Blue jeans have changed

[elizilla]

I haven't bought blue jeans in years. But recently I've decided to get some.

I've noticed as the styles have changed. The teenage fashion mavens are wearing jeans that have strange fade patterns, the front of the thighs are almost white. The ripped jeans thing continues from the days when I last wore jeans regularly. There's a trend for jeans to have embroidery, and a trend for them to be cut lower in the waist, and a trend for them to swing wide at the bottom of the legs. But this is all just fashion stuff, and I find the stores also still sell more conservative styles that look just like what the less-trendy people have always worn.

The thing that's weirding me out, is that the new jeans are made of some other material that looks similar but feels odd. What happened to denim? When did jeans get soft? I guess I haven't touched any new jeans in a long time, so I expected them to feel the same under my hands. The Levi 505 jeans look exactly like they did 25 years ago, and the fashion jeans still look like jeans despite the goofy fashion things. But they all feel different. This is not the same material. What is up with that? When did denim disappear and get replaced by this stuff?

Comments

[the-epic.livejournal.com]

It's funny, the only denim in jeans I've found in the last few years has been in my kevlar reinforced motorcycle ones and in cheap jeans I buy at bargin stores...they're still denim despite their low, low price!

[pi3832.livejournal.com]

This is not the same material. What is up with that? When did denim disappear and get replaced by this stuff?

I have no idea, but I've noticed the same thing. Denim jeans used to be made of heavier stuff, almost canvas-like. (Isn't that how jeans got started? Mr. Levi making pants out of tent canvas?)

Jeans these days feel more like slacks than the jeans of old. Personally, I prefer the older, heavyweight kind.

[fourgotten.livejournal.com]

I'm with you. That's why I prefer to buy Carhartt or equiv.

10 oz duck is still my fabric-of-choice 'cause I can't wear it out. Some of the light denim things that I've seen the last few years just aren't up to snuff.

It's still denim, it's just a lighter denim. Not as course and tough.

'course, I haven't checked out the Lee dungarees, but the commercial says that you "can't bust 'em." I'm skeptical.

[rmeidaking.livejournal.com]

It depends on the jeans. You can still get the stiff fabric, if you look for it. But it became fashionable some time ago to have 'pre-washed' or 'stone-washed' jeans, which have all the stiffness worked out of them. That's what you'll find at Meijer or similar stores.

If you want tough, stiff denim, shop at Cabela's. They cater to a different fashion. :-)

Yeah, Carhartts!

[(Anonymous)]

Personally, I'd eschew Cabela's in favor of Swann's in Howell for cheap(er) Carhartts. Still the finest indestructable cotton duck & cotton drill.

But then, I'm funny like that; ask Kath.

-Rig