denim glossary

[weed]

this is an interesting list of denim terminology gleaned from the evis site

Arcuate
Distinctive double stitching used on the back of the first jeans, now acknowledged as the world’s oldest trademark. Evisu’s distinctive seagull arcuate derives from World War II restrictions on materials that led denim companies to paint on their rear pocket logos.

Cinch Back
Also known as martingale, the back cinch with a rear buckle was used to tighten the waist on jeans before widespread use of belts, hence the name “buckle-back”. Most jeans-makers abandoned them by 1942, yet with renewed interest in vintage styles, cinchbacks have returned on modern jeans, in particular Evisu.

Broken Twill
Denim weave, invented by John Neil Walker, which changes direction in order to prevent leg twist. This weave was used from 1965 and has become increasingly popular, particularly with Japanese denim brands. The twill is easy to spot; On the reverse side, the fabric has a distinctive zigzag weave pattern.

Brushing & Abrasion
A method used to age a garment and introduce wear spots. In more expensive treatments this is done by hand to give a very individual feel. Mechanized methods use robotic arms equipped with a variety of wire brushes and scouring devices. Contained within a special booth, these nimble high-tech machines work on the whole garment from every angle and can apply a finish in a few minutes. The robots can learn and replicate the required movement, following an initial treatment by a human hand.

Color Removal & Enzymes
Color removal and abrasion with enzymes presents a more environmentally acceptable alternative to Bleaching and Stonewashing. Introduced into the market in the 1980s, recent advances in technology have increased the number of shades achievable via enzyme treatment. There is no risk of overbleaching and only a minimal level of fibre strength loss.

Chain Stitching
Chain stitching was used only on the hem of vintage jeans and requires a special machine, which has not been produced for 40 years. The most famous machines used were the Union Special sewing machines and were the Rolls Royce of sewing machines in the 1950s.

Cone Mills
Cone Mills started producting denim in Greensboro, North Carolina, and the company began supplying denim to the main American denim brands in 1910. Cone is still one of the biggest denim manufacturers, currently producing small amounts of selvedge denim for specialized clients such as Levi Vintage.

Denim
Indigo-dyed cotton twill fabric, woven with both a dyed Warp yarn and a natural fill yarn. The term derives from Serge De Nimes, however denim and Serge De Nimes are different fabrics.

Green-Caste/ Red-Caste
There are two main vintage variants within the denim: Green-Caste denim, more popular in Japan and reminiscent of pre-1920s Indigo from the Amoskea Denim Mill, and Red Caste denim, more closely associated with jeans from the 1940s & ’50s and favored by American denim mills. See Indigo.

Indigo
The dye used for denim and initially taken from the indigorfera tinctoria plant. It was synthesized 14 years after Adolph Bayer identified its chemical structure in 1897. Pre-1920s, jeans were generally dyed with natural indigo and paler in color with a green caste. Later jeans were darker blue, particularly used in combination with sulphur dyes.

Hank Dyed
The history of indigo in Japan originates back to the Edo period (mid-1700s) in the Bichu region. This traditional artisan technique is unique in that the indigo dyeing method used is not controlled automatically by machine. It is not “rope-dyed”, but “hank-dyed”. This means the dipping and oxidation process of the cotton yarn is done by hand by one designated man, known affectionately in Japan as “a living national treasure”! There can be as many as 30 dips into the indigo bath, and a beautiful natural irregularity of the caste and patina occurs due to human touch.

Japanese Denim
Denim produced in small Japanese denim mills which are perceived as more purist than the much larger American and European mills. Japanese mills such as Kurabo in Osaka, Nisshimbo in Tokyo and Kaihara in Hiroshima particularly specialize in denim produced on the original 29-inch shuttle looms. Evisu is also working with the very small artisan mill Kuroki which specializes in hank-dyed indigo. This traditional Japanese method dates back some 300 years.

Jelt Denim
Traditional multi-weave lightweight denim. Introduced in waistoveralls in 1925 by H.D. Lee, this 11.5-ounce fabric appeared in the famous “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” ads that emphasized its strength. In one, they covered the tire of a racing car with Jelt denim and sent it on a 50-mile run. The fabric was claimed to be “still whole and good” after the test. Jelt denim has a distinctive pin-dot weave.

Laundry
Companies that “finish” jeans by washing them or distressing them for a worn-in look. Most major jeans manufacturers use several different laundries that specialize in different finishes. The main techniques used include simple washing, stonewashing, which uses an abrasive-bristled Tonello machine, sandblasting, laser burning, or applying enzymes to simulate “cat’s whisker”-wear line, and sandpapering by hand.

Laser Techniques
Laser technology, initially used by the military, has developed dramatically in the last few years as a textile treatment with laser finishes. Used with automated Tonello machines, lasers can be directed vertically or horizontally and used to create both specific detailing or a textured all-over effect. The frequency of the laser is set to erode the indigo surface in order to either alter the color or burn through the cloth. Laser treatments are used exclusively in the upper end of the denim market and are considered a more environmentally acceptable process than the traditional methods of finishing.

