Jeans

Jeans, trousers made from a durable twilled cotton fabric, principally denim. The terms jeans and denim are often used interchangeably, but strictly speaking, jeans are the garment, and denim is the fabric used to make the garment. Jeans originated in the 19th century as workwear, but in the 20th century they extended far beyond clothing for laborers. They became associated with the American West, youth culture, civil rights, hip-hop, and high fashion. In the 21st century they are valued not only for utility and comfort but also for their ability to cross boundaries of class, gender, age, and national identity.

Jeans have their origins in the United States in the late 19th century, when Jacob Davis, a tailor based in Reno, Nevada, added small copper rivets to reinforce the stress points of a pair of work pants. Recognizing the commercial potential of his design but lacking the funds to manufacture it, Davis partnered with Levi Strauss, whose San Francisco dry-goods company supplied him with cloth. In 1873 the two men received a patent to make and market riveted trousers, then called “waist overalls.” Initially Levi Strauss & Co. made the reinforced pants out of both denim and duck, two sturdy fabrics often woven from cotton, but the more pliable denim trousers eventually prevailed. After the mid-20th century, various adaptations of jeans became a characteristic part of clothing internationally for both men and women. See also denim.