The Influence of Jeans

     Jeans are pants made of denim or other cotton fabric. I love jeans because they are comfortable, durable, and inexpensive but I have always been fascinated by their popularity and often wondered how they emerged into existence. Dating back to the 19th century, jeans were designed as work wear for miners and farmers throughout the Western states of America. In 1873 Jacob W. Davis, a tailor from Latvia who settled in Nevada and Levi Strauss, a merchant of dry goods who emigrated from Germany to San Francisco teamed up and patented a jean design that included rivets to reinforce the points of stress on the pants. Riveted jeans were later redesigned and became the modern jeans seen today.
    

     Jeans have evolved into the most popular apparel on earth. Because of their massive worldwide appeal jeans have transcended culture, class, age, and gender. Their versatility may be one of the many reasons why they have become a staple in wardrobes around the world. 

     Personally, the majority of my wardrobe consists of jeans in an array of different styles and colors. I like that jeans can be worn with all types of tops and footwear. My favorite pair of jeans are skinny jeans which I like to wear with boots. I also enjoy wearing ripped jeans paired with a tee shirt and sneakers.How do you like to wear your jeans?

The History Behind the American Jeans

Vocabulary:
durable (adjective) - able to last

emerged (verb, past tense) - come out

patented (verb, past tense) - have the rights to an invention
rivets (noun) - metal fastener
evolved (verb, past tense) - develop gradually, progress

apparel (noun) - clothing
transcended (verb, past tense) - to go beyond the normal limits of something

versatility (noun) - with many uses

staple (noun) - a regular and important part or feature of something

array (noun) - a large group, number, or quantity of people or things

Vocabulary Exercise:

Fill in the blanks with the correct vocabulary word.

1. Jeans are very ______ because they have ______ that help hold the fabric together.
2. Modern jeans are designed in an impressive ______ of styles and colors.

3. Because jeans can be worn in many different ways their ______ (with many uses) has ______ many styles of fashion.
4. Skinny jeans are a _____ of my wardrobe. 

5. After jeans were _____ they ______ (came out) as the most widely used ______ in the world.

6. I was fascinated by the way jeans ______ throughout history. 

Grammar Point: A common noun names a person, animal, place, thing, or idea.
A proper noun is a special name used for an individual person, animal, place, thing, or organization. A proper noun always starts with a capital letter.

Grammar Exercise: Identify four common nouns and four proper nouns in the passage above. Write a sentence for each identified noun and label the noun as common or proper.

Game: Practice classifying common and proper nouns with this interactive online game.

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