Cowboy

Author: Chen Yifei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Wearing denim is our habit, describing denim is our responsibility. From standard workwear to cutting-edge fashion, denim's 150-year journey is filled with rich history. Burn your vision with cool denim images and be amazed by denim stories. Discover an exciting world, starting with a pair of jeans from your own closet. How would you describe denim? It's a question. After a process of deconstruction, denim has become a way to show off, a way to be narcissistic, a way to rebel, a way to identify oneself, a way to vent, a way to express, a way to destroy, a way to be unrestrained. This ever-changing second skin can actually tell you more than just the feeling of wearing it. Since starting this book about denim, I've been in a "" state. Walking down the street, any denim clothing triggers my nerves. That's not entirely bad, but what exhausts me is the frequency at which my nerves are triggered. One day, while casually rummaging through my closet, I noticed that jeans had spread like a virus, occupying more and more space. It turns out I've been infected by denim for a long time. With this reminder, are you also struck with a realization and a smile? Have you ever wondered about the origins of denim? Can you name a few famous denim brands off the top of your head? Have you occasionally imitated celebrities' cool denim styles? Or have you ever, while daydreaming, given denim different titles? Denim can showcase our edge, reconciling the contradiction between noble fantasies and casual attire. Denim loves youth and sports; why not have some fun with it? "Fashion fades, but style is eternal!" — Chanel denim (Written by Chao Huang)
Fashion comes and goes, like the tide washing away the impure and leaving the essence. What fashion product can stand the test of time for 500 years amidst changing trends, transcending every imaginable social classification: age, gender, class, religion, nationality, and more, still beloved by people? It remains humble, born from the masses, full of approachability: it graces the wardrobes of nobles and celebrities alike; it doesn't claim superiority but has sparked a global fashion craze. It is denim clothing, made from denim or denim fabric, with jeans being the earliest and most iconic example. Let's delve into the origins of denim and jeans.
When discussing the origins of denim clothing, we naturally turn to the origins of denim. Denim, in English, refers to this durable, practical, rough fabric that appeared 500 years ago, primarily used for making sails. Because it originated from a small French town called Nimes, it was named "Serge de Nimes" in French. When this twill fabric was first brought to England, merchants found it difficult to pronounce "Serge de Nimes," so they shortened it to "Denim," which is denim, sometimes transliterated as "denim." Whether this origin is entirely accurate or if the denim of that time is the same as today's denim is now hard to verify. However, one thing is certain: in the 16th and 17th centuries, twill fabric already existed in Europe. And modern denim is indeed twill fabric.
In denim clothing, the first to appear was, of course, jeans. Who was the "scissors hand" that turned twill denim into jeans? The earliest records of "Jeans" date back to 1567. In northern Italy, there was a port called Genoa. Foreign merchants referred to the sailors working in the port as "Genoese." These sailors liked wearing sturdy, rough work pants made from a local fabric called "Genoese" or "Genes," which had a similar pronunciation to "Jeans." The name "Jeans" was officially adopted by Levi Strauss & Co. in the 1860s to describe this twill pants inspired by Genoese sailor pants. Before that, people called them "waist-high overalls" or "pantaloons."
Since Levi Strauss registered the patent for the first jeans with a metal pocket in 1873, the term "jeans" began to be used to refer to various types of twill pants. These pants were initially laborwear, worn by the "blue-collar" workforce on production lines, so until 1930, denim clothing was also called "overalls," or work pants (early jeans didn't have belt loops and were worn with suspenders. It wasn't until 1922 that suspenders were removed and belt loops were added). In the mid-1950s, Levi Strauss & Co. began advertising its products, and jeans then became popular in the United States.