Jeans-_Fashion_or_Comfort.

INTRODUCTION If somebody asks to give an example of a casual wear, what is the first thing comes to our mind' I think it isn’t hard to guess that most of us will think of jeans. Jeans now have become such a legendary bottom wear that I am guessing in about another millennium our succeeders will see replicas of jeans in the museum. Jeans had been popular among the public for more than 50 years. During this huge time travel, we have seen drastic changes in the way people dress up. Some of the clothes women used to wear in the 50’s or 60’s don’t even exist in today’s world. But jeans always remained the exception. Forget about being extinct, rather the designers put their head together to make it more appealing and made changes according to different eras. Now jeans can be found in many styles and shapes. Even now the cloth used for jeans is being used for making jeans jacket, coat, skirts etc. The best thing about jeans is that it can be both fashionable and practical. If we take the case of North America and western European countries, we will see almost 90% of women walking on the streets are sporting jeans whether as pants or skirts. It is more practical for them to wear jeans while going off to work, getting the grocery or picking up. In Mumbai where I have stayed, I saw girls opting for jeans because it is the best thing to wear when you are coming to college everyday and then running on the platform to catch a train to home. The trend of wearing skinny fits and designer jeans are seen more among celebrities and supermodels I must say. If you catch a paparazzi shot of your favorite star on the net, you will see that they even dress up to get a coffee or walk their dog. So to sum it up, the trend of jeans among foreigners are more about being comfortable rather than being fashionable. Even Bangladeshi women in recent years have become more confident of their choices and opting for western or should I say more of a fusion look. It did surprise me when I witnessed so many girls wearing jeans at universities so comfortably. Even when I went to shopping malls and restaurants, I see more girls in jeans then I saw even 3 years back. With this change in scenario I had a deep curiosity to know why this sudden increasing interest in jeans. Even though Bangladesh is making its progress step by step to match up with the other developed and developing countries, our country is still very rigid about women rights. Reading the magazines and news and watching various shows, I can see that the general public still doesn’t welcome women empowerment with open arms. Parents want their daughters to wear salwaar kameez when grown up, boyfriends want to see their girlfriends in traditional clothes, in laws want their son’s wives to be in saris and so the list goes on. Besides the cultural problem, another problem I think girls here face is the problem of scarcity. Seriously how many shops that we see sell jeans exclusively' Or how many designer showrooms can we witness while passing through. The girls are left with very little choice of choosing jeans from the few shops we have here and there. This research has been conducted with the intention of finding how girls are coping up with such drawbacks. If they are following style then how are they finding the latest style and the right fit in such limited choices' If it is for comfort, then how comfortable are they wearing jeans on the streets or while taking public transportation. Lastly, whether fashion or comfort, how do they deal with our religious background and conservative mentality. BACKGROUND As we are talking about jeans, let us discuss the originality of this bottom wear and how it gained its popularity. HISTORY AND EVOLUTION Jeans are often called as denims or blue jeans. The first generation of jeans was called “dungarees”. During the 16th century, the Indians used to make trousers with thick cotton clothes and dyed them in indigo color. The word dungaree came from the word “dungarii” which used to be a fort near Bombay from where these clothes used to be shipped by the sailors. It is interesting to discover that jeans were mainly made as a uniform for workers. According to Lohmann (2000), “in the eighteenth century as trade, slave labor, and cotton plantations increased, workers wore jean cloth because the material was very strong and it did not wear out easily”. Jeans became a part of American culture when the factory workers and American soldiers started wearing them during World War II. People started noticing jeans as a fashionable wear when the western movies made the actors wear jeans in the movies. It became labeled as a uniform for cowboys in the 30’s. It wasn’t until 1950 when jeans became immensely popular among teenagers. They imitated their favorite celebrity styles and started wearing jeans in schools and colleges. Even though after its popularity people started designing jeans to match the 60’s and 70’s era, it was still a very much westernized culture and didn’t reach to the international audience to a higher level. As Lohmann (2000) noted that jeans were symbol of' western decadence' and the availability was at a very minimum level. It wasn’t till the 80’s when jeans were given the honor of high fashion clothing. Designers started making jeans from their fashion house and selling them commercially. But in the 1990’s there was a sudden change in style among young generation. Although denim is never completely out of style, it certainly goes out of 'fashion' from time to time. In these years the youth market wasn't particularly interested in 501s and other traditional jeans styles, mainly because their parents: the' generation born in blue' were still busy squeezing their aging bodies into them. Since no teenager would be caught dead in anything their parents are wearing, the latest generation of rebellious youth turned to other fabrics and other styles of casual pants, such as khakis, chinos, combat and carpenters and branded sportswear pants. They still wore denim, but it had to be in different finishes, new cuts, shapes, styles, or in the form of aged, authentic, vintage jeans, discovered in markets, secondhand- and thrift shops, not conventional jeans stores.