So How Many Pairs of Jeans Do You Really Need?

Fashion magazines make you wonder: "So how many pairs of jeans do I really need. " Read on or even just casually browse through the fashion photos and you may come to believe that without a closet full of designer jeans you have definitely failed as a human being. But before you go out to get some fashion therapy, you may want to think the jeans issue through a bit and consider some other sources. The answer to "how many pairs of jeans do I really need ?", may surprise you.

If you could step back for about 140 years or so and talk to Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss you would find out that "jeans" as clothing don't have an especially romantic or "classy" beginning. To begin with the material and the idea of using metal rivets as pocket reinforcement came from the fact that these men were initially not trend setters at all but hard working dry goods merchants who specialized in producing things like tents and horse blankets. Because they also knew a bit about tailoring they took a chance on using the metal rivets from their horse blanket line and tried them out on work overalls, hardly attempting to make a fashion statement but mostly going for a utilitarian effect.

In 1873 Davis and Strauss were granted a patent for the production of these new fangled rivet toting" waist overalls" which according to the patent was what these first jeans were called. Davis and Strauss were definitely playing to the need for high quality, durable pants that could be worn over a long period of time without wearing out .

The denim waist overalls were a success but for more than half a century their use was limited to a great extent to those who labored in factories or on farms and they were hardly given the respect that they have attained today. In fact according to facts registered by IdeaFinder, it was not until 1935 that Levi jeans made their first appearance in Vogue magazine. For 60 years after Jacobs and Levi patented their jeans, there really didn't seem to be a pressing need for jeans to show up in any woman's closet and for the most part they didn't

In fact not until the 60's did jeans really start to catch on and eventually climb their way, gradually for sure, up the fashion ladder until now the question continually surfaces: " So how many pair of jeans do I really need." The answer varies because jeans are worn across lines of age, race, nationality and gender. The jean needs of a 65 year old grandmother who likes to garden may come down to one pair for yard work and one for everyday. A few grandmother's also may tuck a third pair of costly jeans into the closet, hoping for that special occasion when jeans, very nice jeans, will be exactly what she wants to wear.

At the other end of the spectrum teens, trying to establish themselves and using their clothing to make a statement about their identity, find that buying jeans is an unending pursuit. As soon as they think they have matched their jeans to their personality, they go through another teen switch and find last week's jeans no longer make an accurate accounting of the owner's spirit. The first pair are reconciled to the closet to be drawn out again when the teen switch comes full circle. Depending on the teen, this can add up to lots of jeans.

Young adults find perhaps the greatest need for multiple jeans. They may want several casual pair and others that are definitely meant for stepping out. Occasionally, depending on their occupation, some adults even find jeans that are subtle or trendy enough to wear to work.

Bottom line, the days of only wearing jeans on the farm or in the factory are long gone. In those days the number of jeans you needed probably was answered by many workers with the number "two" -one pair to wear and the other that was being laundered. But once jeans fell into the hands of fashion designers like Jordache or Calvin Klein, of stylish, upscale jeans took over those work pants and made them fashionable for almost every occasion. No longer do folks just buy jeans for work. The total number of pairs of jeans found in closets across America began to rise in accordance with both taste and salary.

While the question "so how many pair of jeans do I really need" continues to be asked among Americans of all ages, the answer for more and more of us has simply become " Why as many as possible!"

Sources: www.ideafinder.com
www.jeans-and-accessories.com