There isn’t a more ubiquitous article of clothing than blue jeans. From cowboys to presidents, from the field to the runway, jeans’ popularity has crossed class, age, and regional differences — everybody wears them. And this denim doesn’t just take the form of indigo pants: Jeans today come at every shape, price point, and even color.
Yet jeans are more than just a staple in Americans’ wardrobes. They are a symbol of “America” itself, holding an iconic cultural status unlike any other garment.

Like many American traditions, jean cloth did not originate on the continent. This steady, dark-blue cotton fabric first came to America from the French city Nîmes and thus was called “denim” cloth from the French serge de Nîmes. European fascination with the color blue and the increasing profitability of the indigo trade, made it — together with cotton — the perfect crop in the slave economy that flourished in the colonies and later the United States.

In the nineteenth century, denim became known as “Negro Cloth” — alluding both to the people who manufactured and wore it. Its utilitarian use continued to appeal to workers even after the abolishment of slavery. This was especially true in mining communities in the West, whose work demanded sturdy clothing made on a mass scale.
The discovery of gold in California and the subsequent Gold Rush that brought millions to the region in search of prosperity also attracted many retailers who saw it as a commercial opportunity to expand their business. This was true for a recent Jewish immigrant from Bavaria named Levi Strauss, who was sent to establish his family’s wholesale company branch in San Francisco.

As Strauss expanded his business all across the West, following the mining and railroad boom of the 1860s, his store offered workers utilitarian clothes and boots. In 1872, he teamed up with a tailor named Jacob Davis, another Jewish immigrant from Riga, who made a name for himself specializing in mining workwear. Seeking to make pants more durable, Davis added rivets to his design, believing they would be “good fastening for a pocket.” On May 20, 1873, after several failed attempts, Patent Number 139,121 was issued in the names of Jacob W. Davis and Levi Strauss & Co. of San Francisco, California, and the official Levi’s jeans were born.

What started as a utilitarian solution for working class men quickly turned into a fashion item. In 1886, Levi’s added the famous leather patch with the company’s trademark of two horses pulling riveted jeans in opposite directions, without tearing them, making the company the “”Two-Horse brand.” By 1890, the popular pants design received their 501® lot number, and by the early twentieth century, after so many customers asked for the “Levi’s pants,” the company trademarked the name as well, this time calling them jeans.
Hollywood also played an important role in turning blue jeans into a fashion icon. Starting in the 1930s, Westerns had romanticized the rough, tough, and even outlaw image of the denim-clad cowboy, and by the 1950s, stars like James Dean and Marlon Brando turned blue jeans into a statement of youthful rebellion.

As blue jeans made their way from mining towns and cattle ranches into the streets, they also appealed to new markets. In 1934, when women wearing pants was still considered an anomaly, Levi’s came out with their first women’s line: Lady Levi’s®.

By the 1960s, as young people all across the world challenged class, racial, and gender norms, wearing blue jeans offered a powerful statement, marking it as the ultimate attire of protest. Jeans were adopted by young civil rights activists in the South as a practical attire to resist attacks from the police, while also showing solidarity with Black sharecroppers. Even Martin Luther King Jr. has discarded his famous suits in favor of a denim workwear during the 1963 Birmingham protest, showing his solidarity with Black working-class demands for economic justice. Soon after, activists traded their “Sunday best” that was popular attire during the first sit-ins in favor of what was known as “SNCC Skin”: blue jeans and afros.
The anti-war and Hippie movement also embraced jeans as their favorite protest attire, due to its democratic image as well as its accessibility. The rough cloth worked well with the counterculture ideology that sought to challenge bourgeois norms and etiquette. The unisex nature of the pants, which by the 1960s and 1970s were worn by men and women alike, also made it a favorite protest garment among feminists. The association of blue jeans with youth and rebellion continued into the 1980s as hip-hop artists incorporated them into their image as a symbol of self-expression and creativity as well as defiance against conformity.


While a large part of jeans’ popularity was due to their accessibility, by the mid-1970s the pants were not just confined to workwear or streetwear, but has transformed into high fashion, as couture designers like Valentino, Yves St. Laurent, and most notably Calvin Klein rebranded the fabric. Klein’s 1980 provocative ad, featuring the then 15-year-old star Brooke Shields, turned the pants from a symbol of protest to a sexy clothing item devoid of its working-class origins.
If jeans today can be seen in every part of the world, boasting an $86 billion industry, their long history and entrenchment in American culture remind us that like the United States, the meaning of blue jeans has continued to adapt and change through the years. Whether seen as a symbol protest and rebellion, of youth and glamour, or of resilience and hard work, blue jeans are as American as apple pie.
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Comments
Another great, well researched feature Einav. The story of the ubiquitous article of clothing is anything but otherwise as you present it here, and I appreciate the links. For a laugh but mostly a smile, do check out ‘Laughing Levis Commercial’ from the summer of 1972. A whole 1 minute in length featuring a memorable catchy tune/singer, a carefree boy, delightful dog and still eye-popping trick photography and editing.
Dear Editor:
I for one am pleased, the denim jeans are now fashionable, as I am terribly allergic to wool or anything with wool
in product.
Toooo many years ago, the Boy Scout uniform was 100% wool fabric, and, I would come home looking like a well boiled Maine lobster. The main reason I quit going to the Scouts weekly meetings.
So am grateful to Mr. Strauss for his denim clothing.
Sincerely.
Gord Young
Peterborough ON-
This subject was addressed some years ago in a PBS American Experience DVD. “Riveted: The History of Jeans,” was presented by Little Bay Pictures, LLC in 2022. It featured various artists inducted into the Hall of Fame throughout the years and their take on this iconic fashion statement. Very interesting.
I recall as a little boy in the 1960’s, my mom would go to P.N. Hersh and buy me Blue Bell jeans. They always had a little comic book attached to the back pocket, which was a great marketing ploy. As I became a teenager in the 1970’s, the trend was Levi’s. But, my parents couldn’t afford the national brand. So, my mom took me to J.C. Penny’s and bought me “Plain Pockets” for $10.00 a pair. As an adult, I migrated towards Wrangler jeans because they fit well on me. My daughter bought me a couple of pairs of Dickies for Christmas. She paid $40.00/pair for them which is 4 X the amount my mom paid for my jeans in 1970. Unlike a lot of my contemporaries, I rarely wear jeans to church. I still wear a suit and tie . But everywhere else, a faded pair of blue jeans.
I wear them every day. I’ve seen some brands go away over the years like Sedgefield & Dee Cee (or at least I can’t find them sold anywhere in stores or online). My preferred jeans come from Duluth, but I also like Lee and Red Head (Cabela’s) brand too. The best thing is the relaxed fit. Perfect for riding my motorcycle. Unbinding.