(Lohmann, 2000) But by 2000 jeans made a big comeback on the fashion runways. Brand names like Dior, Versace, and Chanel arranged fashion show where the models strutted and cat walked in new more fashionable and stylist jeans. Designers started inventing variety of styles as well as jackets, skirts and coats made of denim. By 2008, jeans became a huge hit in the clubs, runway, among celebs and teenage girls. The shops and malls became aware of the latest trends and styles and started filling up their stock. As of now, the skinny fitted jeans are doing great business among women around the globe. HYPOTHESIS As I have said earlier before the number of girls wearing jeans very much noticeable in Dhaka nowadays. Especially when I come to university, I see lots of girls comfortably sporting jeans with t-shirt, fatua, kurits even with kameezes. But the question still remains what is the ration of these girls with girls wearing salwar kameez' Even though I see vast number of girls at NSU wearing jeans, if I start counting then I am sure I will find that the ratio of a girl in jeans among 20 people will be 20:1. The ratio is much less in places like public Universities. Girls are more insecure about wearing jeans at such places as people from all districts of Bangladesh come there to study. Apart from Dhaka the percentage of girls wearing jeans in other cities are almost zero. So regarding the above noted situation, my hypothesis is that jeans are popular among only a certain group of women. Since the group is smaller in number, the reason they prefer to wear jeans is to look fashionable and being noticed. If jeans were worn for practical reason then we would’ve seen more girls on street, in the bus, in the market etc. as thinking from the social point of view, wearing jeans on a daily basis is not really possible so the girls wear jeans at very specific places like universities, restaurants and parties where they won’t be stared upon and bothered and will have people to notice them and compliment them on being daring and creating their own sense of style. I conducted my survey with the expectation that most of the women will agree with my hypothesis and it will go as I have planned. METHODOLOGY My research for this paper is divided into two divisions. First of all I have conducted my primary research. For my primary research I have set a questionnaire of 14 questions all related to jeans and its practical and fashionable usage as well as the social impact on it. To get a broader view I surveyed girls outside NSU also. The women took part in my survey are all from different backgrounds such as college going, university going, public university students, housewife, working women etc. the age of all the women are ranged from 18-40 years. 20 women took part in my survey and they have all given their honest opinion as well as sharing many more real life events which helped me a lot on creating the paper. The second part of my research is the secondary research. For my secondary research I heavily relied on the internet and tried to give the overall few of jeans and its history and background. I visited several websites and read articles related to my topic to collect some information. To make my secondary research more effective I have also visited various stores and malls in Dhaka city and talked to the shopkeepers to get a clear idea about the type of jeans are preferred by the women of our country. DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS 1. How often do you wear jeans' a. always b. Frequently c. occasionally d. very rarely e. never My first question is a very obvious question, as I have women up to 40 years old and from upper class to middle class families, the percentage of women wearing jeans is a very important finding. As seen from the diagram, there is a tie between b and d with 33.33%. Girls who chose to wear jeans more frequently are those between 18- 25 years. Women who are above 25 mostly answered very rarely. The reason could be by this time majority of women in Bangladesh get married and when you are a married women people expects you to dress, walk and talk in a different way. 16.67% said they wear jeans occasionally and 10% said they wear jeans always. It was a bit surprising to see that the percentage of girls wearing jeans always is higher than girls never wearing jeans which are by the way the lowest percentage at 6.67%. This question clearly shows that number of girls wearing jeans indeed increased. 2. Which places you prefer to wear jeans' a. College, university, workplace b. Cafes, restaurants, clubs c. Friends, relative places d. Home, for exercise e. All of the above It wasn’t a big surprise to see 43.33% of women feel comfortable wearing jeans at their friends and relatives places. As I have mentioned in my hypothesis, the number of girls wearing jeans in other places are still less. But still the percentage of girls who said the wear jeans everywhere is still stand high at 23.33%. North South being an exception, girls in other universities and colleges do not prefer to wear jeans at those places, especially girls from public universities where people are more rigid. 