Well, today is your lucky day! Stick with us, and you’ll learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know (and more) about indigo dye—the chemical responsible for giving your blue jeans their intense indigo color.
Many people are unaware, but indigo dye is almost as old as civilization itself. Archeologists have even found it in cloth wrapped around Egyptian mummies and on Babylonian tablets. It’s hard to believe, but the intense blue color comes from a couple of unassuming green plants:
The indigo plant
The woad plant
But getting the deep blue out of these plants is no easy task! And our ancestors devised quite the recipe to extract the dye—one that started with 3.5 gallons of stale urine and 4.5 ounces of salt.
That’s right, your eyes are not deceiving you—traditional indigo dye recipes called for vast quantities of urine. In some parts of the world, dyers even paid their neighbors for bowls of urine in order to create the dye that was called “blue gold,” for more reasons than one.
If you’re wondering how this traditional recipe was stumbled upon in the first place, we are right there with you. Unfortunately, we don’t have any clue, but we’ll let y’all marinate on that one for a bit…
Anyhow, the good news, for all of you out there who find yourselves a little bewildered, is that if your indigo jeans are younger than one hundred years old, their blue tint is a product of indigo and other less offensive ingredients. Modern day scientists have devised chemical alternatives that our blue jean suppliers have adopted.
New dye formulas for our indigo jeans—yet another reason to love science. Thank you science, indeed.
Skinny jeans, it’s time to meet your match. Enter: the boyfriend jean.
In case you just happened to miss one of the biggest fashion trends this fall, the boyfriend jean has stepped on the scene as a form of backlash against the skinny jean.
You see, where skinny jeans are tight and fitted from your butt to your ankles, boyfriend jeans take a different approach to molding to your beautiful body.
Boyfriend jeans, as their name implies, are meant to look as though you had borrowed jeans from your man (and here at indiDenim, we fully support stealing clothes from your significant other). And although they don’t necessarily have to be hijacked from your bf, they must be loose and relaxed all around.
Now here’s the key. Boyfriend jeans combine the best of comfort and style, but since this jean is designed to look two sizes too big, you must be careful not to end up looking disheveled and frumpy.
So pair your best pair of boyfriends with a cute T or sweater and your favorite heels or ballet flats. Add a scarf, and you and your boyfriend jeans (sans boyfriend) are set for a lovely fall afternoon at the farmer’s market or, of course, a therapeutic trip to the mall.
Need some visual inspiration? Just check out Halle Berry in her boyfriend attire.
image courtesy of usmagazine.com
But before we go, we need your input. You see, we’ve been a bit torn about the boyfriend jean since it made its debut. indiDenim is all about *perfect* fitting jeans, and given that the boyfriend jean is pretty much the antithesis of your perfect fitting pair, what’s a custom jean company to do?
So we’re asking you! What do you think? Should we break down and add it to the line up? Or should we hold our ground and stand by the denim ideals we’ve grown up with? Leave your comments and help us decide!
indiDenim has gone through a lot of changes in the past month (we’re growing up, aww, we know). No our voice isn’t deepening, nor our body maturing. Our technology is what has grown with leaps and bounds. And as of this week, you can SEE your jean as you BUILD it and then SHARE it with all your friends through Facebook (or your other favorite social media site) and in our public gallery called the Design Vault!
Now here are the deets on how to score free jeans from indiDenim:
All you have to do is design your perfect jean and add it to our Design Vault during the month of October, and you’ll be entered in our jean giveaway to win a free pair of custom jeans!
So help us celebrate, will ya? Start designing your jean today!
If you haven’t seen this guy below, he is awesome. In fact, he takes awesome to new heights.
He rocks our socks not only because he can bust a move (every move, actually), but he’s dancin’ in denim. Yea, we’re definitely in love. Can we friend him on facebook?
No, seriously. Can we?
posted by: deborah on October 8, 2009 at 2:40 pm
filed under:Misc Musings
TAGS:
mens jeans
A girl has got to rock a classic pair of bootcut jeans.
And this week we’re giving snaps (aka the snapping of the fingers, aka a classy applause) to Ms. Penelope Cruz, who is looking fabulous in her bootcut jeans.
image courtesy of instyle.com
All throughout the year, we at indiDenim keep our eyes peeled for new denim trends and celebrity fashion. But when it comes to the latest in the jeans domain, the fun fashion fact that every lady should know (regarless of the season) is: a great pair of bootcut jeans NEVER go out of style.
