Daring Denims
by Kamalanath Liyanage
“Denim is one of the world’s
oldest fashions, yet it remains evermore young”
 As we all know, denims and jeans are leading fashionable clothes in
the world and they held the favourable position during the few centuries
after the creation of the material. High durability, extra protection to
the body due to the its hardness, considerable low cost, availability of
different types of outputs (trousers, shirts, jackets, caps and other
products), numerous finishing styles and ability to apply fashionable
things (pockets, labels, stones and metals) are some of the reasons for
the high popularity of denims and jeans.
Denims are also called blue jeans, jeans, dungarees or Levi’s but
some eminent designers distinguish denims and jeans. Some conflict ideas
arise when considering the invention of denims. Legend and fact disclose
the origin of the name ‘denim’. Most reference books say that denim is
an English version of the French phrase “serge de Nimes” a serge fabric
from the town of Nimes in France. Since the seventeenth century, the
British widely used denims for their clothing.
In the eighteenth century as a trade, slave labour and cotton
plantations increased, workers wore denim clothes because the material
was very strong and it did not wear out easily. During the nineteenth
century gold miners had worn denim and jean clothes due to their
strength.
Cowboys often wore jeans in the movies in the western films in the
1930s. History reveals that, American soldiers sometimes wore them when
they were off duty during the Second World War.
In the 1950s, denim became popular with young people because of TV
shows and movies. Some schools in the USA banned students from wearing
denim. The trends for different types of denims commenced in early
1960s. In the 1980s denims became high fashion clothing.
Today, the denim and jeans market for all sorts of denim products is
flourishing. Denims are used today for any and every item from fashion
wear, school uniforms, handbags, spectacle cases to caps.
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