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Wearing jeans is so common and popular today, and it is no wonder. Jeans are so durable and trendy. and they don't cost very much. Everyone enjoys the simplicity and comfort for work, for everyday wear and even for formal events. People are wearing jeans for times at home relaxing, as work clothes, for social occasions and even a night out on the town. Jeans withstand the test of time so you can really wear them just about anywhere.

Who Created Blue Jeans?

There is no one person who can be credited as the "inventor" of jeans. It may be hard to believe, but the distinctive pants we now know as "jeans" have evolved over a long period of time - over 400 years.

Jeans are made of denim which is a durable woven cotton fabric that appeals to most people. There are many reasons: denim has long-lasting durability, it is comfortable, it comes in varying hues, it is versatile and it is not terribly expensive. Denim jeans can be worn for hard physical labor, out to dinner, or any type of activity in between.

This distinctive fabric was popularized in Europe. But a similar thick cotton cloth had been made in India since before the 1600s. That older material was called dunagree - the origin of the term "dunagarees" - which was normally dyed in indigo blue and sold in the district near Dongarii Fort on the outskirts of the Indian city of Bombay. Bombay was a major port on the important spice route between Europe and China. Portuguese sailors on trading vessels were the first regular users of dungaree clothing, and they introduced it to other points along the trading routes.

Not too many years later the fabric was being manufactured in Europe, more or less as the thick cotton material we know well today as "denim". In France in the 1600s denim was woven near the city known as Nimes where the cloth was called serge. It became known as "serge de Nimes" which was eventually shortened to "de Nimes" and anglicized to "denim".

The term "jeans" came about because denim trousers were manufactured in the Italian port of Genoa, which is pronounced "Genes" in French. The durable pants were first used by sailors in the Genoese navy. Like teenagers of today, these sailors practically lived in their clothes, which made the denim fabric ideal. The sailors could wear the denim either wet or dry, and it is easy to roll the legs up for swabbing the deck. They could also wash the 'jeans' by putting them in a large net, and dragging them behind the ship.

Hey! What could be more convenient than that?