
HappyTOgether (2012)
Fashion is mysterious, as a rule. Why are blue jeans a classic? You just hit on something that happens to be timeless and right.-Diane von Furstenberg
World War II did a lot to change women’s wardrobes as they took to the floors of assembly lines and machine shops to do the jobs of men who had gone off to fight. The loose skirts and dresses women were accustomed to wearing were inappropriate around heavy exposed machinery. Jeans and its even heavier cousin, denim dungarees, needed to be worn by women and they needed something that would better fit her frame and shape. Slowly, manufacturers took notice and women’s jeans started working their way onto store shelves.
Today, the average woman has seven pairs of blue jeans in her closet, while men are only likely to have five. Styles of his and her jeans are more similar than not, with men being just as likely to wear tight-fitting, butt-hugging denim as do women. Almost everyone knows someone who lives in their jeans, wouldn’t consider wearing anything else. I know at least one bride (and I’m sure there are more) who wore jeans to her wedding. No longer sexist and low-class, jeans are a fundamental staple for both him and her.