“Everyone, without exception, whom I interviewed and spoke with in the course of my research on fashion (designers, apparel manufacturers, buyers, persons from the fashion press, fashion-conscious laypersons) interpreted designer jeans in this light. Most felt that status distinctions were the only reason for designer jeans because, except for the display of designer label, they could detect no difference between designer and nondesigner jeans.”
The majority of people, no matter they are in the fashion industry or not, cannot see any difference between designer and nondesigner jeans. This reveals the egalitarian symbol of denim. Jeans are not born to be elite, they are born to be casual and to be worn at work. High-end companies put in a lot of effort for marketing and keep adding ornamentation to jeans. However, in my opinion, these are great for haute couture but are not necessary for jeans, because the most valuable features of jeans are the simplicity and free spirit. Another interesting fact is that there are still people willing to buy designer jeans even while they cannot differentiate them from normal cheap jeans. This shows that consumers are paying for self-satisfaction and social image as well as the products themselves. A pair of designer jeans can make them feel more elite and being in a high social status.
“Paralleling the de-democratization of the jean, by the 1970s strong currents toward its eroticization were also evident.”
In fact, I think the current towards eroticization and sexualization existed for almost every type of clothing from the 70s to 80s, and was now moving towards the opposite direction. Davis mentioned the occurrence of denim skirts, “jeans for gals” labels and mini jeans exposing the buttocks. I also thought about the relatively erotic advertisement of Calvin Klein jeans. Fashion companies were trying to shift the unisex and suitable-for-working images of jeans towards gender-specific ones. They wanted consumers to feel super feminine or masculine in jeans so that their sales could be increased. However, as feminism is getting popular and gender nonconformists are widely accepted, those baggy, gender neutral jeans were now back to stage. People also started to pay more attention to their own comfort rather than others’ opinion of them. Fashion is a cycle, it changes as people changes their ways of living and attitudes towards life.
“And so do the dialectics of status and antistatus, democracy and discintiction, inclusiveness and exclusiveness pervade fashion’s twists and turns, as much, or even more, with the workingman’s humble blue jeans as with formal dinner wear and the evening gown.”
I think this quote reveal the openness of fashion. Fashion is all about changing. Any effort of trying to restrict fashion into one category, such as gender, age, social status will finally fade and shift to the opposite direction. Although I really like the simplicity and egalitarian feature of jeans, I am also open to a denim gown and will find it very appealing. Fashion is also fun because of its ambivalence and ambiguity. It’s hard to make everyone agree how jeans should be like or what symbol that jeans are associated with. The difference in people’s opinion cultivate the various possibilities of jeans and help the fashion industry keep growing.