Happy Birthday, Jeans
I live in my jeans. Skinny jeans. Boot cut. Flares. Light. Dark. I have a whole closet full of them and thank my lucky stars each morning that I can wear them to work.
Today is apparently the 136th anniversary of the blue jeans. Or so I learned at Mentalfloss.com. This article chronicles the history of jeans and drops a couple fun facts. Click here to see the full story.
• Levi Strauss’ jeans, both pre- and post-rivet, were dyed with indigo because (1) indigo was inexpensive and readily available, and (2) dark blue denim hid dirt and stains well, which was great for Strauss’ miner customers. The seams were sewn with orange thread to match the color of Davis’ copper rivets.
• Early jeans had the rivets on both the front and back pockets, but because of complaints that they scratched saddles and chairs, the rear ones were covered up in 1937 and removed in 1967. Today the rear pockets are strengthened by reinforced corner stitching.
• The double row of stitching across the back pockets of Levi’s jeans – known as the Arcuate stitching design – has been there since the earliest pairs made in 1873. For a few years, the design was hand painted on the pockets of each pair of pants when the government rationed certain materials, like thread, during WWII.
• A pair of Levi’s 501s is composed of 1¾ yards of denim, 213 yards of thread, five buttons and six rivets and requires 37 separate sewing operations during manufacture.
• In 1997, Levi Strauss & Co. paid $25,000 for a pair of 100-year-old jeans found in an old Colorado mine. This oldest known pair of Levi’s jeans went on display in the company museum.
(Full disclosure: My boyfriend wrote this article. But I think it’s pretty interesting. And it’s actually style related! Be thankful I don’t link every single article he writes about Bruce Springsteen.)
A New Appreciation For Ironic T-Shirts
Puns are a big part of my life. Each headline and photo caption I write as A&E editor—roughly 15 a week—needs to be catchy. Something I never knew about myself until I began this job: I am really, really bad at puns. Thankfully my co-workers are much more clever than I am and often save my ass when I’m really stuck—roughly 14 times a week.
Since I’ve developed this love-hate relationship with wordplay, I’ve noticed that I’ve also developed a much higher tolerance for ironic T-shirts. Previously cordoned off in the “only for bros” section of my brain (along with khaki shorts, puka bead necklaces and Halo), I now appreciate—and it almost pains me to say, respect—=the thought and effort required to design a T-shirt with a funny saying.
So, bros and non-bros, you have my approval to wear all the ironic Ts you want. But just to be clear, I’m still way too proud to direct you to Busted Tees, originator of the wretched “Your Retarded” T-shirt. Instead I suggest checking out the apparel in the Mental_floss store for a much brainier selection. (Full disclosure: I’m a big fan of the _floss and have been fortunate enough to contribute an occasional article to their superb blog which has more trivia and fun facts than any other site on the Web.)
Here’s some of my faves. And bonus: Use the order code “holidayteeparty” to buy shirts for just $14.90 each.
