Most women will be familiar with this little morning ritual. It’s the one where you open the wardrobe door and stare hard into it hoping that something will pop right out and say “Wear me, wear me!” Sometimes I even close the door a couple of times and re-open it just to check if anything has changed. However, my faithful denims always save the day and in the end even my socializing is determined by how welcome my denims would be!
Cuckoo as that may sound, which other fashion can claim over a century of existence?
That’s right, denims first came about in the 1800s. Levis Strauss, a german immigrant who sold tents and wagon covers during the gold rush in California in 1853 first created denims out of tenting material for clients who needed strong pants that would endure the harsh environment of the mines. Later he added rivets to give the pockets a longer life, patented the idea and lo! behold! blue denims were created in 1873!
Scoff not you, haughty fashionista in the emerald green shorts of the season, at the humble ‘denim’ for its origins can be traced to France.
Legend says that the fabric was originally created in the Middle Ages in Nîmes, France, under the name “serge de Nîmes”. And as is the attitude of the Americans to names they cannot pronounce, when it reached America in the 1800s, the name was shortened to ‘denim’.
We all know how this wonderful story evolved and how the multi talented denim has taken on various personalities. Shorts, shirts, skirts, pantaloons, jackets, handbags, dresses, overalls, duvet covers and even curtains. Precariously hanging on the low hip of a teenage rebel sometimes, sometimes holding up the apple bottom of a menopausal who has let go.
And no matter what we inflict on it – stone washing, sand blasting, acid washing. Pink dye. It remains the one constant in every wardrobe. The one fabric that weaves for slaves, labourers, farmers, rebels, soldiers, hippies, rock stars, celebrities and everyday people.
Deserves that exalted position in your wardrobe doesn’t it?
