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Is there any item of clothing more associated with America’s rugged individualism and unpretentious worldview than blue jeans? Since their debut in the 1870s, denim pants have gone from work wear to luxury commodity and everything in between....
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Is there any item of clothing more associated with America’s rugged individualism and unpretentious worldview than blue jeans? Since their debut in the 1870s, denim pants have gone from work wear to luxury commodity and everything in between. Today, blue jeans appeal to people of all ages and classes, but it’s been a long slog for the pants to make it into mainstream fashion. Levi Strauss & Company introduced its distinctive indigo-dyed denim trousers, whose seams were riveted with copper for extra durability, in the early 1870s. Originally, Strauss had used imported canvas for his pants, but to counter fabric shortages he turned to denim manufactured by the Amoskeag mill in New Hampshire. (In 1915, Levi Strauss & Co. moved most of its denim production to Cone Mills in Greensboro, North Carolina.) The word “denim” came from the material’s birthplace in the south of France, where it was known as the fabric from the town of Nîmes or “serge de Nîmes.” The word “jeans” was likely spawned from the French word for Genoa—Genes—an Italian port town where sailors were some of the first denim adopters. Blue denim was well-suited to the tough work environment of California’s ranchers and gold miners, and after a Nevada tailor named Jacob Davis added rust-proof rivets in 1872, Levi’s were in high demand. The brand added its signature leather label in 1886, marked with an illustration of two horses attempting to pull apart a pair of jeans, a publicity stunt Strauss had supposedly organized to convey his product’s strength. Though Levi’s created the gold standard with its sturdy 501 XX button-fly jeans, many companies would soon copy this style of denim pants. Among Levi’s competitors. H.D. Lee, who began producing denim work clothes like overalls in the 1890s, has had the most staying power. However, it wasn’t until the 1910s that Lee’s clothing business really took off, after he developed a one-piece garment called the Union-All. Combining a denim jacket and...
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