16.67% declared that they prefer cafes, restaurants and also home. 3. Why do you prefer jeans' a. They make me look good and stylish b. They are very comfortable to travel and work in c. They are a mixture of both Before I went more deep and break it down to the girls, I asked a very in your face question to see their reaction. The answer is what I had expected to be. 60% of girls are confused and don’t know themselves the real reason why they wear jeans. When asked directly they kept thinking that they wear jeans as it is very comfortable to work in but they also want to look good in it and stand out. 23% confirmed that they prefer jeans as it makes them look stylish thus matching with my hypothesis. Comfort is also not that behind with 20% that means it is still giving strong competition. 4. Would you wear jeans when you are travelling in a bus, taxi or rickshaw' a. Yes, I don’t mind b. Yes ,if I am accompanied by friends or parents c. No, I don’t wear jeans at such time With my next questions, I tried to break it down to them so they can slowly figure out the true reason. If they preferred jeans for more practical reason then they should prefer it while traveling my bus and rickshaw. 45% agreed and said that they don’t mind travelling which was very much what I wasn’t expecting. The answer that I expected stands on the second position with 40% that they don’t wear jeans that time. So I guess the reason that girls are so confident about public transportation is that most of them have no other option. If they didn’t have any private car and used to travel by CNG and rickshaw then they wouldn’t mind wearing jeans that time. People who doesn’t wear jeans such time are those who most probably owns a car and not used to travelling in rickshaw and taxi. 5. What do you mostly wear with your jeans' a. T-shirts, shirts , tops b. Kurtis, fatuas , c. Kameezes As we can see 70% of girls said they prefer fatua with jeans, it not only represents the style of Bengali girls but it also reflects the trend and fashion in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is more into fusion style that is mixing western with the tradition. So with this answer it becomes evident that the society and culture does have its impact on the choices. Consciously or unconsciously the girls have chosen a style which is neither here nor there and they can be dressed up in western but also not crossing the cultural border. 5 (i). Do you find it difficult to walk among public wearing T-shirt and jeans' ( If your answer to above is a) a. Yes I feel awkward b. Yes but it doesn’t bother me c. I only wear them if I’m travelling by car Though this question was specific to the girls who wear t-shirts, I allowed other girls also to express their opinions. This would allow me to find out why exactly they don’t wear them. As I have predicted before, 30% of the girls wear tops and jeans if they have their car with them. This is what I have witnessed among most of the girls who has cars. But 26.67% girls also said that though they find it difficult but it doesn’t bother them. This implies that comfort is very much important and they won’t let the public get in the way of that. I was surprised that only 16% said they feel awkward as I expected the percentage to be higher. But this shows that our lifestyle is really changing. 5 (ii). If you answered either b or c to question 5. Then why do you prefer them' a. My parents doesn’t allow me to wear shirts b. Because people stare otherwise c. Because it compliments my style When I found out that 60% said that they wear fatua because it compliments their style, I felt there was more to it. I have casually spoke to the girls and what I figured out that, the style is kind of forced upon them as if they wear jeans they cannot think of any other options than fatua or kurtis. The reasons are that obviously parents don’t really allow, though the percentage is less but also because of the public as we can see 16% agreed that otherwise people stare. One interesting fact I found from my off the record interview is that for many girls, they get opposition from their boyfriend not to wear t-shirts. So keeping all of these factors in mind, the girls kind of accepted the fusion style and don’t try to go beyond that. 6. Do you think our society & culture restricts you from wearing jeans more often' a. Yes I cannot wear jeans whenever I want b. No I don’t care what others think c. Yes to some extent I try to follow the cultural view As I went more deep to the social point of view, my doubts became clear. 50% of girls admitted that they are restricted by our Muslim background and so they rather follow the culture then oppose and land on the centre of controversies. Still 33.33% showed confidence and said they don’t care about the society. Which I think is good in a way. It is about time that women exercise their power and should have the full right on choosing what they want to wear. This diagram shows that girls are pressurized anyway, whether they wear jeans for fashion or style. 