tell if someone is wearing American Eagle jeans, Hollister or Gap and so on. By starting this kind of branding it has impacted all of us in how we see jeans and brands.

^[18]Hollister Jeans. Digital image. Polyvore. N.p., n.d. Web.

Something else that came from denim pants was the adaptation of denim for different objects, for example you can go to some stores and find purses, headbands, shoes, jackets, chokers, and more made out of denim. Which shows how far we have come from the original purpose of denim which was to be a durable pant for working men.

^[19]Kim Kardashian wearing denim choker. Digital image. Cosmopolitan. N.p., 14 Aug. 2016. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

^[20]Denim boots. Digital image. Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

 ^[21]Denim Purse. Digital image. Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

Jeans originally only had a handful of companies compared to today where there are thousands of different companies making jeans. ^[22]“Top Denim”., Jeans have evolved so much over the last few decades but all the fashion trends come back or stay in style. It’s important to know about all of these different styles and how they have impacted society.