J
James Dean - A real myth. A gentle rebel who wore jeans on the screen. His look: sober but seductive, with a simple T-shirt over his skin.
Jeans - In the classic sense, jeans are trousers made of heavy indigo denim, with five pockets, six rivets, a contrasting stitched seam (stitching), five to seven belt keepers, a zip or button fly.
K
Kimball wash/Resin - The process of achieving a creased and shaded effect found on naturally worn garments. Garments are pleated and kimballed, then coated with resin and baked to set creases at various points of the garment (generally hems/ back yokes/ pocket mouths). The degree of effect is then determined by the amount of washing after the above process.
L
Label - Label attached to garments (see also "PACKAGING").
Laundries
1 - Businesses specialising in washing and dyeing.
2 - Companies that "finish" jeans, washing them or distressing them for a worn in look. Most major jeans manufacturers will us different laundries dependent on country of origin and desired effect
Leather tag - Usually attached to the back, at waist height. Originally in stamped or printed leather, more often also woven, plastic, rubber , metal, etc.
Left hand - A variation of the weaving process of denim. The fabric diagonal goes from left to bottom right, which creates a certain softness to the touch.
Left Hand Twill - Traditionally and characterised by a twill line rising from right to left. Due to the spinning and weaving process literally being reversed, left hand twills offer a softer hand feel.
Legend - Legendary jeans the American West, a free lifestyle, trekking to Santa F. The legend is drawn from inspiration, impatience and concentration over the eternal stereotypes such as the solitary cow boy, the harsh life of a farmer, rodeos.
Leg Twist - A characteristic of many "vintage jeans. This is, simply, a natural adjustment of the fabric, which tends to follow the direction of the weave after washing. Most denims are "right hand twills" (see below); the twill line rises to the right. During the weaving process the fabric is literally forced to be straight to be perpendicular to the selvage, and at the same time fabric is cut this way when the garments are constructed, with "vintage" garments being cut along the selvage. When the garments are washed, the fabric will try and follow the direction of the weave and will pull in that direction, hence the twisted legs. Leg twist was largely eliminated in the 1970's by the introduction of "skewing" which forces denim to form its after wash shape.
Lycra - A proportion of 1 or 2% of Lycra is enough to transform normal jeans into extremely comfortable jeans, outlining the shape of the body (stretch).
M
Mercerised - Treatment of the cotton prior to dyeing, carried out with corrosive soda so that the colour stays on the surface of the yarn only and to obtain better fabric density (resistance to tears).
Moon - Another name for "Acid Wash".
Moustaching/Whiskers - The process of achieving the effect of a jean worn from new, whereby creases on the front and back of the garment are abraded in wear, creating a "whiskered" effect. Some companies achieve this effect through cheaper chemical spray, but the best examples are either achieved by natural wear, or by manual "scraping".
