Blue jeans: history, cultural significance, and fashion impact

¶ … social or cultural significance as Davis presumes, most people wear jeans simply for comfort and budgetary reasons. Blue jeans seem synonymous with youth, vitality, and style, but that was not always the case. At their roots, jeans were "working men's" clothing, signifying the working class, hard work, and good value. Today, jeans may be a status symbol for some, but for most of the world, they are affordable, comfortable, and just make sense for day-to-day living.

Sometimes, people simply read too much into a work, whether it is a piece of fiction or an article of clothing. Learned individuals must root into the origins of a work, attempting to delve into the mind of the manufacturer, whether it is Edgar Allen Poe or Levi Strauss. Often, these individuals create alternative meanings, reasoning, and purpose in a work, dissecting it down to its very warp and weft, leaving no stone unturned to find out just what the sociological and societal ramifications of the piece can actually be. Sometimes, they think too much, and add too much meaning to a simple, straightforward item. That seems to be the case with Davis' assessment of blue jeans. While designer jeans certainly have become a status symbol for many, they are out of reach for a majority of people around the world, and yet, many of those people wear jeans. For example, in the film God Grew Tired of Us, which tells the story of some of the Lost Boys of Kenya, when the boys arrived in the United States, many of them were wearing blue jeans donated by relief organizations. The boys wore them because they were donated, of course, but also because they represented comfort and utility at a time when they needed both. They wore them in the camp in Kenya where they waited to begin their new lives, as well. Watch any Discovery Channel or National Geographic production, and you will certainly see natives of Third World countries wearing jeans, as well. This is not because they want to be trendy or stylish, but because the clothing is affordable, comfortable, and allows them to do their jobs more efficiently. Jeans have certainly risen in status and stature around the world, but for the majority of people, jeans simply make good sense.

Davis follows the history of jean use through their rise in popularity in the 1960s, and indicates for the most part, the fringes of society adopted them throughout the 30s through the 50s. He notes, "All of these groups (each in its own way, of course) stood strongly in opposition to the dominant conservative, middle-class, consumer-oriented culture of American society" (Davis 103). What Davis overlooks here is that each of these groups is also economically challenged, and they may not oppose that "consumer-oriented culture," they may just not be able to participate in it during their present circumstances. Davis seems to have to put a "spin" on jeans that matches his own perceptions of what they mean to society, but that does not mean they must mean the same thing to everyone. In fact, some people may never wear jeans simply because they are trendy or represent the "working class," even though jeans have risen in stature for most people. The people like Davis, who must assign some kind of social meaning to jeans, may be the very people who do not wear them, making their opinions a bit more lopsided and questionable.

It is also quite arguable that most people who put on a pair of jeans every day do not give a single thought to their representation of "democracy" and "equality" Davis associates with blue jeans. He writes, (in pedantic fashion), "Democratic, egalitarian sentiments notwithstanding, social status still counts for too much in Western society to permanently suffer the proletarianization that an unmodified blue-jean declaration of equality and fraternity projected" (Davis 103). Here, Davis simply sounds like a pompous snob, using his theories to fulfill his own arguments about jeans and who wears them. For most people, getting dressed every morning is a ritual leading to a long day of work and toil, whether it is in an air-conditioned office, a construction site, or a Chinese toy factory. Each of these workers could conceptually put on a pair of jeans before they head out the door, and it is surely a safe bet that democracy and equality are not the top thoughts in their head as they don their jeans and get ready for the day. For some, simply surviving another day may be the only thought, while for others; there are problems that are far more complex and ideas to address than the democracy of their attire.