Denims are, unanimously, everyone’s go-to piece of clothing. Baggy or rugged, stretchy or skinny fit, denim pants are one of the most quintessential pieces in any wardrobe. With hundreds of fashion brands selling items of denim and millions of customers purchasing these all around the world, it’s worth knowing a few interesting facts about it, right? Well, here are a few things you never knew about your lived-in pair of jeans!
- The First Denim: It’s believed that the first denim came into being in Genoa, Italy and it was as early as in the 1500s. It was basically the uniform on-duty to be worn by the Italian Navy.
- The Name: Though, the Italians were the first to invent it, the material came from a French city known as “Nimes.” ‘De Nimes’ which actually translates to ‘from Nimes’ in English is where denims got its name from. Also, the word ‘jeans’ comes from the word “Genes” a.k.a. the French word for the city Genoa.
- Levi Strauss: Levi Strauss was the man, who popularized denim in the 1870s. He made clothes for the miners and other working class out of this inexpensive material and initially, it was known as waist overalls.
- Initial Colors: The first jeans came out in two colors – indigo blue and brown cotton ‘duck’. This was because these were the most ideal colors to hide any dirt which got into the clothing, perfect to be worn by the working class.
- The count: As interesting as it may seem, you can actually make a grand total of 215-225 pairs of jeans from a single bale of cotton. It’s believed that approximately 450 million pairs of jeans are sold in the United States alone, every year.
- The Birthday: May 20th is regarded to be the birthday of blue jeans, as on this very date, Levi Strauss patented his idea and invention.
- Warp and Weft: Most of us have wondered, while forcing us into a pair of denim, that why the insides are white? Well, that’s because only the outside or the warp of denims is dyed blue, black, grey etc. and the inside or the weft is left un-dyed.
- Pocket: Do you know what role the small pocket inside the larger pocket of your jeans was originally made for? No, it wasn’t just lying there meaninglessly; it was originally designed for a pocket watch.
- Wash effect: The first retailer who ever washed a new pair of jeans to get a used, worn, washed-out effect was a boutique called “Limbo” in the New York City East village. And consequently, needless to say, it became a popular trend.
Denims came into existence and took the world by a storm. It’s still ruling the charts, and will do so for years to come. So now when you pick up a pair of trendy denims at Lifestyle, you’ll know all the fun trivia that made this iconic piece of clothing what it is today!