7. Do you prefer to wear jeans in bad weather conditions like heavy rain, flood etc' a. Yes as it is very comfortable to walk and doesn’t become transparent b. Yes but depending on the kind of place I am going to c. I always wear jeans irrespective of the weather condition d. The weather condition doesn’t make any difference To understand the comfort level of the women and the social impact on it, I asked them this question. As you can see, keeping in line with the earlier answers, 40% girls admitted that more than the weather it is the place that matters. To talk fact, jeans do cover more than salwar kameez and as it rains throughout the year in Bangladesh it should have been very much practical to wear jeans more often. But as far as the conservatism is concerned, people still want girls to wear salwar kameez over jeans even if they get drenched and have to face embarrassing situations. 30% said they don’t care about the weather and dresses up as they do in any usual day. Where only 10% came up and said that they do feel convenient to wear jeans in such condition. 8. Have you ever encountered any trouble in the streets while wearing jeans' a. Yes I have b. No I haven’t At first I felt 63.33% girls saying they didn’t encounter any problem on the street was a little contradictory to what they have said so far. Personally I had some bitter experiences while I was walking on the road in jeans. But then again now girls have realized what exactly the society expects from us. So rather than being a rebel they are playing it safe by adapting to trend of our culture. If I look back they did say they carefully chooses the place they go to and even taking public transportation they mostly avoid buses and prefers CNG which is much more guarded. So their answer blends quite well. This also related to my hypothesis as I said I don’t see large number of girls on the streets or in the market. 9. If you say yes to question no 8 then which is the most common problem you have to face' a. Staring of people b. Comments and teasing of men c. Disapproving stare and comments from older people d. Any other: Ignoring the 50% who didn’t answer as probably they have never faced any problem, the most common problems that women face is staring of people and comments and teasing of guys. At 23.33%, this can be regarded a very big social issue which needs immediate attention. It is unfortunate that guy’s still perceives women as an object and thus doesn’t think twice before teasing and luring on a girl. Though 10% is less than the others but it is also another common drawback. Elderly people obviously prefer not to change and are fixed to their old beliefs and tradition. No matter how modern we get they all want us to behave and dress up in a certain way. So as we can perceive is that our tradition is working as a wall for our freedom. 10. Do you think jeans are contradictory to our Bengali culture' a. Yes, it is totally different from our tradition b. Yes, but now it has become a part of our culture c. No , jeans can be universal and be part of any culture d. No, jeans doesn’t make any difference to Bengali tradition To understand the choice of the women, It is important to know how they do relate jeans with our culture. 43.33% agreeing that it is universal was a little unexpected for me. I expected them to agree with b more which said that jeans is not different but is becoming a part. I am glad to know that women do take jeans as universal clothing, which is true. Jeans is one casual dress which can be part of any culture. But it is also the different culture which needs to welcome the change that the foreign culture would bring. Bangladesh hasn’t overcome this problem as yet. 11. Which adjectives from below you think relates with jeans the most' a. Hip, trendy b. Fashionable c. Practical, easy to care for Another surprising answer is that this time the girls weren’t confuse as before. Half of them admitted that they do relate to jeans as more of a comfortable wear. With this question, the comfort factor totally outnumbers the style factor. But I guess there is more to the research then this straight forward answer. 12. What do you mostly prefer to wear' a. Salwar kameez a. Jeans with kurtis , fatua b. skirts with kurits , fatua c. skirts with tops, shirts Lastly before wrapping it up, I wanted to see the preference in choice of clothes among girls. It was obvious that salwar kameez would be the clear winner but I thought even jeans and kurtis will be as popular. But salwar kameez wins hands down with 73.33%. Way below is jeans and kurits with 26.67%. This implies that, even the girl who wears jeans and fatua would at the end prefer salwar kameez as it is the safest way to dress up and to go outside. RESEARCH FINDINGS After I was finished with my analysis I found much information close to my hypothesis and many which were rather surprising and unexpected. Going back to my topic, my objective was to find out the reason behind women in Bangladesh wearing jeans nowadays. Well I have to say that there is no clear winner in this competition. Both have strong points and both have weak points. Let us discuss about the fashion part. Being fashionable means refers to being trendy and innovative. A girl who is fashionable is more likely to choose clothes more carefully while shopping and will wear nice fitting jeans and latest style of jeans at parties and gatherings where people will notice her more. But opposite to that, most of the girls wear jeans at places where people are closely related, they don’t experiment with looks rather they prefer to play it safe. They simply follow the trend that is followed by everyone and doesn’t dare to be different. So I cannot say that women wear jeans solely because they want to stand out and look stylish. But I