D
Denim
1 - A universal fabric, one that covers all age groups, races and social divides. From punk rockers to United States presidents, it is a fabric that flatters everyone, yet still retains a "rebel" image. Traditionally the cloth of workers, it has now entered into the main stream of public awareness, and still retains an air of anti establishment cool.
Denim is unique amongst fabrics
- The warp and the weft are clearly distinguished, as are the front and the back of the fabric.
- Due to the quirks of the dyestuffs used (indigo) denim is a fabric that ages, and the older it gets, the better it looks. A pair of well worn jeans can become a "second skin"; to quote Adriano Goldschmied "denim has a life of its own. It changes with the body, and develops a long lasting personal attachment to its wearer".
- Denim is a fabric steeped in history and romanticism. Literally the cloth that "built America" in the late 1800's, through to covering some of the world's most famous film stars and musicians (Marlon Brando, James Dean, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Robert Redford, Steve McQueen, Bob Dylan, Eddie Cochran, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, The Ramones, Madonna, The Strokes, to name but a few! Feel free to add as many names as you wish!).
It is easy to document the rise of "jeans". What is confusing are the origins of denim itself.
The term "denim" is, generally, thought to derive from "serge de nimes" (literally a twill fabric from the French town of Nimes). More recently there have been suggestions that the name came from another French fabric called simply "nim". Both of these were made from a silk wool blend (that's the French for you!) whereas the denim produced in America in the late 18TH century was made from cotton.
There are indications that the missing link came from textile mills in Lancashire that produced a cotton fabric called "denim" to emulate the look of the French wool/ silk twills.
What is for sure, is that in the mid 1800'S the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company introduced its first denim. It was a twill fabric that used one plain thread and one coloured thread invariably dyed with indigo. Due to the eccentric chemical structure of this dyestuff, the indigo molecules simply sit on the surface of the cotton yarns it dyes. As the fabric is worn or washed, the indigo simply chips off gradually fading in shade as the fabric ages.
As the popularity of the fabric increased, so other mills converted areas of their plants to indigo denim production, most notably Cone Mills.
2 - Not to be confused with the trousers called "jeans". Denim is the fabric from which jeans and "dreams" are made. It is a resistant woven cloth. The standard weights are 12 and 16 oz (ounces).
3 - Denim is an indigo dyed, cotton twill fabric, woven with a dyed warp yarn, and a natural weft yarn (fill yarn).
Destroy - A brutal process reducing jeans to tatters. An extreme look.
Dips - (to dip) The number of "dips" indicates how many times the yarn has been drench in the dye: on average 6, and up to 8 or 12 times at the most.
Drainpipes - Jeans dating from the 60s that we are still attached to.
Dyeing Process - Dyeing; phase of the manufacture of denim during which the natural warp yarn is dipped a certain number of times into the dye. After each dipping, the yarn oxidizes and the colour then changes from yellow to green and to blue. Finally, the yarn is rinsed several times in order to eliminate excess particles.
E
Easy fit - Or "Comfort Fit". A popular style with wide, straight legs and a wide waist held up by a belt.
Ecru - Denim in its natural state. Base colour for summer jeans.
Elasthane - Often mistakenly confused with Lycra (a type of elasthane) registered trademark of DuPont. The elasthane fibres give the jeans a superbly sexy and clingy look.
Enzyme wash
1 - Enzymes are organic combinations formed in the living cells that accelerate natural reactions. Enzymes decompose the fabric cellulose, which makes the jeans treated in this way softer to touch. "Enzyme wash" is an alternative to "stonewashing", but the enzymes have another advantage: the organic combinations are not harmful to the environment.
2 - Enzymes are organic substances that quicken natural reactions (best known for those that accelerate food digestion!). They are used in denim finishing as an alternative to stonewashing. The results are similar, but there are several commercial advantages: - it's environmentally friendly as the substances are organic; jeans tend to be softer after processing, as a degree of the fabric has, literally, been eaten; their use requires less labour as they leave little residue and a simple rinse is enough to neutralise their effect.
F
Faded - Denim with a light blue shade, obtained either naturally by washing or wear, or by "stonewashing" or bleaching.
Fastness - (colour fast) The resistance of colour to water, light, etc. Naturally, indigo is very colour fast. The wearing process is slow, because indigo only loses a little colour each wash.
Finishing - Initially any denim garment was sold unwashed, with all the inherent problems of shrinkage, colour loss etcetera left in the hands of the end consumer.
Fit - (a flattering shape) A determining factor when choosing jeans. The manufacturers offer different intermediary sizes and inside leg length (short, average, long) in order to guarantee a perfect fitting pair of trousers. For "girls" and "juniors" collections, a flattering shape is essential.
Five Pocket - The basic jeans. Like their name implies, they have five pockets, (two at the front, two at the back and a small additional pocket in front which originally was used to carry tools). The "Five Pocket" jeans are solid, hard-wearing jeans, designed for "strong men" but which, now, are also often worn by girls.
Fly - The button fly or zip fastener at the front of the jeans. In the 50s, Lee Cooper was the first brand to move the zip in women's jeans from the side to the front.
French cut - Very tight, sexy jeans "For girls only". Also called "second skin".
