Denim Jeans

Stressed Distress

When I first went to Britain I heard the statement buy black, black does not show dirt. I was quite taken aback with this. Having been brought up in the tropics, where we change clothes a few times a day, not only because we sweat but dirt is dirt. Just because dirt is not seen it does not mean the garment worn over a period of time is not dirty.

But recently when I went to Japan more of that dirt situation came into focus. My friend, TJ believed in travelling light. On a ten-day trip my TJ wore the same pair of denim jeans. Ten days in Tokyo and two days of travel there and back, twelve days in all. I was quite appalled.

Then I came to hear the story of denim jeans not being washed for six months. Six months for the lived-in look to create your own body fashion. The lived in jeans gives you ‘whiskers, honeycombs and stacks’… big body fashion statements and your very own too. Your own body distressed denims. Denim fades not only with wash but also with wear. Jeans not washed but worn over a long period of time creates whiskers on the upper thighs, honeycomb behind the knees and stacks around the ankles. For the last you need to buy a size long in the legs. One could try to look even more distressed by creating one’s own raggedy fashion ripped with a pair of scissors.

Weighing The Distress

Jeans fabric originally came from Nimes in France, a serge, Serge de Nimes. It became popular in America in the late 18th Century. Mostly miners and construction workers found it to be sturdy due mainly to the weft supported by more than one warp, which can be seen on the reverse side.

The number of indigo (natural or synthetic) dips gives the fabric the different blue shades, and stretch fabric is created with the introduction of elastic to the fabric.

Denim jeans, distressed or not, is now universal wear.

Dirt Fashion.