Denims or jeans have become a universal garment of sorts, worn by a pauper and a prince alike. But not many of you would know that the first pair of jeans were designed for workers and miners.
Called the ‘bull denim’ the garment was worn by industrial workers as it was more durable than any other piece of clothing.
They were considered so random that until 1960, Levi Strauss (the inventor of jeans) called its flagship product ‘waist overalls’ and not ‘jeans’ and it was only in 1950s that Hollywood actor James Dean popularised them, thanks to his movie ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ and wearing jeans became a symbol of youth rebellion and style.
Now that the garment is super popular and worn by absolutely everyone, there’s still a little unknown fact about the jeans that we bet none of you know!
If you are wearing a pair of jeans right now, just take a moment to look at the small buttons on the pockets. Yes, the extremely tiny ones, well don’t know what are these designed for? Let us spill the beans for you.
As mentioned before, since the denims were worn by the working class, they used to end up getting torn because of all the hard physical labour. The jeans used to specially get ripped from the side pockets and workers really needed their pockets to remain intact. A tailor named Jacob Davis, who was also a regular customer of Levi Strauss & Co. came up with a pathbreaking innovation in 1873 and denims never remained the same.
Fed up of the torn pockets, Jacob decided to place metal copper rivets as fasteners to make the seam where the pockets attach stronger than ever before. This innovation not only gave a unique look to the garment but it also held the pockets and the jeans together to perfection, preventing them from being ripped off from the sides.
Since Jacob knew his idea would be welcomed by all, he thought of patenting the same but couldn’t due to insufficient funds. Later in 1872, he wrote to Levi Strauss and struck a deal by making Strauss pay for the patent!
Interesting, isn’t it?