Ever since Marlon Brando and James Dean wore jeans in their rebellious movie roles, denim has been hip. Brando wore them in “The Wild One” while Dean donned them in “Rebel Without a Cause,” and since then everything from novelty jeans to colored jeans to embellished jeans to metallic jeans have entered the scene, responding to pop culture like nothing else. Jeans have quite an interesting history even dating back before the 1950s and 1960s, when Jacob Davis in collaboration with Levi Strauss developed and earned a patent for jeans. This was May 20, 1873, when an icon was born.
Even since the 1980s, jeans have increased about 10 percent in sales each year as new generations realize how comfortable and dynamic they are. But way before that, back in 1901, the U.S. Navy was wearing denim to help roll up their pants easier and clean decks better. So way back when, jeans were more functional, while today novelty jeans, coated jeans and boyfriend jeans litter the denim landscape.
Today’s novelty jeans in particular have attracted attention among the average sized wearer of jeans, which is a 12 for women. This is potentially because jeans, and novelty jeans especially, fit a woman’s curves better than twill pants or pants made with other fabrics. They shape a woman’s curves, adding to her comfort level while simultaneously boosting her appearance and her fashion sense. As novelty jeans and other denim types’ popularity keeps growing, so will the styles that come out.