also cannot say that they wear them for comfort and practical reason. Though majority of the girls agreed to this part, a lot of their answers contradict their choice. For instance , if they thought jeans was so comfortable and practical then why would they have second thoughts on wearing jeans at places and conditions where jeans is the best option they got. If it is practical then why would they limit themselves wearing jeans at home and to close related people' With negative answers to all these questions I cannot declare comfort the winner either. I think it is best to say that, our society and culture is the winner over here. At every step, at every question, at every decision, directly or indirectly we had to think about our society. If we analyze each and every answer we will again and again go back to the starting point. That is our cultural and traditional barrier. For example, if we take the case of the most preferable fit then everybody said whatever looks good on them. If I ask why not skinny fit' Then the probable answer could be I don’t have the figure. If I ask so why are you so conscious about it' Then the answer will be because people will be staring and commenting and so it goes on. With each and every question, there is one answer leading to our social and religious drawbacks. Nobody wants to be teased unnecessarily, nobody wants to walk on the road when every eye is examining her, watching her every step. How much ever we want it is the everyday pressure of being the traditional Bengali women that pushes every woman. But despite all of that, women are stepping forward and wearing jeans. There are women who are saying I don’t care, I don’t mind, I wear whatever I feel like. So how do we put them together' The best answer that I can think of is that, our life is evolving so is the way we walk, talk, work, dress, feel etc. when jeans first became popular among the teenagers, nobody forced it upon them, nobody influenced them, and nobody diverted their attention to those factory workers uniforms. It all happened with time. Time moves ahead and shows us the path, it shows us where we are supposed to go now, how we are supposed to behave and act now. Jeans gradually evolved and became part of Americans everyday life. Like it is happening in Bangladesh now. We have been influenced by the western culture since the British invasion. Over the years we have adapted too many small small part of their culture. They all gradually became part of our life and blended so well that now we won’t be able to identify the difference. The case for jeans is almost the same. With the change of style and new gain popularity of jeans during the 2000, especially from 2005 when skinny jeans became popular, jeans also silently made its way to the heart of our heritage. The whole of Bangladesh may have gotten used to it but the process is gradual and if in 4 years I see 50 more girls wearing jeans then in another 4 years I will witness another 50, then another 50 and that is how the change will take over. So I would say girls are wearing jeans for the reason they are listening to hip-hop music, they are watching Hollywood movies or watching Mtv. There is one group who is in a more comfortable position and enjoys more freedom to wear the kinds of clothes they want to wear. And there is another group who is not so lucky and has to follow the steps of the overall change and cannot go ahead of that till it moves. CONLCLUDING NOTES Every girl want to look good, every girl want to be appreciated by others for their unique dressing style. I mean let’s face it, nobody wants to be pointed out and said; she has no sense of style! But everything is done not on the cost of one’s comfort. If I have to choose I would say if the social and barrier is taken off and girls are given more freedom on taking decisions, we would see that it is actually the comfort factor that wins over fashion. Because at the end of the survey , almost 90% of the girls admitted that given the chance they would definitely wear jeans more often and when they go abroad to travel or for a trip, jeans is their number one priority on the list as nothing is more practical and comfortable than that. So being stylist, being fashionable is just a part of our lifestyle. No matter how fashionable we want to be we firstly want to feel comfortable, we want to feel comfortable in the environment, we want to feel comfortable among the public, and we want to feel comfortable in our own skin. And when we are relaxed and comfortable anything will make us look fashionable and trendy. REFERENCE LIST 1. Lifestyle monitor trend magazine (2007), Creativity, Style & Comfort. Retrieved June 29, 2010, from http://www.cottoninc.com/LifeStyleMonitor/Denim-Issue-Lifestyle-Monitor-2007/'Pg=3 2. Lifestyle monitor trend magazine (2007), Denim: A global trend. Retrieved June 29, 2010, from http://www.cottoninc.com/LifeStyleMonitor/Denim-Issue-Lifestyle-Monitor-2007/'Pg=5 3. Lohmann, B (2000). Denim. Retrieved August 1, 2008 , from http://www.designboom.com/eng/education/denim2.html 4. Retrieved August 1, 2010 , from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeans 5. Retrieved August 1, 2010 , from http://www.jeansinfo.org/how_they_make_jeans.htm 6. Retrieved August 1, 2010 , from http://www.truejeans.com/jeans/celebrity-jeans 7. Retrieved August 1, 2010 , from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designer_jeans 8. Retrieved August 1, 2010 , from http://www.couturecandy.com/hudson-jeans/all/shop-designer.html ----------------------- APPENDIX