牛仔裤

There is no doubt that people all over the world like wearing jeans， especially young people， because they are comfortable， casual and considered to be“cool”. Nowadays jeans have grown more and more popular. When teenagers have a free day， many of them like to wear a pair of denim jeans. Although the styles may change from year to year， jeans never go completely out of fashion. They are part of the lifestyle of many of todays youth.

Speaking of jeans， it is natural to think that American Gold Rush in 1849， when the first immigrants set foot on American mainland， they could be said to be poor and blank. They had to work hard. Especially in 1849， miners rushed onto the California， forming the famous gold rush at the time. The cloth was very easy to be worn， people were eager to have a durable clothes， then a solid， durable jeans came into being.

In the 1870s， jeans were created by a shopkeeper in San Francisco. His shop sold denim work trousers to men employed in heavy labor. The workers liked them because they were cheap and strong. They were also comfortable， especially after they had been washed a few times. The shop was successful， but it was about 60 years before people started to buy jeans for fashion as well as for work.

In the 1930s， many movies in the USA showed cowboys in Western America wearing jeans. Cowboys had a reputation for living wild and free， and many young American men dreamed of such a life， so they dressed to look like their film star heroes. In World War II， these men became soldiers and were sent to fight in other countries. They took their favorite pair of jeans with them to wear in their free time， and this is how American jeans were introduced to the world.

After that， jeans have been through many different changes in style. Some years they have wide legs； at other times narrow legs are the fashion. Tight fitting or loose； colored， dark blue or light blue； decorated with holes， or painted flowers—jeans are constantly changing. In the 1990s， a new material was added to the cotton to make it stretch and give an even tighter fit over the bottom and legs. More recently it became popular to wear jeans that looked very old and companies started to produce new jeans that appeared to have been worn for several years and washed many times.

In 1964， a writer for the magazine American Fabrics said， “Denim has become a symbol of the young， active， informal， American way of life.” In many respects， these words are still true more than forty years later. Nowadays， active and informal young people all over the world wear denim jeans， and they are popular with old people who want to feel young too. In UK， for example， a recent survey found that 6 out of 10 men and 46% of women often wear jeans， but it is with young people that they continue to be most fashionable. Jeans are the first choice for 72% of those in the 15-19 age group， however， less than half of the teenagers in the UK wear other types of casual trousers. Denim jeans are a symbol of the global teenager and it seems likely that they will remain part of international youth culture for many years to come.

毋庸置疑，世界各地的人都喜欢穿牛仔裤，尤其是年轻人，因为它们舒适、休闲，被认为很“酷”。现如今，牛仔裤变得越来越流行。很多青少年在休息日都喜欢穿上一条牛仔裤。虽然每年的时尚都在变，但是牛仔裤从没有完全过时，它们已经成为当今年轻人生活的一部分。

说起牛仔裤，人们自然会想起1849年美国那次淘金潮，当时第一批踏上美国大陆的移民，他们可以说是一穷二白，他们不得不拼命地工作。特别是在1849年矿工们一窝蜂涌进加利福尼亚州，形成了当时著名的淘金潮。由于布料非常容易破损，人们迫切希望有一种耐穿的衣服，然后结实、耐用的牛仔裤就应运而生。

在19世纪70年代，旧金山有位店主发明了牛仔裤，是卖给那些干重活的工人穿的。工人们喜欢这种裤子，因为它们既便宜又结实，而且穿起来很舒服，特别是在洗过几遍之后。这家店铺成功了，大约60年后，人们才把牛仔裤既当作工作服又当时尚装来穿。

20世纪30年代，美国许多电影都放映穿着牛仔裤的美国西部牛仔，他们以生活狂放、无拘无束著称，对许多美国年轻人而言这种生活正是他们梦寐以求的，因此他们就穿着打扮得像他们的影视英雄一样。第二次世界大战中，有些人当了兵，被派到别的国家去打仗。他们带去了他们最喜爱的牛仔裤，在闲暇时把它穿起来。就这样，美国牛仔褲在世界上流行起来了。

此后，牛仔裤在样式上经历了种种变化。有些年时兴宽裤腿，过些年紧腿裤又比较受欢迎，接着紧身的或宽松的，彩色的、深蓝的或浅蓝的，有洞的或绘花的——牛仔裤在不断地变化。20世纪90年代，棉花里又加了一种新材料，使其富有弹性，而在臀部和腿部更加紧身。最近又流行穿一种看上去很旧的牛仔裤。有些公司开始生产一些新式牛仔裤，它们看起来好像已经穿过好些年、洗过很多次。

1964年，《美国纺织业》杂志的一位作家说：“牛仔裤已经成为年轻的、活跃的和休闲的美国生活方式的一种象征。”在以后40多年里，这种说法在许多方面还是如此。如今，全世界活跃且不拘小节的年轻人都穿牛仔裤。有些老年人想变得年轻，他们也喜爱牛仔裤。例如，在英国最近有一项调查发现男人中有60%，女人中有46%的人经常穿牛仔裤。但是牛仔裤在年轻人中才是最流行的。在15到19岁这个年龄段里有72%的人把牛仔裤作为第一选择，而在英国不到半数的青少年穿其他样式的休闲裤。牛仔裤是全世界青少年的象征，看来很有可能在今后许多年里，牛仔裤还将继续成为全球青年文化的一部分。