Belleville Township High School East - Yearbook (Belleville, IL)

Page 6 text:

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lal he jeans fad has brought about a casual appearance to all levels of American society. The style that had been worn only by an elite class of Americans has now become a widely accepted mode of dress. It is hard to pinpoint the origin of the jeans craze, but it can be traced as far back as the settling of the Western United States. In 1850, the era following the California Gold Rush, a dry goods company was established whose primary purpose was to produce and sell canvas pants to the gold prospectors. Gradually, blue denim re¬ placed the rough canvas because it was more comfortable. Jeans were not acceptable among the better dressed Easterners, there¬ fore, they were sold almost exclusively to cowboys, ranchers, and farmers. They were a rugged type of clothing appealling to the rugged people. After World War II, however, the farmer cowboy image changed dras¬ tically. Jeans manufacturers began to concentrate more sales pitches towards the eastern Americans, especially teen¬ agers. By the mid 50 ' s, every teenager owned at least one pair of jeans. Although advertising had an in¬ fluential part in the fad development of this produce, other factors were involved: low price, availability and style. Until recently, cotton was very in¬ expensive; however, in the past few years, the price of cotton has increased by more than 160%. Because of a high demand for this material in other countries, the retail price for a pair of jeans has almost doubled. Denim usually outlasts most other materials, therefore, it can be worn for a longer period of time. Ingenuitive Americans have even found ways to sell worn out jeans. Some people recycle them, some add length to them by at¬ taching more denim material or decora¬ tive ribbon, others make cut-offs, purses, or hats, and still others simply place patches over holes. More fashion- minded people add class by embroidery or studding them with sequins or rhinestones. Jeans may be procured anywhere from an Army surplus store to an ex¬ pensive, high-class department store. In the past four or five years, Jeans only stores have sprung up. Because of the many types of materials and varying styles used in the production of jeans, they have become an acceptable form of dress. The jeans fad is possibly the longest fashion trend in recent times and now seems to be only at its peak. 600 Wrangler pockets + 1800 yards of denim = unique East yearbooks.