Image: HNST Women high rise loose ecru jeans (left) and HNST men relaxed tapered nostalgia blue jeans (right). Credit: HNST via Nightingale PR.
Chapter 6. Jeans Sizes
The sizes of jeans are traditionally given in inches. An inch is approximately 2.5 cm. In addition, the waistband width (waist) and the leg length (leg) are indicated.
"The band width indicates the waist of the wearer," explains Mirjam Choufoer, jeans specialist at TMO/Detex. "W28 indicates that the waist of the wearer is 28 inches." Although the waistband width actually depends on the fit. "A low hip (low hip trousers, ed.) has a wider waistband width than what the label indicates," the specialist explains, "but whether you buy a baggy or a slim model, you always buy "your" trouser size."
Chapter 7. Differentiation, pricing and marketing of jeans
Denim brands offer similar models, there is not much difference between them in practice. Whether a classic five-pocket model pair of jeans comes from Levi's, Wrangler, Diesel or G-star, often the only visible details are decorative stitching on the back pocket or the label with the brand name.
With advertising, brands try to create their own image to differentiate themselves from other brands.
Pricing structure
The way of weaving, the washes, the details, the treatments make each pair of jeans unique and contribute to the price structure (as we explain in paragraph 3).
Top brands are more expensive due to higher-quality fabrics and more expensive treatments. An expensive brand of jeans may have undergone as many as 35 different post-treatments, resulting in a high(er) selling price.
"Sometimes 80 hours of workmanship is put into a pair of jeans," the marketing manager at Denham the Jeanmaker told FashionUnited in 2016 .
Chapter 8. Care and maintenance
Jeans generally have a long lifespan.
A pair of jeans can last a long time because they are made of sturdy fabric (see paragraph 2.1 'composition of denim').
Many people find jeans nicer and more comfortable the more often they have been worn. Wear is therefore often not seen as a disadvantage with jeans.
Denim is easy to maintain. Jeans can be washed and ironed hot. But, jeans don't need to be washed often at all. The less often you wash it, the nicer it stays. “When washing, always put jeans in the washing machine inside out and never in the dryer," adds Milene Tjong of Denim City.
Some jeans you'd rather not wash at all. "Selvedge trousers buy unwashed with the intention that you also leave them unwashed. That way your own way of moving in them comes out," Maarten Wols of Groningen denim shop Ebb18 recently told FashionUnited. He recommends wearing the trousers a hundred times before washing them. Because when you wash it, the colour changes. This is called colour loss (see paragraph 3.1 'dyeing' for more information).
It is also recommended to bring raw denim to the dry cleaners to have it cleaned to retain its unworn character.
Stretch trousers also preferably not be washed hotter than 40 degrees because they contain elastomers. Elastomers should not be put in the dryer.
You will probably recognise that jeans feel stiffer after washing. This is because the cotton fibres have absorbed moisture and therefore become slightly shorter. This is called swelling shrinkage. After wearing them for some time, the fabric becomes more supple again.
Chapter 9. How jeans were invented and became a popular garment
The fact that a street scene without denim is now unthinkable is actually quite surprising when you consider that over two hundred years ago, this fabric was seen as the typical fabric for workwear .
"Originally, jeans were intended for prospectors and miners and later as workwear. In the second half of the 20th century, jeans would become the most widely worn garment and permeate all population groups and all parts of the world," according to omniscient Wikipedia on its 'Jeans' page.
Image: Wrangler - For The Ride of Life campaign September 2022. Credit: Wrangler via KMB Creative Network
9.1 History: from work trousers to everyday jeans
Here's where the name denim and jeans comes from
It begins in 1852. Levi Strauss goes to California (America) to search for gold. When the prospectors complain about the quality of the local trousers, Strauss decides to make copies from the rolls of tarpaulin and canvas he brought for the covered wagons. His trousers soon become in high demand and Strauss runs out of fabric and starts looking for a material suitable for decent work trousers. He then imports a twill from the French city of Nîmes called serge de Nîmes. The term ‘denim’ derives from the French "serge de Nimes", meaning "serge (a sturdy fabric) from Nimes".
At first, another problem is that the pockets of the trousers tear out. Tailor Jacob Davis hammered nails (or actually metal rivets) on the weak spots and in 1873 Strauss and Davis patented the first 'jeans'. That is the start of the Levi & Strauss Co brand as we know it today.
In fact, the first trousers were undyed or light brown. Strauss decides to have the fabric dyed in the same colour as the trousers of the sailors who brought the denim from Genoa. The name ‘jeans’ is believed to have derived from the anglicised word for Genes, the demonym for people from Genoa in Italy. Indigo is used for dyeing (see paragraph 3.1 'dyeing' for more information).
Competitors appear on the market only after 1900, Wrangler (1905) and Lee (1911). Lee introduced the zipped fly instead of buttons in 1920.
9.2 Fast forward: Jeans after 1950-1960: Denim becomes fashionable
After World War II, the function of jeans changed: the trousers were now seen more as leisure wear (rather than workwear).
