While blue jeans are often seen as a quintessential symbol of American culture, their origins predate the nation’s existence and lie across the Atlantic.
The familiar narrative of blue jeans often begins in 17th-century Nîmes, France, with the creation of a sturdy fabric called “serge de Nîmes,” supposedly the origin of the word “denim.” However, this story is more complex than it appears. The purported “serge de Nîmes” seems to have been woven from wool and silk, a far cry from the predominantly cotton denim we know today.
Fashion historian Emma McClendon, in her book Denim: Fashion’s Frontier, proposes an alternative theory: denim might actually be an English textile cleverly branded with a French name for added prestige. This theory aligns with the period’s advancements in English cotton spinning technology and the vast cotton and indigo resources available to England through its colonies in India and the Americas. Indigo, of course, is crucial, providing the characteristic blue dye for the iconic garment.
Regardless of its true birthplace, denim was present in the American colonies long before the American Revolution. A 1723 advertisement in a Philadelphia newspaper mentions “serge denim breeches” worn by a runaway, predating the birth of Levi Strauss, the Bavarian immigrant often mistakenly credited with denim’s American introduction, by several decades.
Levi Strauss came on the scene
While Strauss played a significant role in shaping modern blue jeans, he isn’t solely responsible for their creation. His company’s website even calls him “the inventor of the quintessential American garment.”
Strauss immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1840s and joined his brothers’ New York City-based wholesale dry goods business, which specialized in fabrics. In 1853, he moved to San Francisco during the California Gold Rush to open a branch of the business.
However, it wasn’t until two decades later that the iconic jeans were invented, and Strauss shared the honor with Jacob Davis, a tailor from Reno, Nevada. Davis found that adding metal rivets to work pants made them more durable. To increase production, Davis contacted Strauss, his fabric supplier, according to Lynn Downey’s biography, Levi Strauss: The Man Who Gave Blue Jeans to the World.
In 1872, Strauss and Davis jointly filed a patent for “Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings,” which was approved in 1873, marking the birth and patenting of blue jeans.
Strauss began manufacturing the jeans, with Davis as the factory superintendent. Around 1906, two years after Strauss’ death and two years before his own, Davis transferred his patent rights to Levi Strauss & Co., the enduring company that outlived them both.
Hollywood’s influence propels the popularity of jeans
Throughout the early 20th century, blue jeans maintained consistent sales, but they were primarily viewed as work attire, not the versatile clothing item they would eventually become. This perception began to shift during the Great Depression of the 1930s, as explained by historian Carolyn Purnell, author of “Blue Jeans” (2023).
Purnell stated: Before the Depression, blue jeans were strictly associated with the working class. However, denim companies quickly recognized that struggling workers and farmers weren’t buying new jeans, so they shifted their focus to middle-class consumers.
Purnell also points out that the marketing strategy benefited from the widespread appeal of Hollywood Westerns, where the heroes frequently wore jeans, despite historical accuracy (real cowboys favored softer pants). Jeans manufacturers also expanded their reach by introducing jeans specifically designed for women, such as Levi Strauss’ “Lady Levi’s” in 1934.
Later, film icons like Marlon Brando and James Dean further popularized jeans, transforming them into a symbol of youthful rebellion in movies like “The Wild One” (1953) and “Rebel Without a Cause” (1955). This rebellious image, however, also led to a negative reaction against jeans, often manifested through dress codes. While American youth embraced jeans for almost every occasion, Purnell notes that many traditional parents considered them inappropriate for formal settings like school or work.
Designer Jeans
Many parents eventually relinquished control over their children’s clothing and even adopted jeans themselves, particularly on weekends. The 1970s saw denim elevated to high fashion by designers like Calvin Klein and Gloria Vanderbilt, who showcased jeans on runways, transforming them into coveted items with corresponding price increases. In 1980, Calvin Klein further sexualized the image of blue jeans with a controversial television commercial featuring a young Brooke Shields and the suggestive line, “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.”
However, jeans remained largely excluded from professional office settings until the 1990s when “Casual Fridays” were introduced as a cost-effective way to improve employee morale. Simultaneously, jeans had become a global phenomenon and a symbol of American cultural influence, regardless of its positive or negative perception.
