The Story of Blue Jeans - Part 1
Everyone loves blue jeans. They are comfortable, durable, inexpensive, and seem to never go out of fashion. One of the great things about jeans is that they can be worn in almost any situation. They can be worn when performing household chores, for lounging around the home, for working at the office, for evenings out, and especially for informal gatherings of all kinds. Many celebrities even wear jeans when appearing on talk shows. There’s good reason for the expression “you can live in your jeans”.
Who Invented Jeans?
There is no one person who can be credited as the “inventor” of jeans. It may be hard to believe, but the distinctive pants we now know as “jeans” have evolved over a long period of time - over 400 years.
When we think of jeans, we think of the everyday jeans made of denim. Denim is very tough and versatile because it is made with a strong cotton twill material with a unique diagonal weave. Before it made its way to Europe this fabric was being made in India where it was known as dungaree.
Before the 1600’s there was a distinctive cotton cloth developed in India called “dungaree”. This name derives from the area near Bombay where it was made and sold. “Dungaree” became a popular fabric for making clothes for Portuguese sailors on trading vessels plying the Spice Route. It was normally dyed indigo blue, as it still is today. The Portuguese introduced this material to other parts of the world.
Not too many years later the fabric was being manufactured in Europe, more or less as the thick cotton material we know well today as “denim”. In France in 1600s denim was woven near the city known as Nimes where the cloth was called serge. It became known as “serge de Nimes” which was eventually shortened to “de Nimes” and anglicized to “denim”.
These distinctive denim pants becamed known as “jeans” because of their connection to the port of Genoa in Italy. In the 17th and 18th centuries Genoa was a major naval base and their navy was outfitted with blue denim uniforms. They became known as “jeans” because the French word for Genoa is “Genes” and the pants became identified with the Genovese Navy. The durable denim clothes were ideal for sailors who essentially had to live in their clothes 24 hours a day. The jeans were ideal for any environment and could be cleaned by dragging them behind the ship in a fishing net.
Hey! What could be more convenient than that?