Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Jeans: A Fashion Staple For Over 50 Years

Question: what one item of clothing can be worn on a Saturday watching footie with the boys, to a first date with a pretty girl and to a Sunday lunch with the new girlfriend’s parents, pending the first date of course? The answer: men's jeans.

Jeans have been a fashion staple for over 50 years now. Almost everyone on the planet, at least in the developed world, owns a pair of jeans. They can be dressed up with a shirt and court shoes when the occasion requires, but look just as good with a pair of old trainers and a scruffy looking hoodie. There aren’t many other items of clothing that can make this claim to fame.

Jeans started as worker wear; farmers and low-skilled labourers first wore them back in the 1930s. They were cheap and hard wearing and so cottoned on quickly. But then, the US Navy made them their own in the 1940s and 50s, but it wasn’t until the eternally cool James Dean donned a pair in Rebel Without A Cause that they wandered into mainstream fashion.

Once they nonchalantly moved into the fashion realm, all kinds of rebellious groups took them as their own. First were the high school kids of America, pairing their football jackets with straight-leg turn-ups.

Then came the hippies of the 1960s who opted for high-waisted flares, known as bell-bottom men’s jeans. This symbolised freedom and equality, with was the basis for the flower-power movement.

Then came disco and looser fitting flares. The point of this was to allow movement to dance to groove.

Next came the punks of the 1980s who took tight fitting, slim fit men’s jeans to a whole new level. They paired their drainpipe jeans with DM boots, leather jackets and spiky hair.

Then in the 1990s hip-hop took over denim. High waisted, loose fitting men’s jeans were paired with over-sized t-shirts and baseball caps as well as high-top trainers, largely thanks to the NBA player Michael Jordan.

So by the time we got to the 2000s, what did we do? Reinvent all the old styles and add modern twists. We now have bootcut, straight, worker with loads of pockets and zips with a baggy feel, twisted and narrow at the ankles and slim fit, the most popular style of men’s jeans at the moment.

All this choice means men can find a shape to suit their own personal style. They can also find men’s jeans that are flattering. In fact, there is now so much choice between men’s jeans that it is sometimes hard to decide what style to go with nex

Tag : jeans,womens jeans,designer jeans

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