Bell-bottoms came and went, came back and then left again. Top hats had their time to shine and platform shoes had an intense, yet short, life. Polyester made a brief appearance and at one time, sailor suits could be seen everywhere, but not anymore. Yet jeans seem to have survived. Jeans achieved one task that is nearly impossible: staying a major trend from the eighteenth century to the present day.
Popularity usually comes with an expiration date, but apparently not for jeans. Who ever thought that jeans would be such a fashion statement and change with each decade? As I look back, I remember falling at the playground and being so heartbroken because I had gotten a hole in my jeans. These days, people are spending a lot of money on clothes that actually have tears in them. Holes are now part
...of the fashion statement. Jeans have changed over drastically over the years from the style, the people who wear each kind, to the brand names.
In relation to Pozner’s article “The Unreal World”, which stereotypes how women are portrayed on reality television, jeans are portrayed in a sense of stereotypical denims. Before jeans were seen as leisure wear, they were seen as work attire. Film stars throughout the 1950s made jeans become very popular. The 1950s youth were the first to embrace jeans as a symbol of their generation. It was the symbol of the teenage rebel in television programs and movies such as James Dean in the 1955 movie Rebel Without a Cause. Some schools in the United States were actually banning students from wearing denim, which caused them to be more popular throughout
the students.
No matter what the stars were wearing, they would make the jeans catchy enough for teenagers to want to go and buy that exact same style. Once pop and film stars like Elvis Presley and James Dean were seen wearing them, they then became desirable internationally in the 1950s and were associated with rock and roll and pop music. At this point in time, jeans were just becoming popular and seen on almost every American teenager in the 1950s. During the Hippie era, or the 1960s, the jean fashions continued to skyrocket.
Many university and college students wore jeans. They were the uniform of the anti-war movement and seen throughout the cold war (Fashionera). As in Pozner’s stereotypes of women, the stereotypical jeans of the 1950s were fixed to suit the fashion of the decade; psychedelic colors, embroidery and cut-offs all became new and essential features of the popular clothing. Jeans then changed into bell-bottom and stonewashed styles that allowed the denim trousers to carry their popularity into the 1970s. Increasing world trade allowed more jeans to be made and sold at lower prices than before, positively affecting sales.
In a lot of non-Western countries, jeans became a symbol of Western decadence and were very hard to find. The 1970s were also a time of the Disco era. In this time, disco was the carrier for bringing flashy styles to the fashion industry. The stereotypical disco person of this decade would be seen wearing the skinny jeans.
Every hem line, pants leg width, and shoe height became accepted along with a casual and sexy dressing including jogging suits, sneakers, message shirts and hot pants (Resources). In this
era, clothes, especially jeans were now being studded with silver studs of many shapes and sizes. Skinny jeans, which are said to make anyone look thinner, were denim jeans that were squeezing in bigger thighs to look smaller. Mostly women of this decade wanted to look thin because thin was “in”.
Frighteningly underweight girls were praised for their gangly physiques, while standard-sized contestants were derided as “plus-sized” at 5 foot 8 inches and 130 pounds (Pozner 446). Here, Pozner proves the point that thin was the ideal look of this decade as well. These jeans also were straight legged and tight to the ankle. They were very popular in this era and were worn by rock bands such as the Rolling Stones. Teenage girls, especially in the USA, would buy their jeans so tight that they would hardly fit in them to begin with and they would soak them in a bath tub to make certain that their wet jeans would dry up to look like, and certainly feel like, nothing short of a second skin (Resources).
These jeans were seen a lot in the punk stereotype. The punk/rock era was taking its toll and becoming infamously known for the skinny jean and the type of people that were seen worn in them. Today's skinny jeans have a much more comfortable fit and feel, but the principles are pretty much the same as they were with the wet tight jeans back in the old days (Latterell). On rare occasions, people will remember that these wet jeans or dried up jeans had to be surgically removed on more than one occasion, but in current times the number of
wet jeans removals in emergency rooms of hospitals have, fortunately, decreased a lot. In the 1980s, jeans were the most accepted form of pants. Designers in this era had no choice but to adopt the jeans popularity into their collection.
