When it comes to jeans, almost everyone has at least one pair in their wardrobe and for many of us, they are the casual trouser of choice. In this article, i’ll be exploring the origin of jeans, discussing their rise in popularity and will finish by looking at the various options currently available to buy.
A Quick Look Back At The History Of jeans
Jeans were first designed as practical, hard wearing workwear for labourers working in mines. Also popular with farmers, jeans were the brainchild of a U.S. tailor called Jacob Davis, who first had the idea to reinforce jeans using rivets, a move the proved extremely popular thanks to the added durability that they provided.
Unable to finance a patent to protect his invention, Jacob Davis contacted his fabric supplier for help. Who was that supplier? Levi Strauss. The newly patented trousers became known as Levi’s and were initially made in two different fabrics, a canvas-like cotton duck and in denim.
Largely thanks to 1950’s movie stars, jeans soon became cool and desirable
In the 1950’s when movie stars took to wearing jeans, they were given a cool image that the masses rushed to copy. Slowly jeans began to be less associated with workwear and more associated with what was hip and cool.
The Enduring Appeal of Denim Jeans
No matter where you stand on the issues, love them or loathe them, there is no denying that the popularity of jeans endures, and with a multitude of different styles and colours to choose from, there are more options available than ever, making it easy to find a jean that fits your individual style.
The quality, styling and fit of a pair of denim jeans varies massively. From budget supermarket jeans costing a few pounds, right through to designer and tailor made jeans costing many hundreds of pounds. But is an expensive pair of jeans really worth it?
The Guinness Book of Records lists Escada’s Couture Swarovski Crystal Jeans at £5,800 as the worlds most expensive jeans.
Cheap jeans as a rule will always fall short in terms of quality – a much thinner denim fabric may be used, or indeed a thin cotton, simply finished to resemble a true denim jean. Thinner fabric means less durability which will in turn mean they need to be replaced sooner. Another telltale sign of cheaper jeans is the quality of stitching, seams will be flimsy and the stitching will be minimum, making it more likely that seams will split.
Another big difference tends to be in terms of cut, as cheap jeans are cut to appeal and to fit the widest possible audience, they will often be cut from a forgiving (often quite shapeless) pattern designed to fit as many different figures as possible. As a result, cheap jeans often fit badly, though this is not always the case, and we’ve certainly seen some decent examples for under £25.
Buying jeans on the high street is one thing, but buying jeans online makes it difficult to know what kind of fit your getting and how that fit will translate to you when you actually put them on and wear them! For this reason, I believe that the easiest way to buy jeans that fit well online, is to go for made to measure jeans.
Made To Measure Jeans Offer Incredible Value
For the best fitting jeans it make sense to pay for quality, but that doesn’t mean you have to go with a designer brand or high street label, and it certainly doesn’t mean that you have to pay a fortune! Made to measure jeans are an excellent way to ensure your online purchase is the perfect fit when it arrives.
Alexanders of London have beautiful made to measure denim jeans starting at just £40. That means you get a jean bespoke to you, that will fit perfectly and look stunning.
Take a look at the men’s made to measure jeans that Alexanders of London have available on their website here.
