Jeans Art II

Because jeans were made in Chieri, Italy during the Renaissance and sold through the harbor of Genoa, the name Jeans came existence and is derived from the French phrase bleu de Gênes which means 'blue of Genoa', while denim comes from the French town Nîmes. De Nîmes literally means 'from Nîmes.

Jeans became popular in the 1800s, because the Navy of Genoa demanded strong, sturdy trousers for the sailors. Denim met those requirements and a cute fact is that the pants were washed by dragging them in nets behind the ship. Due to sun and sea, the jeans wound slowly fade and turn white.

In the 1850s, Levi Strauss sold jeans under his own name "Levi's" to the miners of California. Jacob Davis, who was a tailor and customer of Strauss, noticed how one of his customers kept purchasing cloth to reinforce his torn jeans.

Davis came up with the idea of using copper rivets to strengthen those strained points like pocket corners and the top of the button fly. Davis and Strauss both went in on this and patented the "Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings," on May 20, 1873.

To be continued...