Denim Jeans – Rationality, Comfort and Fashion

Namaste

Bharat was known for its finest cotton produce and we were among the largest exporters of fine cotton clothes world-over. It is well known that the British attacked this textile industry of ours to help their Manchester cotton mills. BTW, we were also known to be very rational in our choices.

Fine cotton is cool, vibrant and also the best suited cloth for the tropical climate of Bharat. However, owing to the marketing blitz of US and Europe, the brands of denim overtook the fine cottons in daily use. It is surprising to note that while youth prefer so much variety, when it comes to trousers they seem to like uniformity in denim jeans.. Every 4th person in urban Bharat wears a jeans today.

This leads to an intriguing question. Why do many urban youth prefer jeans. Well, the answer that we receive are :

a. It is comfortable.

b. We dont need to wash it 🙂

c. Its trendy and maintenance free.

Well, lets look at the above arguments.

a. Denim is the coarsest form of cotton and yet many claim that it is comfortable. 🙂 Is it that it is comfortable Or the fact that it is trendy overakes the concept of comfort and we convince ourselves that it is comfortable. Even in summers people wear it in some large numbers when we are sweating in all our inners. Is this rational ?

b. Dont need to wash..for many days is a common thing that many youngsters say .This is a long downslide for us. “Shuchi,” ( cleanliness ) was considered to be a speciality of the Bharatiyas. In fact the ten principles of Dharma include Dhruti, Kshama, Dama, Akrodho, Shoucham, Indriyanigraham, Dhee, Vidya, Satyam, Asteyam, Dashamam Dharma lakshanam. From this, we have come a long way. Why has this irrational behaviour of wearing unclean clothes come into us ?

c. It is trendy – Yes. it has become a trend and is the greatest marketing victory of the West apart from the Colas..and can be countered only by a strong counter-marketing campaign..What do we need to do to establish the Fine cottons back into the Youth of Bharat. and ofcourse it is maintenance free because we dont wash them ! 😉

In the last few years the regular denims moved to tights and now the low -waist jeans which defeats the very purpose of wearing a trouser.. In fact tight jeans is now termed as a health hazard.

http://in.lifestyle.yahoo.com/tight-jeans-may-jeopardize-health-105015417.html

Every purchase that we make is also a statement. When we buy a product, we endorse it and when we buy a family of products then we endorse the entire family of products. What makes the family of denim trendy – is it rationality or because it is a fashion statement ?

Why have fine cottons lost out and in its sway, many of the small cotton businesses ?

Will the native genius of Bharat reclaim his/her rationality or get swayed only by fashion ?

4 responses to “Denim Jeans – Rationality, Comfort and Fashion”

arisebharat

May 29, 2012 at 7:04 am

Sure. You need not agree with the view point.:) But just FYI, Vimal put all its energy on Polysters. Reliance promoted the polyster fabric over cottons.. 🙂 and since you do mention the ads, kindly do make a count on any day about the huge hoardings that stare at your face of Levis, Lee, Wrangler etc..spread across so many cities.. Also do make an dispassionate analysis of this trend. Its definitely not relegated only to AC roomed offices, colleges are full of jean clad youth. This is not a fatwa against jeans. 🙂 . The issue that is bothering is that an unclean clothing habit is being adopted as modernity on such a wide scale. BTW, if you are a jean loving person….keep wearing.. Just remember to wash it more frequently 🙂

Reply
Ratnakar Kulkarni

May 28, 2012 at 4:38 pm

I do not understand this hatred towards Jeans, there are accounts that the Jeans(denims) were first used in India(I am unable to find the link) also the dye used in the earlier Jeans manufactured in west was from India’s indigo. Should we hate anything and everything from west ? What is wrong when someone claims that he/she is comfortable in Jeans? may be that person is really comfortable in Jeans.

Reply
1. arisebharat
  
  May 28, 2012 at 6:12 pm
  
  Dear Ratnakarji,
  Firstly, it is not a hatred towards anything. Why should an analysis of a trend be perceived as hate. Any trend can and must be analysed from our viewpoint. Secondly, just because something is Indian,. it does not become great and just because something comes from the West, it does not become bad.
  
  An alternate to a Coca Cola is not an Indian cola. What needs to be assessed is whether the cola itself is good for us. An alternate to western whiskey is not the promotion of Indian whiskey. Those comfortable with drinking whiskey Or cola are free to do so. Similarly those seeking to understand what makes a person drink whiskey and whether it is good for the nation are free too,arent they :). Bharatiyas have been great at proportion without going overboard with trends and therefore it would not surprise me if you found that Indians dyes were used worldover . In fact they must, have since the concept of dyes were invented in India.
  
  Bharatiyas exported a lot of stuff which are suitable for other parts of the world but may not be used in Bharat itself. As the great Tagore put it” Each nation has its own question paper and we must answer it accordingly”. What is good for one nation may not be good for another and the whole paradigm of modernity needs a thorough overhaul.
  
  Reply
  1. Ratnakar Kulkarni
    
    May 28, 2012 at 7:04 pm
    
    I apologize for Jumping the gun, but I still do not agree with your view point. ” owing to the marketing blitz of US and Europe, the brands of denim overtook the fine cottons in daily use”. The marketing that is done for cotton wears is far more than that of Jeans(compare the number of ads that you see for Vimal and other similar clothing to that of Jeans) coming to the comfort part Denim is mostly worn by people who spend most of their time in air conditioned offices if you look at the construction workers or civil engineers they mostly prefer cotton clothing. Thanks

Arise Bharat