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Wednesday 23 January 2008

Blue or Black?......

David's (Authorblog) question this week is:

Do you wear denim?
If you'd like to join in here's what David would like you to do:
Please answer today's question on your own blog, any time until next weekend. Just link to this blog (or to this post) so I can follow the progress of the discussion.





Of course I wear denim, doesn’t everybody? Blue, Black, Brown I don't care!

I work in an office and have to wear ‘smart’ clothes for work so the first thing I do when I get home is change into my denim jeans. I have lots of jeans, unfortunately most of them don’t fit, but they will soon once I have lost all the weight I’ve put on whilst recovering from my knee op. I have black, dark blue, stonewash jeans, I even have some sparkly ones. I have a jeans jacket too which I love. My favourite pair of jeans are a Versace pair, they were expensive and I haven’t been able to wear them for a ‘very’ long time, but once I reach my goal weight they’ll be coming out of storage.


Apparently in 1853, the California gold rush was in full swing, and everyday items were in short supply. Levi Strauss, a 24-year-old German immigrant, left New York for San Francisco with a small supply of dry goods with the intention of opening a branch of his brother's New York dry goods business. Shortly after his arrival, a prospector wanted to know what Mr. Strauss was selling. When Strauss told him he had rough canvas to use for tents and wagon covers, the prospector said, "You should have brought pants!," saying he couldn’t find a pair of pants strong enough to last. Levi Strauss had the canvas made into waist overalls. Miners liked the pants, but complained that they tended to chafe. Levi Strauss substituted a twilled cotton cloth from France called "serge de Nimes." The fabric later became known as denim and the pants were nicknamed blue jeans. Of course lots of jeans now have lycra in them – what a great invention that was!


I didn’t wear jeans until I was a teenager (70’s) when Bell Bottoms were in fashion. We used to cut the side seams and insert pieces of denim taken from an old pair of jeans to make the bell even wider and of course patches were acceptable too – anything to prolong the life of a favourite pair of jeans and customise them.


Whilst I love my jeans I don’t ‘live’ in them. I wear them round the house and to go shopping in, but I love to get dressed up when MWM and I go out to eat or meet up with friends, jeans, however dressed up, just don’t cut it with me for an evening out. Still I say God Bless Levi Strauss.

26 comments:

lettuce said...

yes, God bless Levi Strauss! what a great invention.

i remember as a teenager paying ridiculous amounts of money for (skin tight) Wranglers which we bought in Millets, of all places!

these days its less money, usually at TKMaxx.

la bellina mammina said...

My first jeans was from Rocco Barocco, and I still have them!

Then I had a pair of Lee and then Levi's...I must have about 15 pairs but always end up wearing the same ones...

Flowerpot said...

I dont wear Levis - mine are £3 from Asda but still denim!

Anonymous said...

99% of all trousers I wear are jeans! What would we do without them!

Dave said...

A day doesn't go by where I don't wear jeans. I have quite a few dress pants plus other fabrics but they sit in the drawers more than I wear them. Jeans are for me... Always casual.

buffalodick said...

Every human I know has a ridiculous amount of jeans- mainly because if you lose or gain 5 stupid pounds- you need a new pair...

Elaine Denning said...

Unless I'm going somewhere nice, I live in jeans as well. I have jeans in my wardrobe in 3 different sizes at the moment...all I have to do is sniff a biscuit to warrant needing a bigger pair!

david mcmahon said...

Where would we be without Mr Strauss. Great work, Pearl - the story of how he made his fortune has always enthralled me.

Funny - unlike you, I only wear blue jeans and only light blue. I'm not fussy about things generally but VERY fussy about denim!!

Thanks, Pearl, for taking part.

CG said...

I love my jeans too :)

Linda said...

I agree - amen for Levi Strauss! My Mom wouldn't let me wear jeans to school so I used to have to sneak out of the house when I was in high school so that I could wear them. Corduroys were okay with her but not jeans. Now she wears them, too!

Anonymous said...

The only thing I feel comfortable in.
I try to avoid suits. Just for meetings, weddings and funerals.

x said...

jeans rule down here, too. :) and they never go out of fashion. :)

G-Man said...

I prefer Dockers...
But I bet you still look good squeezed into a pr of tight jeans....
See ya Friday...xoxox

Dianne said...

does anyone remember Jordache jeans and Gloria Vanderbilt jeans and all the other designers we wore on our butts? I still have a few pairs of those.

I live in my (generic) jeans. Feel most comfy in them.

Julia Phillips Smith said...

Loved the story behind the evolution of jeans. The ones that make me laugh now are the ones that are beat to shreds while hanging 'new' in the store. If I want to wear used-up clothes I don't want to pay full price for them, thanks.

Ron said...

Absolutely!!!!

And you said the magic word, "Levis Strauss." That's the brand that fits me the best!

And the older and more worn the jean gets...the better it feels. I really hate "new jeans" - it always feels like I'm wearing a piece of cardboard. Yuck!

Ahhh...and bell bottoms...the BIGGER the bell...the happier I was.

"You can can ring my be-e-el...ring my bell!"

Thanks for fun post, Akelamalu!

Akelamalu said...

Oh yes, Lettie you can get designer jeans for a lot less at T.K.Maxx! :)

You find a comfy pair and that's it Bella I know. :)

Denim's denim Flowerpot!

What's the other 1% Nice Man? :0

I guess you like to be comfortable Dave? :)

Ain't that the truth Buffalo!

Oh tell me about it MissU :(

Light Blue Jeans eh Davide - were you a surfer by any chance ;)

I think we all do CG.

You naughty girl Linda. :)

Oooh I bet you look dashing in a suit though Cream!

That's so true Acey, they never go out of fashion!

Dockers? What are dockersg-man? You got that right about me having to SQUEEZE into a pair of jeans, don't know about looking good! :) See you tomorrow. x

I think everyone in the world had jeans names after them at some time didn't they Dianne? :)

I know what you mean Julia those jeans with rips and tears just look like crap!

Akelamalu said...

You slipped in whilst I was looking the other way Ron! I love new jeans but once worn I love them newly laundered. My eldest son once complained about me ironing a crease down the front of his jeans - it became his job after that! :)

Misty DawnS said...

Oh yes, I truly love my denim! pants, jacket, vest, shirt - LOVE IT!

Smalltown RN said...

one of my favourite pair of jeans use to be my Levi's...but now they are my Silver's...and my Brody jeans...but as far as lounge wear...nope it has to be my yoga pants....

Akelamalu said...

Misty you're a girl after my own heart.

I've not heard of either Silvers or Brody jeans but I like yoga pants RN. :)

Travis Cody said...

I get to wear jeans to work every day, which is terrific. I wear black Wranglers to work, and when they start to get too faded I get new ones just for work.

I think I have enough pairs of jeans that I can go an entire month and never wear the same pair twice. But the funny thing is that I wear about 4 pair over and over!

CS said...

Love my Levi's - love them. I'd wear them all the time if I could. Blue hip-huggers. Love them.

Akelamalu said...

So what do you wear at weekends then Trav?

Love hip huggers cs, but not on my hips at the moment.

Jo Beaufoix said...

God Bless Levi Strauss indeed. :D

~ej said...

very interesting factoids on mr strauss...love levis, love jeans, but only if they fit well. would live in jeans if i could (and i do quite often)...dressed up or down :-)