Top 25 Denim Dictionary
The world of denim is filled with terms, abbreviations, and jargon. By understanding the most common ones, you’ll not only gain a deeper appreciation for your jeans but also develop a greater insight into the denim industry. Most importantly, you’ll build expertise as a denim and jeans specialist, which is essential when working in a denim store or for a denim brand. It’s all about “practicing what you preach,” so mastering the basics is crucial before you can advise and inspire others.
This Top 25 Denim Dictionary Guide serves as the ultimate guide for anyone wanting to dive deeper into denim. Whether you’re a denim enthusiast, a dedicated denim head, or simply curious to learn all the ins and outs about denim, this guide has you covered!
Featuring the 25 most popular and essential denim jargon, this dictionary will jumpstart your denim journey or provide further knowledge about jeans and denim. It’s the perfect resource for learning about fabrics, fits, and all the key aspects needed to become a true denim expert.
Fit
There are many Fits when it comes to jeans. Early workwear examples shows baggy fits as they were worn over your own pants while doing your work job. These days you can find all types of different fits at your local denim dealer. The range of jeans fits goes from regular to tapered, to boyfriend and boot cut, to flare jeans, baggy, and skinny to highlight a few. In the end, there’s a pair of jeans fit for each body type.
Raw Denim
Raw Denim is the most original denim fabric as it hasn’t been washed or treated in a (washing) factory. It is known for its dark color and stiffness. With wear and use your jeans will soften and mold to your body type. Over time you will achieve your own wear pattern reflecting your lifestyle.
Some say that a pair of jeans made with a raw denim fabric is like a canvas. A second skin that needs to break in to get those beloved denim fades. They will give your jeans extra character and coolness as each pattern is unique in the end as it is based on how the wearer moves and wears them each day.
Raw denim is also called rigid, dry denim, or unwashed.
When you speak about a Loomstate denim fabric, this means that the fabric comes straight from a loom. This means the fabric undergoes no treatments, keeping it in its most original and authentic form.
Selvedge Denim
Selvedge Denim fabrics are recognizable and known for their self-edges on both ends. Sometimes also spelled as selvage and salvage. A selvedge fabric is clean and finished directly off the loom, with self-finished edges. So, they don’t need to be overlock-stitched afterward as they don’t fray on the sides.
Selvedge fabrics are woven on authentic shuttle looms. These narrow looms are run by a wooden shuttle that flows back and forth constantly, resulting in the self-edges. This weaving process is slow as they can ‘only’ produce around 100 meters of denim fabrics within 24 hours. And the fabrics are quite small, around 70 – 80 centimeters (27’’ – 28’’).
As the wooden shuttle goes back and forth constantly on a shuttle loom, it gives a smooth and clean finish on both ends. Back in the day, these selvedge woven denim fabrics were finished with clean ecru threads, known as plain selvedge. After a while denim mills started to add a thread color at the middle of the self-edge so they could see very easily for which denim brand the fabric was woven. The most common and most popular selvedge ID color is red, which was first used for the production of denim fabrics for Levi’s. Later, they added green and yellow/gold for brands such as Lee and Wrangler. These selvedge colors are now known as ID (identity to distinguish the fabric and thus the brand).
Tip! Learn more about selvedge denim fabrics here.
Whiskers
Whiskers are the faded lines that appear around the crotch of jeans. These lines are also known as cat’s whiskers or mustaches, mimicking natural wear and tear. Whiskers are most of the time created in a denim washing laundry during the finishing process to give jeans a more worn-in look. When wearing a rigid pair, you can create your own whiskers.
Honeycombs
Honeycombs are the fades that appear at the back of the knees on pairs of jeans. The fades look like a honeycomb, hence the name. Together with whiskers, honeycombs are one of those pursued fades by true denim enthusiasts.
Natural Indigo vs Synthetic Indigo
Natural Indigo has been used already for centuries as a natural dye for textiles. It originates from India, China, and Japan to color their clothes. For jeans, they are using indigo as well to color the yarns. These kinds of fabrics are better known as denim. A sturdy cotton fabric that is perfect to use for workwear garments as they needed clothing that could stand the test of time while doing the heavy job.
The indigo pigment from this plant is often called true indigo. This is a species of plant from the bean family that was one of the original sources of indigo dye.
Most pairs of blue jeans are made with a denim fabric that is made with blue and ecru yarns. The warps are blue while the weft, the filler of a fabric, is most of the time uncolored, so ecru. When you take a look inside your jeans, you will see these two different blue and ecru-colored yarns easily. Some jeans are made with a blue warp and a blue weft, so two blue yarns. These kinds of fabrics are known as blue blue or double indigo.
