Denim

Denim, in American usage since the late 18th century, denotes a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two (twi- "double") or more warp fibers, producing the familiar diagonal ribbing identifiable on the reverse of the fabric, which distinguishes denim from cotton duck. Denim was traditionally colored blue with indigo dye to make blue "jeans," though "jean" denoted a different, lighter cotton textile. This is because our usage of jean comes from the French word for Genoa, Italy, for whom the first denim trousers were made. In 1789 George Washington toured a Massachusetts factory producing machine-woven cotton denim. In the mid-19th century the durability of hemp cloth, of Cannabis sativa fibers, processed as in making linen, temporarily competed with cotton.

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A similarly-woven traditional American cotton textile is the diagonal warp-striped hickory cloth that was once associated with railroadmen's overalls, in which blue or black contrasting with undyed white threads form the woven pattern. Hickory cloth was as rugged as hickory timber and was worn by "hicks," although that is not the origin of that slang word, from a nickname for "Richard". Records of a group of New Yorkers headed for the California gold fields in 1849 show that they took along four "Hickory shirts" apiece. Hickory cloth later furnished some "fatigue" pantaloons and shirts in the American Civil War.

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A popular etymology of the word denim is a contraction of serge de Nîmes in France. Serge weave, with a distinctly-twilled diagonal rib, is now more usually associated with sturdy woollen textiles.

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Cotton: :For information on the cotton plant, see cotton plant....

Textile: :This article is about the type of material. Textile is also a jargon term used by naturists or nudists to describe a person who wears clothes. Textile is also a kind of ReStructured Text....

Weft: Weft or woof is the yarn which is shuttled back and forth across the warp to create a woven fabric. In North America, it is sometimes referred to as the "fill" or the "filling yarn"....

Denim related Images and Photos (experimental)

Denim Girl	Denim Floral I	Denim Floral IV	Cats Denim Socks
LittleBigPlanet Blue Denim Sackboy SDCC 2011 Figure	Muscular Man Wearing Tight Denim Shorts and Vest	The Jay Leno Show 'Garage' Denim Shirt	Rachel Leigh Audrey Snake Wrap Bracelet in Denim