Will Jeans Become the Next Dinosaurs?
Nothing in fashion ever really goes away, contends Nadine Stewart, an adjunct professor teaching History of Fashion at Montclair State University. But is that really true in all cases? When it comes to jeans, extinction is more possible than ever before. The growing trend of athleisure –where athletic clothing is worn in other settings — is quickly pushing women’s denim to the side. Is it truly possible that such a classic, staple piece such as jeans can eventually become so unpopular that they fade away?
It’s important to remember that while jeans were being worn by working men as early as the 1840’s, according to Stewart, women’s jeans weren’t prevalent in society until the late 1960’s. That means it has only been culturally acceptable for women to wear jeans for a variety of occasions for about 40 years. Think about it this way: your grandmother probably grew up in a world where women couldn’t even wear pants to work. Considering that, jeans are a relatively new phenomenon in women’s fashion, which makes it even more shocking that they could go out of fashion sooner, rather than later.
Jeans were invented and marketed for men in the late 1800’s when an immigrant named Levi Strauss brought denim to America. At the time, the California Gold Rush was well underway, and men were known to camp out in near inhospitable conditions. Jeans were the perfect answer for miners who needed clothes that would last through their weeks of hard work. They also were popular with cowboys, whose work on their ranches required similarly built clothing. That’s where women first began wearing jeans; cowgirls would borrow their husband’s jeans for work on the ranch, but don acceptable dresses for social and formal occasions elsewhere. It wasn’t until 1934 that Levi’s created the first pair of women’s jeans, which were similar to the boyfriend jeans of today and marketed towards women who worked on ranches.
But “jeans became fashionable because of Hollywood,” said Stewart. “In the 1950’s, jeans were sort of a rebellious thing.”
Movie stars such as James Dean (Rebel Without a Cause) and Marlon Brando (The Wild One) made jeans popular for teenagers of the 1950’s, when the younger generation was beginning to forge a culture all their own. Jeans — which had always been attributed to outlaws and cowboys — now became the uniform of the rebels. By the 1960’s, jeans were quickly becoming a staple piece in many young women’s wardrobes, although they were still seen as an icon of rebellion. It was during this time that the first skinny jeans were introduced.
The 1970’s saw women fighting for their rights to wear pants in the workplace, and it was during this cultural revolution that jeans first began being accepted into everyday culture. By the 1980’s, “designer jeans burst forth and that’s when they got really popular,” said Stewart.
Jeans in the modern day come in a large variety of styles and washes to fit every woman’s needs. An initial increase in demand led some manufactures to produce pants with thinner fabrics and more fitted styles in order to keep up with the ever-changing trends. Despite the changes in the look and feel of jeans, though, there still continues to be a struggle between denim and yoga pants.
In recent years, sales reports suggest that brands such as Lululemon have seen increased profits while traditional denim retailers such as Abercrombie have been threatened by the athleisure trend. Millennials are simply opting for polyester yoga pants and sweatshirts over jeans and denim jackets these days, and the sales are showing it. But despite the daunting numbers, some millennials argue that denim is one classic that will never go out of style.
While sporting a pair of dark wash skinny jeans for her long day of classes, Kristen Martinelli, a senior English major at Montclair State said “I think the athleisure trend is cute on some people, but not something that I would personally wear anywhere outside the house.”
After considering the growing trend of athleisure and the impact it’s had on denim manufactures, Martinelli stayed true to her love of jeans: “It could be possible for jeans to go extinct,” she said. “But I will always wear jeans, even if then end up no longer being produced.”
Stewart argued that she simply doesn’t see extinction in the future of jeans: “I think that they just might not be as prevalent now, but nothing ever really goes away. It always comes back. Another generation isn’t going to want to wear sweatpants.”
Stewart makes the good point that while fashion is completely unpredictable, “denim meshed itself into [our] culture” and isn’t likely to go away anytime soon.
But the future of jeans is still largely unpredictable. If sales continue as they have the past few years, denim retailers could begin to struggle against the changing trends. Still, there is hope that millennials who still have a love of jeans will keep them alive long enough for a new generation to grasp on to. When it comes to the question of who is winning: jeans or yoga pants, only time will tell.
