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de nim arrives
A twill fabric calld 'de nim' was available in the UK and a fabric called 'Jean', a cotton, linen and/or wool mix, was being produced in Lancashire by the end of the 1600s. -
Genoa sailors
Sailors in genoa wear full length trousers made from a fabric known as 'genes', 'jean' or 'jeans fustian'. The term 'jeans' was therefore a fabric term before it became a garment term, and was a twill weave, sometimes with a satin finish, that came in many colours including white. -
serge de nimes
A fabric called 'serge de Nimes," was known in France prior to the C17 -
all cotton
By the C18 jean cloth was made completely of cotton, and used to make mens' clothing, valued especially for its property of durability even after many washings. -
the introduction of trousers
Trousers were worn by sailors, rivermen and a few street tradesmen. -
Thomas Rowlandson
Thomas Rowlandson, British cartoonist, produces a print of a 'Ship's Carpenter' wearing blue sailors' trousers - the fore-runner of jeans. -
Lord Byron
George Lord Byron, the famous English poet, adopts sailor-style trousers; breeches begin to fall out of use as a basic men's wear and trousers become establiahed as the norm for all men, irrespective of class. -
waist overalls
The birth of the 'Waist Overall', or Jeans' as we know them today developed in the States as strong durable work-wear for miners and labourers. -
Levi Strauss invents rivets
Levi Strauss was granted a patent for the inclusion of copper rivets in the stress point of work clothes. -
artists...
Artists and middle-class non-conformists begin to become associated with jeans; and the romantic mythology of the American pioneers takes root in visual and literary culture. -
gold miners
Gold moners in California waering denim overalls -
cowboy movies
Western style movies depicting cowboys wearing jeans exposed denim jeans to new audiences all over the world -
denim and war...
Jeans and dungarees are issued as part of civilian work-wear in the war effort in the USA. The growth of cenima and the wild west genre in popular film further promotes jeans as a 'radical' choice for men, particularly young men. The association between jeans and sexual attraction develops, sometimes with homosexual connotations (James Dean). -
Levis
hub web siteLevis decide to change 'work apparell' to 'jeans' and thus starting a whole new fashion movement. -
testing
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GIs...
American GIs, stationed abroad during WW2, helped to promote jeans outside the USA and by the late 1940s jeans were becoming acceptable leisure-wear and no longer strictly for labourers and cowboys.
