by Carol Hoenig

Created on: March 04, 2007   Last Updated: April 16, 2007

May 20, 1873 has been considered the day that blue jeans were first produced by Levi-Strauss. Even though they were manufactured to endure the rugged work many men did, jeans have been fashionably cool. Wrangler jeans was introduced to the market some seventy years later as a part of Wrangler's Western Wear product line. What Wrangler did to compete was to convince celebrity rodeo stars to wear the jeans. After the Rodeo Championships in 1949, the marketing campaign took off. But it wasn't until 1974 that Wrangler Jeans became the official jeans of the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association. I suppose manufacturing something so utilitarian like denim one needs to think creatively in order to get a leg up in the competition.

That's probably why Sasson, Jordache, Guess? and Calvin Klein took it up a notch. Remember Brooke Shields sprawled out on the floor stating that "nothing got between her and her Calvins?" She not only brought sex to the world of denim, she brought a sudden rationalization for their exorbitant price. Well, compared to what jeans can cost now, they were a veritable bargain. Have you gone shopping lately for jeans? A pair of Acne jeans cost $340, but other designer jeans can cost over $500. I'm still trying to understand what justifies that price and wonder if perhaps they might be threaded with gold.

The aforementioned creativity is also the reason for the constant changing of styles. Jeans have been boot-cut, low-rise, slouchy, bibbed, stone-washed, dyed, ripped, patched, rolled, and now, once-again, extra-tight. I have a couple pairs of DKNY jeans that I hope will last forever. They are my "going out" jeans; not because they were pricey, but because I like the way they fit. I also have a couple pairs from Old Navy and they are my putzing around the house jeans. If it weren't for Katharine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich, I imagine that it would have taken a lot longer for women to enjoy the comfort of jeans. I remember when my sister bought our Mom her first pair. My mom was more of a housedress type of woman, so it took some convincing to get her to wear the jeans, even though they had an elastic waistband and were made of a denim that seemed counterfeit. It's true that "jeans" symbolized a cultural phenomenon known as rebellion. Most work places do not permit jeans, since they seem to represent leisure time. How odd, since jeans were originally designed for the farmer, coal miner, cowboy and many other arduous occupations. They work just as well, though, for those of us sitting at a desk tapping away at a keyboard

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