"Jeans": the origin of the word. Official history of jeans

Today it is very difficult to find such a person who does not wear jeans. The origin of the word, however, which we so often use in everyday life, is unknown to almost anyone. In order to better understand what we are saying and learn a little more about such familiar and convenient things, we decided to write this article. A lot of interesting facts, which will be given below, will tell you not only about how the first jeans appeared. The origin of the word, the term, as well as its adaptation in Russian speech, is what we are going to reveal.

Romance Story

Since the beginning of the 16th century, weaving has been very developed in the Italian province of Genoa. Among the whole variety of materials that were produced there was also a very rough twill with a diagonal weave. The fabric was not in great demand among the aristocracy, because in those days it did not even have its own name. Over time, this material interested the French and, buying it in Genoa, they called it - Gene. When the fabric was already more or less adapted in France, the name was transformed into Janne. From there already and moved to English a little bit modified - Jean, which remains to this day. Thus, it turns out that the history of the origin of the word "jeans" does not apply to American immigrants, to cowboys from the wild west and horsemen. The word is purely European, which only later fell into the expanses of America.

Denim, who has not changed at all

Surely each of us is perfectly familiar with the term "denim". In many modern and ancient sources it is used as a synonym for the word "jeans". The origin of this word is also a very fascinating story. After they began to supply Italian fabric to France, the designers drew attention primarily to its unattractive color - light brown. Because it was decided to paint the material in a blue tone, and all this was done in a town called Nîmes. So the term "denim" appeared, which now can mean both a certain color tone, and an element of the wardrobe of a man or a woman.

Coping in antiquity

According to some sources, for the first time such a tissue began to be used by people as early as 300 AD. E. In this period, the history of the origin of the word "jeans" begins, since in the documentation the material is written under the names denim and gene. It is curious that a very large supply of such a fabric could be traced from Genoa to the UK. Englishmen, receiving this product, renamed it in their own way, and the word jean known to us was obtained. Later, in 1429, Christopher Columbus set out on his expedition to find a new way to India. The sails with which his ship was capped were made of a denim unpainted cloth. However, it is officially believed that the origin and history of the word "jeans" originate directly from the 16th century. After Columbus discovered the New Earth, his "canvas" also became famous. It is from this matter, which was then called then jen, then denim, that most Italian sailors began to wear pants. By the way, by their cut they had a lot in common with modern jeans.

Looking for answers in painting

In the USSR, it was customary to believe that jeans pants are the work of American designers, in fact, like the material itself. In fact, if you look closely at some old canvases, you can find a funny thing. Some canvases depict people who are clothed in clothes from a given fabric or simply in ordinary jeans. The origin of the word just dates from the same years as the work of unknown masters. On one of the paintings you can see a woman standing in a dark blue skirt. By the type of fabric, you can determine that it is denim. There is also a canvas where a boy in a denim shirt is depicted, from beneath which a white lining sticks out. Many sailors and even vagabonds who lived in Europe in the 16th century, were sealed by artists in jeans trousers straight cut. It's funny that it was not possible to establish the identity of the artist (or artists) to whom these paintings belong. Therefore, conditionally in history he was given the name "Master of blue jeans".

Distribution of the term and clothing itself

The origin of the word "jeans" in a more modern sense can really be attributed to America. During the period when the Wild West was being built, when the middle and southern parts of America were populated by farmers from Europe, it was for them that they began to sew jeans outfits. Since the majority of the population spoke precisely in English, the name of the material that was supplied here for sewing working uniforms was attributed to the letter s. This indicated, as it were, the plural of an uncountable noun - a fairly frequent occurrence in the English language (trousers, shorts). By the beginning of the 20th century, this "uncountable noun" moved to the expanses of the Russian Empire, although only the richest people knew of it, who had the opportunity to purchase foreign goods. In our country, the word "jeans" was turned into a plural according to our rules, in the course of which the "jeans" known to everyone today turned out.

Official history of jeans

Due to the fact that for all cowboys and other workers who came to the States, it was necessary to sew massively the working form, it was decided to use the described fabric as the main material. The patent for the production of a new type of clothing was first acquired by Leib Strauss (or Levi Strauss), the son of a certain Jew who had long been living in America. According to the official version, it was he who came up with the very design of jeans, which for many years was considered a classic. At that time, such a development was a real sensation. Pants had a total of four pockets. Two were located in front, one behind, and one on the front of the pants - small, for the clock. Pants for the working class, which were sold in America, were painted in the color of indigo - saturated blue. At that time, their price was 1 dollar and 46 cents for one unit of the goods.

Unofficial version of creating jeans

All sources, describing the origin of jeans, for some reason with full confidence state that this is the work of Levi Strauss. But if you dig more carefully in history, then very interesting facts come up that point to the opposite. In accordance with them, the design of new work clothes was developed by Jacob Davis (by the way, a native of Russia). It was he who came up with pants that can be sewn from natural and durable fabric, and plus to this make them a real design discovery. He designed pockets, pants, and rivets. Money for a patent was not found in the workaholic, because he borrowed them from Strauss. The same one took the discovery to himself, and everyone forgot about Davis.