This relates to how Pozner states that Holes were now torn on purpose and people were spending money on this look. Jeans became just as popular on women as they already were on men, causing sales to rise. In this decade, these denim pants were seen on high fashion lines as well as the working class society as well. By now, jeans were so popular that they were seen on any type of person.
In the 1980s, skinny jeans still continued to be the “it” jean. They were worn with leg warmers over the bottom portion of the legs and with an open toed-shoe to complement the jean material. They were also rolled because women in the 1980s felt that there could never be tight enough jean (“Amazing 80s”). The 1990s were known as the recession-era of jeans. Jeans never really lost their fame but at this time the parents, the “generation born in blue,” of the teenagers were still trying to squeeze themselves into jeans. No teenager would be caught in anything their parents were wearing and so at this time, jeans were not as popular as they had been for fifty years.
Teenagers at this time were still wearing denim but just in different styles. There were new cuts to the jeans such as boot cut jeans. These were first introduced in 1990's. They originated as a less extreme version of the bell-bottom jean that was
made popular in the hippie days.
They also served as a backlash from the too tight jeans of the 1980's. It's kind of the fashion version of "what goes up must come down” (Denim). Jeans were also seen as vintage, or authentic. These jeans were discovered in markets or thrift shops, and not an ordinary jean store.
Many jean companies, such as Levi Strauss & Co. the number one maker of jeans, had to close eleven North American factories. Boot-cut jeans are easy to identify; in women's jeans, they are tapered at the knee with a slight flare at the ankle to accommodate a boot. And for men they are loose and wide the whole way down (Latterell).
Boot-cut jeans are flattering because they balance out most figures. If a person of this decade were a bit heavy on top a boot cut will have you looking slim in no time. The twentieth century made a turn for denim. In the year 2000, denim made a huge statement in the fashion landscape.It went from being a work-wear fabric, to an item that men could wear to work with a blazer; they could wear denim out at night.
It was really the most celebrated item of 2000. It was huge; it actually changed the face of fashion. So which styles are in and which are dying? Skinny jeans were out for a while and are now coming back in however; they are coming back in color. a lot of celebrities are seen wearing pinks, reds, and blues. Boot cut jeans will always be in and high-waist jeans are not for everyone, and in fact rarely anyone.
Wide-leg jeans are making an
entrance again. Wide- leg pants looks good on any body shape. So how did jeans manage to remain hip for more than a century, from one generation to the next, all over the world and equally between both genders? Evolution is the key to survival. In order to survive, something must adapt to its ever-changing environment. This idea applies to all things, alive and non-living. Without adaptation comes extinction.
It is essential to evolve (Yamhure). Jeans have done exactly that.In the same way that Pozner claims women on television are “a predetermined slate of characters”, jeans have shown their stereotypical form each decade from the teenage rebel to the hippie era. In the constantly changing world of fashion and popular culture, jeans have been adjusted every step of the way to suit their new environment.
With every decade and every new generation, jeans have been adapted in order to ensure their continued popularity.
Works Сited
- 05 Oct. 2007;http://www. Fashionera.com/denim_jeans_and_casual_wear. htm#Film%20Stars%20In%20Denim%20Jeans%20Influence%20The%201950's. 20th
- Century Fashion Resources. " Fashion Flashbacks. 07 Oct. 2007 <http://www.fashion-flashbacks. com/20cen/20cen1970s. html>.
- "Amazing 80's. " 2001. 05 Oct. 2007 <http://www. wwco. com/mailroom/eighties. html>.
- "Denim. " Design Boom.2000. 05 Oct. 2007 <http://www. designboom. com/eng/education/denim2.html>.
- Pozner, Jennifer L. ASU English 101. Boston/ New York: Bedford/ St.Martin's, 2006. 442-453.
- Yamhure, Alessandro. "It's All in the Jeans. " Culture Shock! 2004.05 Oct 05 2007<http://web. mit. edu/cultureshock/fa2003/essays/ alessandro. html>.
