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A mainstay of modern fashion, the denim jean’s evolution since its invention in 1873 has not been all smooth-sailing.
Now sported by Hollywood starlets, fashion influencers and rebellious legends, it was not always a staple of mainstream culture like today.
Historically, denim was a practical item of workwear, famed for its durability and worn predominantly by miners, cowboys and ranchers.
And historically, denim was only worn by men.
We had to wait about half a century later to get the pleasure of our very own women’s jeans. It’s a colourful story, so let’s take a look at the details.
While working men rocked denim, women’s fashion at the time was dominated by the structured and restrictive bustle silhouette. Coco Chanel did start designing free-flowing trousers in the 1920s, yet these were worn mainly by fashionable young women while at the beach or as eveningwear. It was practically unheard of for women to wear pants before WWII. Only a few pioneering women that worked on farms and rode horses bucked the trend.
As the 1930s rolled around, western films and the American cowboy captured the world’s imagination. And the uniform of rugged stars like John Wayne? The iconic Levi’s jean that captured all the magic and adventure of life out West. This fascination grew so intense that Dude Ranches became a trendy vacation idea. It’s a ranch or farm that city residents would visit and where they would experience an authentic western lifestyle with camping, horseback riding, and fishing.
Ranches became so popular that the craze inspired the creation of the first-ever women’s jeans. The Lady Levi’s were designed by Levi Strauss in 1934 and made to fit the female form. It was a bold move for its time, yet it meant that women no longer needed to buy from the men’s section and could rock denim designed especially for them.
Worn by rebellious, anti-establishment icons like James Dean and Marlon Brando, by the 1950s, denim jeans were a fixture of pop culture and fashion. And this feeling of freedom still symbolises the magic behind denim today.
One of the first female stars to popularise jeans was the always daring, always sensuous Marilyn Monroe. When she wore a figure-hugging pair of Levi’s in her film The Misfits (1961), it changed the perception of women’s jeans forever.
These days, we now have a diverse selection of styles, colours and price points to pick from. We can choose flared styles like the counter-culture hippies of the 60s and the Studio 54 regulars of the disco 70s or the straight-leg, mom jeans popularised in the 90s that stand for effortless cool.
Almost all designers have sent interpretations of jeans down the runway, and the allure of denim only grows stronger as the years roll on. As the legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent told New York Magazine in 1983, “I have often said that I wish I had invented blue jeans. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity — all that I hope for in my clothes.”
Skinny, high-waisted, low, light, bleached or dark, it doesn’t matter which women’s jeans you choose you’ll always be on-trend. Next time you slide on your favourite pair, you can channel the strength, glamour and courage of all the stars and women that have come before.