In 1865, the German chemist Adolf von Baeyer began working on the synthesis of indigo. He described his first synthesis of indigo in 1878 and the second synthesis in 1880. He created synthetic indigo that contained a better quantity of indigo and it was also easier to use for dyeing. This is because the qualities were more consistent compared to natural indigo. These days, most pairs of jeans, are colored with synthetic indigo.
Tip! Learn more about indigo here.
5-Pocket Style
The 5-pocket style is the most common and popular jeans nowadays. The term 5-pocket refers to the fact that jeans feature 5 pockets. Two front pockets, two back pockets, and one coin/watch pocket. The fifth pocket was the left back pocket and was added around 1901. The coin/watch pocket, originally used to carry matches by miners, was on the jeans design since day one.
Unsanforized vs Sanforized
Unsanforized denim fabrics, also known as loom state or shrink-to-fit, don’t get any treatment at the denim mill. This means that these fabrics will shrink up around 10% after the first wash. When you buy a pair of jeans made with unsanforized denim fabric you will have to keep in mind to size up your waist size by two and the length of your jeans at least with 3 inches.
Sanforized denim fabrics are treated at the denim mill to reduce shrinking. Sanforizing is named after the inventor, American Sanford L. Cluett in the late 1920’s. Normally aanforized fabrics will shrink around 1 – 3% and this is the denim industry’s standard these days.
Rope Dyeing
Rope Dyeing is a dyeing process where the yarns are roped together to create an uneven, variegated color in the yarns. The method leads to a unique fading pattern over time. The rope dyeing technique is mostly used for high-quality produced denim. Like in the old jeans of denim production.
Slub Denim
Slub Denim fabric is woven using uneven threads, so variations in the yarn. This is to create a textured, irregular look, called slubs. The outcome is a denim fabric with more character and depth to the fabric. And it gives more beauty as it comes to denim fades on your jeans.
Denim Fabrics
Denim Fabrics are twill fabrics, made with an indigo-dyed warp yarn (vertical on a loom) and an ecru fill yarn (horizontal on a loom). The term denim comes from the France place Serge De Nimes. These fabrics were originally made with an indigo-dyed warp and indigo-dyed yarn. Nowadays an ecru fill yarn is used, to save money in the production process.
There are 3 main different twill denim fabrics.
-
-
-
Right-Hand Twill
-
-
Right-hand twill (RHT) is the most common and most standard twill pattern. This type of twill can easily spotted as the weave lines are running diagonal from the bottom left to the top right, hence the name. Levi’s is known for using this type of weave pattern.
-
-
-
Left-Hand Twill
-
-
Left-hand twill (LHT) is the opposite of right-hand twill. With this twill pattern, the diagonal lines run from the bottom right to the top left. Left-hand twill denim fabrics are softer after wear and wash compared to right-hand twill. The fabric is originally used by Lee jeans.
-
-
-
Broken Twill
-
-
A Broken twill is a denim weave pattern that alternates the direction of the twill line. This means that it is a mix of right-hand and left-hand twill. Originally developed to prevent leg twisting in 1964. The weave pattern is known as Wrangler jeans and is also called zig-zag or herringbone.
Tip! Learn more about different denim fabrics here.
Rivet
The Rivet is a small copper nail to strengthen jeans on weak points such as pockets and the crotch. This very little copper rivet with a diameter of just 9.6mm shook the industry with its introduction in 1873. Rivets are made of two components, the head and the tack.
Next to being a smart tool to strengthen your pair of jeans, the rivet is also a perfect branding element for your jeans. An opportunity to highlight your brand name, but also a perfect tool to distinguish yourself as a brand from others with the shape of the rivet.
The idea of the rivet patent started when Reno, Nevada-based tailor Jacob Davis came up with the idea in 1871-2 to use the same rivets as he used to strengthen horse blankets on workwear pants after a woman complaint that her husband ripped his jeans constantly while carrying (heavy) rocks in his pockets. So, on weak points, he decided to use these small copper nails to make them stronger, so they would last longer. As Jacob Davis didn’t have the roughly $68,- to pay for the patent he reached out to his fabric supplier Levi Strauss, at this point he didn’t make jeans yet. Levi Strauss had been a dry goods wholesaler in San Francisco for 20 years when Davis approached him about his great new system for making sturdy men’s work pants with metal rivets.
Together they got the patent on the 20th of May in 1873. This patent is known as No. 139,121: ‘Fastening Pocket-Openings’. Nowadays each, or almost all, pairs of jeans feature rivets.
Tip! Learn more about the history of rivets here.
Big E
Big E is one of the most popular terms amongst vintage denim enthusiasts. The Big E refers to the Red Tab by Levi’s that was produced before 1971. Before 1971, all Red Tab’s were made Levi’s written in capitals. After 1971, Levi’s switched to a lowcase e due to a rebranding switch within the company. The Red Tab itself appeared for the first time in 1936 on the jeans of the American denim brand. The Big E tab is for most denimheads the starting point to easily discover older jeans and jackets of the brand.
