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Denim Jeans – Fits in With Carefree Attitude and Freedom

The age of freedom, real freedom set in at the end of Second World War. It came at the end, of what is said to be the most brutal war in mankind’s history, which affected nearly four-fifth of the world population, stretching from late 1930’s to mid 1940’s. The age of freedom ushered in the age of free expression, liberty, speech, and a deep sense of relief from the age gone by. A feeling of joy and natural urge to do what one wants to do come through. To sum it up it came as a whiff of fresh air from the gone by repressive and senseless killings of World War II, the worst in the history of mankind. At that stage, the world saw the fall of many dictatorial and colonial regimes and quite coincidentally it was at this period of time the advent of jeans took place.

The end of World War II and the fall of many colonial regimes resulted in the air of freedom. The garment too symbolized the same. It also espoused the values of democracy, made no kind of discrimination between wealth and status and more importantly shunned the attitude of elitism. People took to wearing the same cutting across barriers of race, region, and religion. Today, it is no more confined to America alone, and has stretched its reach to India and the world as well.

The garment has taken by storm the nation, the late 1970’s saw the same happen and since then has not looked back. Young and old, men and women alike of the nation have taken to the garment with relish. The same has been more so in the urban areas.

There is a curious irony to the tale of jeans. It has a history, which is over a century old. But there is something else to this revelation; its birth in actual terms took place in the 14th century. How it originated, spread and embraced the whole world is something of a marvel. Let’s get to the bottom of the same:

History

Fascinating tales enthrall anyone, and this is one of them. The birth of denim jeans goes way back to the fourteenth century. The French city of Nimes made waves during that period when a rough and tough fabric was weaved from an equally tough blue-dyed cotton thread. That fabric soon spread its tentacles through the length and breadth of the European continent. It was given a name – Serge de Nimes. Thereafter how it unleashed its reach beyond the frontiers of Europe makes for another thriller. History buffs are very well aware of the legend of Christopher Columbus He was the one who discovered the land of America. Historic folklore states that the legend’s ships nails originated from the same fabric. And this is how the fabric reached the fabled shores of America. It stuck at that and it was another 400 years later that the fabric took the land of aplenty by storm. A new name took shape in the form of Denim, a name given by the Americans.

During the same period, Genoa a place in Italy was giving shape to a new kind of work pant made from strong cotton. Its original name was Genes, which was transformed by the Americans to Jeans. The year 1850 ushered in the boom of gold rush in the city of California, and people from various parts of the world made a beeline to the place. One among them was a peddler from Buttenheim, Frankonin of Germany; his name was Morris Levi Strauss. He saw the manner in which the gold miners worked; the fabric, which they wore, was not an ideal one. So he came up with the thought of a rough and tough fabric.

Strauss got the cloth of cotton fabric from the provincial city of Numes. He struck gold, a different one, in the form of bumper sale of his fabric. He patented the same in the year 1873 and lo beholds the fabric Jeans was born in the real sense. With the passage of time, it remained confined to those working in rough and tough conditions such as coal mines, quarries, forest wilds and so on. It made a switch to the armed forces folk in the 2^ndworld war and that too to the American troops. They found the fabric perfectly suitable to the conditions in which they had to operate. After the war it slowly spread its wings as a commercial fabric predominantly among the American youth and the whole of 1950’s was witness to this. It symbolized the spirit of resurgent optimism and carefree attitude, free from the dark days of the by now famed Great Depression of 1930’s and the brutal World War II.

The whole of 1950’s saw the fabric being referred to as a symbol of America, an American icon and worn by the great American stars of that era – Marlon Brando, Elvis Presley and James Dean. It took wings beyond the borders of its country of origin only in the 1960’s, which is referred to as a rollicking and fun-filled decade, the age of drugs and rock-n-roll, and that too to Europe. It was not until the late 1960’s that the fabric grew into a truly world wide and a mass product. Today the fabric has its presence in each and every nook and corner of the world, just as the other great American icons such as Coca Cola, Microsoft, McDonald’s and above all Hollywood staple diet’s. It personifies what the country of origin epitomizes - the principles of anti-status, democracy and inclusiveness. Today that same spirit of freedom and democracy has become a worldwide phenomenon, the days of oppression and tyranny being given the cold shudder.

Denim Jeans has two manufacturers who made it a world-class product it is today. They are - Levi Strauss who started its production in the late 1890’s and then another entity called Blue Dell in 1904. Blue Dell was later renamed as Wrangler in the year 1940.

The phenomenal rise and adaptability of denim jeans by both sexes has been of such proportions that in the history of fashion, no other garment has served as an example of status ambivalence and ambiguity than denim jeans.

What Makes the Fabric Such a Hot Proposition

Denim Jeans has become a garment accessible to everyone; it has cut across class, gender, and age, regional, national and ideological lines. These are the reasons as to why the fabric has acquired such a widespread and ecumenical appeal. This rather rugged homely-looking apparel embraces the core of American democratic values - independence, freedom and equality. Denim Jean unlike other garments has this unique ability to camouflage the beholder from class distinction, background and status. It is probably the only garment to appeal to and find mutual acceptability among both sexes, and what’s more fits in like a perfect glove, which is in norm with their personality. The other notable aspect of this attire is that it finds mutual acceptability among all age groups.

The passage of time has seen the garment move from one with link exclusively with hard work to one associated with both forms of human activity – hard work and leisure. In addition to this, the garment has also brought about a stunning transformation, from being a garment associated with low culture (late nineteenth-century society embodied this) to one also associated with upper class status. By 1970s, the garment inched its way into the domain of high fashion status. Today it is hailed as one of the "hottest" items available in the consumer market.

The garment adapts itself to all types of climate, with ease and comfort. Neither the harsh glare nor dusty storms of a hot summer or the pouring rain water nor the cold and numbing chill of a winter can deter this garment. It takes in the toughness of all these seasons with élan and a style, which is pure class.

Relevance to Indian Conditions

The garment has been quite a revelation, in the sense that it has captured the imagination of Indian masses. The Urbanites took to wearing the same with relish and very soon it became the staple diet of young and old alike. Gung-ho youth with carefree and liberal attitude made it their favorite attire and one can easily spot attractive females and smart males sporting this garment and breezing along in a chic style. Along with it came the by now famous words Hi! And Wow! Which puts the entire thing in a different limelight? The only negative factor has been that it has not been able to capture the fancy of rural India.

The advent of denim jeans in a big way in India will not deter the simultaneous growth of popular Indian attires. Both will continue to hold their own slot and exist side by side.

The Last Word

With innovative insights and modern techniques aided by high technology, denim jeans have come a long way. Its image as a symbol of a brash, rebellious and sexually liberated fabric has given way to one of a chic, classy and likeable fabric Today the fabric has become one with a true mass appeal which gels with the approach of a casual walker to a serious office goer. Its image as a fabric which transcends every mode of barrier in all forms has arrived and truly arrived. A neat and well-pressed pair of jeans looks as good a wear as any other office wear. However it should maintain the richness of its colour and not be a dyed one.

It does not give any sort of false aura of macho stuff anymore, but instead helps the wearer to just soak in the ease and comfort of its qualities.

Without any sort of bias, it can be said that denim jeans has come to acquire the tag of a true and real world class brand product one on a par with other ilk of its kind. The brand name Levi Strauss and Wrangler denim jeans have stuck and stuck well in the real sense. All in all it’s a fabric, which is versatile, durable and comfortable.