Dungarees, Denim or Jeans?

Are you old enough to remember when jeans were called “Dungarees” ? So am I. So we must be seniors, right? That’s why I decided to use excerpts from a recent Saturday Evening Post article that I thought might be interesting to you; it was to me!  

When I mentioned to my wife what it was thinking about for this week’s column she asked me what’s the origin of the term “Dungaree”? Well here it is, at least according to Wikipedia:

Dungaree fabric (used in English since 1605–15, from the Marithi dongrī) is a historical term for an Indian coarse thick calico cloth. Cotton twill with indigo-dyed warp thread is now more commonly referred to as denim.^. 

Following is an edited (due to space limitations for this column) copy of the Saturday Evening Post article entitled  “Common Threads, From Work Wear to Runway — The American Story of Blue Jeans”:

There isn’t a more ubiquitous article of clothing than blue jeans. From cowboys to presidents, from the field to the runway, jeans’ popularity has crossed class, age, and regional differences — everybody wears them. And this denim doesn’t just take the form of indigo pants: Jeans today come at every shape, price point, and even color.

Yet jeans are more than just a  staple in American’s wardrobes. They are a symbol of “America” itself, holding an iconic cultural status unlike any other garment.

Like many American traditions, jean cloth did not originate on the continent. This steady, dark-blue cotton fabric first came to America from the French city Nîmes and thus was called “denim” cloth from the French serge de Nîmes. European fascination with the color blue and the increasing profitability of the indigo trade, made it, together with cotton, the perfect crop in the slave economy. Its utilitarian use continued to appeal to workers even after the abolishment of slavery. This was especially true in mining communities in the West

The discovery of gold in California and the subsequent Gold Rush that brought millions to the region in search of prosperity also attracted many retailers who saw it as a commercial opportunity to expand their business. This was true for a recent Jewish immigrant from Bavaria named Levi Strauss, who was sent to establish his family’s wholesale company branch in San Francisco.

As Strauss expanded his business all across the West, following the mining and railroad boom of the 1860s, his store offered workers utilitarian clothes and boots. In 1872, he teamed up with a tailor named Jacob Davis, another Jewish immigrant from Riga, who made a name for himself specializing in mining work wear. Seeking to make pants more durable, Davis added rivets to his design,  believing they would be “good fastening for a pocket.” On May 20, 1873, after several failed attempts,  Patent Number 139,121 was issued in the names of Jacob W. Davis and Levi Strauss & Co. of San Francisco, California, and the official Levi’s jeans were born.

What started as a utilitarian solution for working class men quickly turned into a fashion item. In 1886, Levi’s added the famous leather patch with the company’s trademark of two horses pulling riveted jeans in opposite directions, without tearing them, making the company the ” Two-Horse brand.” By 1890, the popular pants design received their 501® lot number, and by the early twentieth century, after so many customers asked for the “Levi’s pants,” the company trademarked the name as well, this time calling them jeans.

Hollywood also played an important role in turning blue jeans into a fashion icon. Starting in the 1930s, Westerns had romanticized the rough, tough, and even outlaw image of the denim-clad cowboy, and by the 1950s, stars like James Dean and Marlon Brando turned blue jeans into a statement of youthful rebellion.

As blue jeans made their way from mining towns and cattle ranches into the streets, they also appealed to new markets. In 1934, when women wearing pants was still considered an anomaly, Levi’s came out with their first Women’s line: Lady Levi’s®.

By the 1960s, as young people all across the world challenged class, racial, and gender norms, wearing blue jeans offered a powerful statement, marking it as the ultimate attire of protest. Jeans were adopted by young civil rights activists in the South as a practical attire to resist attacks from the police, while also showing solidarity with Black sharecroppers. Even  Martin Luther King has discarded his famous suits in favor of denim work wear during the 1963 Birmingham protest, showing his solidarity with Black working-class demands for economic justice. Soon after, activists traded their “Sunday best” that was popular attire during the first sit-ins in favor of what was known as “SNCC Skin” blue jeans and afros.

The anti-war and Hippie movement also embraced jeans as their favorite protest attire, due to its democratic image as well as its accessibility. The rough cloth worked well with the counterculture ideology that sought to challenge bourgeois norms and etiquette. The unisex nature of the pants, which by the 1960s and 1970s were worn by men and women alike, also made it a favorite protest garment among feminists. The association of blue jeans with youth and rebellion continued into the 1980s as hip-hop artists incorporated them into their image as a symbol of self-expression and creativity as well as defiance against conformity.

While a large part of jeans’ popularity was due to their accessibility, by the mid-1970s the pants were not just confined to work wear or street wear, but had transformed into high fashion, as couture designers like Valentino, Yves St. Laurent, and most notably Calvin Klein rebranded the fabric. Klein’s 1980 provocative ad, featuring the then 15-year-old star Brooke Shields, turned the pants from a symbol of protest to a sexy clothing item devoid of its working-class origins.

If jeans today can be seen in every part of the world, boasting an  $86 billion industry, their long history and entrenchment in American culture remind us that like the United States, the meaning of blue jeans has continued to adapt and change through the years.  Whether seen as a symbol of protest and rebellion, of youth and glamour, or of resilience and hard work, blue jeans are as American as apple pie.

So when did you start calling your “Dungarees”, “Blue Jeans”. It was in the 1970’s for me. Hope enjoyed this little excursion into the “fabric” of our American culture!

Thanks for reading All About Seniors… see you next week!

Bill Milby is a Director of Visiting Angels® of Central Georgia, a non-medical, living assistance service for seniors. If you have questions or comments about this column you can reach him at william.mercylink@gmail.com or search for us at  https://www.facebook.com/VisitingAngelsofCentralGA