Denim

Levi Strauss, blue jeans (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Denim was produced in Nimes, France in the late 1800s.  In fact it is hard to determine when they started making it; perhaps as early as the mid-1600s?  The cloth is properly called Serge.  The Blue Serge from Nimes was called "Serge de Nimes" (pronounced SERJ de NEEM) but when it was imported into the States the anglicized pronunciation was Denim.

The real answer for "why blue"  comes from the introduction of bulk Indigo dye to Europe.  The default blue colour is from the dye called Indican.  Prior to the importation of Indigo, woad leaves were the only source of blue dye in Europe and North America.  Woad gives a fainter blue and you need at least 2x the amount compared to indigo.  Then, suddenly, both cheap cotton and cheap Indigo were imported to Nimes via sea routes from India.

Indigo  was imported in its processed form as a pure dye.  It looked like rock  crystals and for many years people didn't even know it came from a  plant.  It was listed as a "mineral".  Woad dye was supplied as  rolled-up balls of composted woad leaves.  Indigo was extremely cheap,  compared to woad, gave a better and darker blue, and when it hit Europe  it put the entire woad industry out of business within a generation.   People who could not formerly afford blue clothes now luxuriated in the  "colour of nobility".

In  the early 1900s the merchants (of Nimes) exported their cloth to the  United States in order to make sails for ships, tarpaulins and  workmen's  trousers. In 1870, a Bavarian immigrant by the name of Levi  Strauss used this cloth to make trousers for the trailblazers opening up  the Wild West - made in Genoa of "de Nîmes" cloth.  The French word for  Genoa Italy is "Genes", hence, the origin of the word "jeans".

I'm  always intrigued by the trade routes implied by this simple statement.   Cotton and indigo from India.  Imported to Nimes, France.  Made into  cloth.  Imported to Italy.  Made into trousers by a Bavarian.  Imported  to the US east coast.  Shipped out west to miners and cowboys.

Cotton serge (aka drill or twill) does not have to be blue.  It starts out white or cotton coloured.  When it is dyed beige or grey it's called Khaki.

Khaki is dyed after the cloth is woven, but Denim is thread-dyed before weaving.  And only half the threads are dyed blue; the rest are white to save on the cost of the indigo, making this cloth a handsome blue while remaining economical for the workmen's trousers. Denim was produced in Nimes, France in the late 1800s.  In fact it is hard to determine when they started making it; perhaps as early as the mid-1600s?  The cloth is properly called Serge.  The Blue Serge from Nimes was called "Serge de Nimes" (pronounced SERJ de NEEM) but when it was imported into the States the anglicized pronunciation was Denim.

The real answer for "why blue"  comes from the introduction of bulk Indigo dye to Europe.  The default blue colour is from the dye called Indican.  Prior to the importation of Indigo, woad leaves were the only source of blue dye in Europe and North America.  Woad gives a fainter blue and you need at least 2x the amount compared to indigo.  Then, suddenly, both cheap cotton and cheap Indigo were imported to Nimes via sea routes from India.

Indigo  was imported in its processed form as a pure dye.  It looked like rock  crystals and for many years people didn't even know it came from a  plant.  It was listed as a "mineral".  Woad dye was supplied as  rolled-up balls of composted woad leaves.  Indigo was extremely cheap,  compared to woad, gave a better and darker blue, and when it hit Europe  it put the entire woad industry out of business within a generation.   People who could not formerly afford blue clothes now luxuriated in the  "colour of nobility".

In  the early 1900s the merchants (of Nimes) exported their cloth to the  United States in order to make sails for ships, tarpaulins and  workmen's  trousers. In 1870, a Bavarian immigrant by the name of Levi  Strauss used this cloth to make trousers for the trailblazers opening up  the Wild West - made in Genoa of "de Nîmes" cloth.  The French word for  Genoa Italy is "Genes", hence, the origin of the word "jeans".

I'm  always intrigued by the trade routes implied by this simple statement.   Cotton and indigo from India.  Imported to Nimes, France.  Made into  cloth.  Imported to Italy.  Made into trousers by a Bavarian.  Imported  to the US east coast.  Shipped out west to miners and cowboys.

Cotton serge (aka drill or twill) does not have to be blue.  It starts out white or cotton coloured.  When it is dyed beige or grey it's called Khaki.

Khaki is dyed after the cloth is woven, but Denim is thread-dyed before weaving.  And only half the threads are dyed blue; the rest are white to save on the cost of the indigo, making this cloth a handsome blue while remaining economical for the workmen's trousers. {Via Quora}