That’s why we’re excited about P-Cruz this week.
With new fall fashions well underway, new trends can be difficult to remember. Boyfriend jeans? Jeggings? Motorcyle jeans?
We keep track of fashion like it’s our job (because, well, it is), but we know that sometimes it can be hard to keep up with what’s stylish this season and what’s, well, not (shoutout to overalls).
That’s why here at indiDenim we love the classic fashion of bootcut jeans—get them in a light wash, dark denim, or distressed, we love ‘em all. Pair your pants with a sleek black blazer and some rockin’ boots (they are BOOTcut jeans, after all), and you are set for the fall. And next fall. And the fall after that…
posted by: deborah on October 7, 2009 at 1:23 pm
filed under:Trend Alert
TAGS:
denim trends,
bootcut jeans
Short jeans shopping shouldn’t have to be a nightmare.
But if long jeans are an illusive tiger—out there somewhere and fairly impossible to find—then short jeans are the adorable tiger cub; smaller, and therefore that much harder to locate (see them both in their rare photographed glory in the image below).
So since we gave a shout out to all the long-legged ladies out there last week, we’d like to represent for our short-stemmed friends today. Although their distance from the ground may differ, women with long legs and short legs can grab a latte and commiserate over the same shopping problem: how hard it is to find jeans that actually fit.
And the reason why short jeans are virtually non-existent? Well it all goes back to what we said before about retailers refusing to carry inventory for the people who aren’t “average.”
Most in-store inseams are around 30 to 32 inches. Seem long for a short stature? You betcha! So what’s a short girl to do?
Well, not to shamelessly plug ourselves, but there is definitely a time and a place for a little props to indiDenim for helping our tall and petite ladies with long and short jeans alike.
Egos aside, now come the stats. We’ve made some short jeans. To date, we’ve gone as short as 24 inches, but we can go shorter.
So the real question is, how low can we go?
Got an inseam shorter than 24 inches? Send us your order, and we’ll step up to the challenge.
Blue jeans are a wardrobe staple, but denim jeans come in every color under the sun. Regardless, the classic blue jean remains the ultimate favorite around the world. Perhaps that’s because blue jeans are suitable for everyone from blue collar workers to blue blooded royalty.
The color blue has been used to represent fascism (in Ireland), liberalism (in the U.S.), revolution (in France), truth (in Hinduism), virginity (in Christianity), and power (as seen in police uniforms). It’s safe to say, that whatever your political or religious beliefs, there’s a shade of blue (and blue jeans!) to match.
If you were to guess that blue is the world’s favorite color, you might be right. One unusual piece of evidence—the 1995 M&M color vote. In 1995, Mars Inc allowed consumers to choose a new M&M color by dialing 1-800-FUN-COLOR. As you may have guessed, blue won handily.
Congrats, Blue. We knew you had it in the bag the whole time.
posted by: danielle on October 2, 2009 at 4:52 pm
filed under:Denim 101
TAGS:
blue jeans
Cotton jeans are about as necessary as, well, air.
And while we like air and all, here at indiDenim we’re pretty obsessed with denim. Stretch, 100 percent cotton, American, European, Japanese, distressed or clean—You name it, we got it.
This week, in addition to our brand-spanking new jean builder, we’ve launched a new denim in four washes: Chalan, Buttero, Vaquero, Gaucho.
If you sensed a theme, add a tally to your scorecard! Alternatively, if you’re sitting there, eyes glossed over and about to x out of the window, hold on there cowboy!
That’s right, we’re paying homage to our favorite international cowboys because where would cotton jeans be without our cowboy brethren? Rugged cotton denim fabric is so deeply intertwined with cowboy mythology that the two are often difficult to separate. Cowboy movies from the 1950s are even credited with popularizing jeans. Children who watched cowboys on TV during the 1950s were inspired to adopt jeans as their uniform during the 1960s.
Like the cotton jeans of our cowboy forefathers, our new 100 percent cotton denim is a heavier weight, sturdy fabric—one that we think would be suitable for guys and gals, alike.
So mosey on over to our jean builder, and start designing your custom made jeans. But before you go, check out the sneak peak of our cotton denim below!