Tip: Learn more about Red Tab’s by Levi’s here.
Stone-Washing
Stone-washing is a method to create a faded and more worn-in look on jeans. During the process, pumice chlorine bleached-soaked stones and water are used to soften the fabric and to give jeans a more worn vintage appearance. This process became very popular when it was introduced in the early 1980s.
Denim Fades
Denim Fades are one of the most popular elements when it comes to jeans. It is that these denim fades make your jeans so cool. Especially when you have worn your jeans from rigid. Over time denim fades will pop up as the indigo chips off the threads and the white core of the threads will become more visible. The most common denim fades are whiskers, honeycombs, train tracks, and rope effects at the hem. Nowadays, phone and wallet fades can be seen on most jeans as well.
Open-End vs Ring-Spun
Open-end, also known as OE, was introduced in the 1970s. It was a way of reducing costs in the production process of spinning yarns to serve the growing market. Open-end yarns are more flat and more even compared to the more authentic ring-spun yarns.
Open-end yarns have most of the time a darker look compared to ring-spun yarns as they absorb more indigo in the dyeing process. And the indigo wears less off in the end as well.
Ring-spun yarns were the standard until the end of the 1970s. During the process (which takes around 5 times more time compared to open-end), the yarns are twisted together and are therefore stronger. Compared to open-end yarn, ring-spun yarns have a more unevenness. This gives jeans a more old-school look that can be seen on many vintage jeans.
Buttons vs Zip Fly
Buttons have been used since day one when jeans were used as workwear items for gold miners in the mid-1800s. It was the American Lee jeans brand that introduced the first pair of zip-fly jeans on their 101Z (Zipper) model in 1927. A true revolution.
Bar Tacks
Bar Tacks are a series of tight zig-zag stitches in a small place to reinforce stress points. You can find bar tacks on pocket corners, fly, zipper placement, and belt loops on your jeans.
Weight / Oz
Weight more commonly described as oz (ounce) refers to the weight of a denim fabric. This weight is measured in ounces per square yard. The most popular oz is 14oz, but back in the day jeans (called waist overalls) were made of lighter fabric, around 8 to 9oz. Now you can find jeans in all different ounces, going from 12oz up to 40oz.
Shuttle Loom vs Projectile Loom
A Shuttle Loom is a narrow loom that is run by a wooden shuttle that flows back and forth constantly, resulting in self-edges. They weave selvedge fabrics, which are around 70 – 80 centimeters (27’’ – 28’’). These shuttle looms were the standard back in the day, but were replaced by Projectile Looms when jeans became more popular after World War 2. A faster production was needed within the denim industry Projectile Looms are around 10 times faster and twice as wide compared to shuttle looms. During the end of the 1970s/beginning of the 1980s, the shuttle loom faded away in production as projectile looms became the standard.
Fun fact: The Japanese Toyota car company first produced shuttle looms under the name Toyoda. Next to the Toyoda looms, American Draper looms and Belgium Picanol looms are popular as well.
Yoke
The Yoke is the V-shaped section at the back of jeans. This design element is also known as the riser and helps to curve the jeans. The deeper the V of the yoke, the greater the curve.
3 x 1
3 x 1 is the most traditional weave construction. In a 3 x 1 (three by one) twill, it means three warp yarns for each weft (also known as the filler) yarn. Each weft yarn goes over one warp yarn before going under the next three warp yarns. This is constantly repeated in production which leads to a denim fabric.
Tip! Learn more about weave constructions here.
Pocket Flasher
Pocket Flashers are a paper branding element that is most of the time attached to the right back pocket. It provides all the information that is linked to the jeans. From the type of denim fabric, special features, name of the brand, and the fit.
Belt Loops / Cinch Back
Belt Loops were added in the early 1920s on the waistband of jeans to keep them up with a belt. Before there were suspender buttons on the waistband, but these were replaced after World War 2. Most jeans feature 5 belt loops, but Wrangler for example has 7.
On the back of early jeans, a cinch back was standard (together with suspender buttons). This was before belt loops were added as an industry standard.
Cuff
A Cuff is the turn-up part of the legs of your jeans. Cuffing your jeans can add a stylish touch to your outfit. And of course, it also helps to adjust the length of your jeans if they’re a bit too long. In the early days, jeans were most of the time worn with cuffs as there weren’t any different lengths available yet. Denim enthusiasts still prefer the jeans cuff (also known as a turn-up). This is a way they can show proudly that their jeans are made with a selvedge fabric. There are several ways of cuffing your jeans, single cuff, double cuff, roll-up (Japanese cuff), big cuff, inside cuff, etc.
Tip! Learn more about how to cuff your jeans here.
