Jeans are a wonderful invention that has endured through a lot of changes in the past years. Gold miners of the nineteenth century needed clothes that would not tear very easily while they were panning for their gold; the jeans material was great for this. A man named Leob Strauss, who later changed his name to Levi, started up a wholesale business selling jeans. The 1930 cowboy movies which featured the cowboys wearing their jeans helped to make denim jeans very popular.

By the end of the 1940's more companies joined the race to grab the jeans market. They realised the potential of jeans to dominate the market in the future, and they didn't want to left behind. James Dean transformed the nature of jeans when he associated them with a rebellious look by wearing them in movies about teenage rebels in the 1950s. Many United States' educational institutions forbade students to wear jeans because they felt this was an expression of defiance. Of course sales then soared even higher!

The world of psychedelic jeans and painted or embroidered jeans evolved during the 60's and 70's. The fashion of this period changed the jean styles tremendously by adding a colorful new look. Sales, along with prices, started to soar in the 1980's when fashion designers began marketing their own style of jeans bearing their own brand label. The jeans that in past years that had been famous for their ruggedness were now synonymous with designer names and high fashion.

The 1990's brought on a major change when the teenagers of this generation decided they did not want to wear the same style clothing their parents were still wearing. Denim never goes out of style but it did make a downturn for a while. Although it was great news for companies that made clothing like carpenters pants and khakis, because teenagers chose this style of clothing over the traditional denim jean.

Once again as we go through the mid 2000's denim jeans are as popular as they have ever been. At present the market is flooded with all types, shapes and sizes of jeans. The wide variety comes in terms of price range as well as quality and style. Hence there is a pair of jeans for everyone that will suit your style and fit your pocket. The choice varies from person to person, whether you want a highly fashionable designer jean or just a pair that is comfortable and strong enough to work in. No matter what your need is, you will definitely find a good pair of jeans for you.

Copyright 2006 Axel Vaqueros. All rights reserved. Axel Vaqueros runs Fresh Jeans - a premier resource for jeans information. Be sure to visit his archive of articles here: http://www.freshjeans.com/archive/

KEN JOHNSTONE