Film stars, including Marilyn Monroe and James Dean , were seen sporting jeans - paving the way for a new understanding of denim.
Young people started wearing jeans, also to set themselves off from classic fashion.
After 1960, jeans become common for young people, partly due to the influence of American culture on European culture. (Jeans are in fact mainly seen as an icon of American culture, because the garment originated in the US as we explain in paragraph 9.1)
As we explain in paragraph 9.1, jeans are seen as an icon of American culture.
There is another social development that has a major influence on dressing behaviour: women's emancipation. Girls and women are starting to wear (denim) trousers.
Furthermore, the hippie period influenced the success of jeans. Jeans acquire the image of freedom and self-determination and a youthful casual look.
9.3 The popularity of jeans
The jean grew to become one of the most popular and beloved garments. Why? "[A pair of jeans is popular because it is a classless, practical, durable and affordable garment," states Maaike Feitsma in her research on Dutch fashion identity with which she obtained her PhD in Nijmegen in 2014.
This popularity seems borderless. "Globally, the popularity of denim is growing," according to Research and Markets in its report 'Denim Jeans - Global Market Trajectory and Analytics' in January 2023. According to the research firm, the global market value of the denim jeans industry was 64.5 billion US dollars in 2022, and will grow to 95.2 billion US dollars by 2030. "Jeans can be worn on various social and official occasions, and have proven to transcend age and gender barriers. Growing interest in a casual look is driving sales," the July 2022 report said.
Image: Wrangler x ILGA World, via KMB Creative Network
Image: Wrangler x ILGA World, via KMB Creative Network
Ripped jeans : jeans with rips and holes.
Distressed jeans is a term for a pair of (very) worn jeans. These jeans have undergone excessive wear, which has not only changed the colour of the fabric, but the trousers also have rips and holes. Also, the hems and seams are often frayed.
Whiskering : Whiskers - also known as 'moustache' or Japanese-style 'hige' - are the horizontal crease lines at the crotch, thighs and knees of jeans.
Black denim is the term used for deep black denim. "For black denim, people do not use indigo, but sulphur dye," Mirjam Choufoer, TMO/Detex jeans specialist reports to FashionUnited.
Coloured denim is the term used for denim that is not black or blue.
a jegging is a pair of leggings made of denim.
The mom jeans is a looser denim model, with a high waist, a relaxed fit at the thighs and a tapered leg. The trousers are usually without stretch. The model was very popular in the 1990s and is also currently back in fashion.
Dad jeans is used for jeans that fall higher in the waist and have a wide-fitting cut and a straight leg. The cut is roomy and loose-fitting the hips and thighs. Like mom jeans, the name comes from the 1990s and refers to the fit of the jeans models that fathers mostly wore back then.
Boyfriend jeans is used for jeans models with a lower hip, loose-fitting straight leg with a cropped length.
Patchwork jeans : a pair of jeans with a variety of patches, making it look like the jeans have been repaired or customised .
The terms Selvage/selvedge and selvedge jeans are still sometimes used interchangeably," Choufoer explains. "They are actually two things: selvage/selvedge is a denim fabric made on old looms, using a large shuttle for the weft yarn, which shoots back and forth between the warp threads. The zigzag movement of the weft thread creates a closed edge to the fabric: the well-known 'self edge'," says Detex's jeans specialist. "Selvage jeans are trousers where the side seam of the trouser leg is laid along the self-edge of the fabric. This results in high fabric consumption (which is why these types of trousers are expensive, among other things). This self edge is visible when the trouser leg is rolled up," Choufoer adds.
Image: a pair of selvage jeans (see terminology box above) by Oficina Reserva, a brand of Brazilian fashion group AR&CO. Credit: Oficina Reserva via Multifato (PR).
Image: Jeans made entirely from post-consumer recycled fibres, developed by Mud Jeans and Saxion University of Applied Sciences. Credit: Mud Jeans and Saxion via Mediatic PR
Sources:
Detex Opleidingen, a Dutch training agency for fashion and retail.
Mirjam Choufoer, lecturer Fashion Products and Production at TMO Fashion Business School and Jeans Specialist at TMO / Detex Opleidingen
TMO Fashion Business School study by the author of this piece and specifically the book 'Fashion Advisor' by Mirjam van den Bosch, Astrid Hanou and Hans van Otegem, publisher Stichting Detex - Opleidingen, 2003, second edition, chapter Jeans (published here with permission of Detex)
Content from the FashionUnited archive by authors Yasmine Esser, Marthe Stroom, May-Anne Oltmans, Caitlyn Terra, Vivian Hendriksz, Anne Buis and Don-Alvin Adegeest (the original publications can mostly be found in the linked article text).
Wikipedia page 'Jeans'
Video from the University of the Netherlands 'Why have jeans become the standard?', October 2015.
Research and Markets research report 'Denim Jeans - Global Market Trajectory & Analytics', July 2022.
Research and Markets in its report 'Denim Jeans - Global Market Trajectory and Analytics' in January 2023
Background
Denim
Fashion Education
Indigo
Jeans