‘Jean’itically modified

Denims are one of the greatest inventions after the wheel by mankind. Attire with a soul, attire that lived your life for you and with you. It was probably the only attire that always carried a social message and promoted a green living much before the world realised. Save water and say no to detergents was the most important message that a pair of jeans not only preached but also practised. One of the biggest value additions a jean brought among many others was promoting creativity.

Graffiti on a pair of jeans was used to express one’s emotions, moods, likes, dislikes etc, in fact your love for someone though originating from the heart could be expressed in a less but honourable location like the thigh, all you needed was a blue Reynolds pen & a pair of reasonably faded and moderately clean jeans. Remember these were pre tattoo parlour and facebook days. You could ‘like’ Gun’s n Roses or you could even spread a social message like ‘Say no to LSD’. The eyeball share it got would compare to the ‘hits’ or ‘pay per clicks’ being proclaimed by the Social Media Marketing pundits of today.

In the past you could walk into a shop look for the waist size alone, the length was also not an issue since a couple of folds to highlight the light coloured side was an accepted norm. Moreover this also gave you a feeling the jeans could really grow on you or even with you. You would need a maximum of 5 to 10 decisive minutes in the privacy of the 4’ X 4’ fitting room. Here you could create a bonding with your partner for a couple of years or more to come and enter into a solemn agreement something akin to the nuptial ceremonies. So basically the buying decision on a pair of jeans was more an emotional event.

The sad part is that the humble Jean has undergone a major makeover over the years; today I walk into a showroom and look for a pair of jeans. To get a jean that is faded to your liking is a challenge these days, that apart, to get a size & fit is an even bigger one. Today knowing your waist size is just not enough, you need to know if you are or you want to sport a low rise slim fit, medium rise slim fit, low waist, slim, skinny and if you are a woman you have an added option of super skinny. Super skinny!!!! You need to be anorexically nervosal to fit into one of those… These were probably a result of erstwhile B school graduates doing a segmentation assignment on steroids. The options were many more, Chino fit, boot cut, arc leg, fit with Swarovski elements (the buttons were Swarovski studded). Sad that you need a Swarovski to enhance your studness when all you needed was a blue jean that could be dirtied over time and allowed to fade naturally over the years. Now they were even offering you an instantly dirtied and a pre faded jean.

The dirty look and the faded shade of the denim took years of hard work and dedicated seasoning, spilt coffee or Old Monk patches were sorted out by a localised wash so that the stains were removed but the memory associated with the event was retained. Today I pick up a Jean and it comes with an instruction booklet advising me on Bio-Wash – ‘Bio washing is a laundering process to which a catalyst substance is added to create a chemical change in the fabric resulting in a very soft finish, smoother appearing surface reduced shrinkage and pilling’. Sounds more like a part of a synopsis from a thesis on advanced Chemistry.

I used to simply wet my jeans (knee below, the depth depended on the amount of rainfall) during monsoons in Madras and dry them during the summer. This was the only laundering advice I followed and this was the most natural way of getting the right shade of faded blue.

Going back to the size and fit, I have forgotten to mention the most interesting of fits was called the Dropped Crotch, as a cricketing buff I read it as Dropped Catch in the first instance. I wondered how much a Dropped crotch and Low Waist Slim Fit would cover of me and made me lament the death of the good old pair of jeans that would fit me right, look good and smell of my memories for eternity.