[weed]

and

Left-Hand Twill
See right-hand twill for explanation. Left-hand twill was traditionally used on Lee Jeans. It has a slightly softer feel, which has become more popular, and is now feature on Levi’s Silver Tab range.

Leg Twist
Many vintage jeans are prone to leg twist. This is simply a natural adjustment of the fabric which tends to follow the direction of the weave. Leg twist was eliminated in the 1970s by skewing (contorting the denim to its after-shape) and later revived with Levi’s Red and Engineered twisted-seam jeans.

Loop-Dyed Denim
Original Indigo denim was dyed using Loop Dyeing Machines. This is a process using rare and antique machines which feed a rope of cotton yarn through vats of indigo dye and then back out and up to the roof of the factory. It allows the indigo to oxidize before the rope returns down to the next vat. Evisu denim has a minimum of 16 dips and in some styles has 30 dips, hence the deep indigo color.

Martelli
Probably the premier laundry in the world, Martelli Lavorazioni in Italy invests heavily in researching new ideas and treatments, specializing in producing aged and vintage finishes for high-end jeans brands. The finishes emulate second-hand purchases made during global trips. These pieces are collected together in a vast reference library where each piece carries the finishing recipe used. Bart Sights Laundry in Kentucky, USA is another notable Laundry.

Open-End Denim
Open-end denim, or OE spinning, was introduced in the 1970s, reducing costs by omitting several elements of the traditional spinning process. The cotton fibres are “mock twisted” by blowing them together. Because it absorbs more dye, open-end denim is darker, bulky and coarse and wears less well than Ring-Spun denim.

Patina
This term refers to the natural aging process of denim. With Ring-Spun raw dry denim, the indigo dye is layered on top of the cloth but has not penetrated the fibres, due to the twisted nature of the yarn. Therefore, the dye will gradually fade with wear. The patina refers to the seat, thigh and exposed seams of a jean. It is recommended that new raw dry denim should not be washed for at least six months to enable the patina to develop.

Pinto Wash Denim
A product of Cone Mills and said to be the first bleached denim. In 1969, in Greensboro, North Carolina, a hurricane flooded local Cone Mills’ plants and warehouses. Millions of yards of denim were soaked with water and had to be dried immediately to avoid mildewing. Though it seemed a catastrophe, a Cone Mills merchandizer in the New York office enivisioned a method that would later be used to create Pinto Wash denim: run the fabric irregularly through a solution to remove the dye, giving it a faded, mottled appearance.

Red Line (Selvedge)
Selvedge usually boasts not only a white edge but also a colored line added by mills to identify their customers’ fabric; Red is used for most vintage Levi’s from 1927 ( known in Japanese as Red Ear), pink for Lady Levi’s, plain or green for most Lee jeans and gold for some Wrangler and JC Penney jeans. Evisu has produced both multi- and single-colored selvedge within its heritage range and continues to develop new variations on this classic product across the Evisu ranges. See selvedge.

Right- Hand Twill
Most denim is right-hand twill, a weave which produces a diagonal (twill) line, rising from left to right. The standard practice in weaving was that single-yarn warps were woven right handed and double-yarn warps were woven left handed. Most Evisu jeans are right-hand woven.

Ring-Spun Denim
Ring-Spun denim yarns were traditionally used in denim up until the late 1970s but were later supplanted by cheaper open-end yarns. The term has increasingly become more used in recent years as the vintage look becomes more prized. Ring-Spun fibres are twisted together– as opposed to merely blown together as in open-end yarns– and are consequently stronger; They look less “fluffy” than open-end denim, and are harder wearing with a more desirable vintage look.

Ring/Ring Denim
Ring/Ring, or Double Ring-Spun denim uses ring-spun yarns for both the warp and weft. This is the traditional way to produce denim. It is possible to combine a ring-spun warp fabric with an open-end weft to get much of the strength and look of traditional Ring/Ring denim at a lower cost.

Sanforization
A process which shrinks and stabilizes cloth before it is cut. Sanforization was invented by Sanford L. Cluett and patented in 1928. Most denim companies followed suit, apart from Levi who still produced “shrink to fit” denim for three decades following.

Selvedge
Selvedge is the narrow, white woven edge of vintage-style denim. It prevents unravelling of the denim and has become synonymous with vintage jeans because it signals the use of the narrow 29-inch shuttle loom. These devices were mothballed around 1983 by companies like Cone Mills in favor of more efficient 58- to 62-inch looms. Evisu has recently produced selvedge broken twill jeans which are unique to the market.

Spraying & Staining
Spraying color can be added at various stages in the finishing cycle, either by hand or by automated robot. The effect adds to the aged look of a garment by introducting stained areas, color contrast or blotched tints. These appear more “natural” following laundry treatment. Overdyeing and tinting is carried out in giant washing machines, where a dirty or stained effect is achieved via the use of a pigment dye. The more subtle and sophistocated effects are hand-applied to individual areas.

Stonewashing
Reportedly invented by Hollywood Western Wear consultant Nudie Cohen around 1960, the stonewashing process distresses jeans by washing them along with pumice stones which abrade the fabric and give it a worn-in look. Its first large-scale use was by Lee in 1982. Because stonewashing is time-consuming, many laundries now achieve similar finishes using enzymes.

Sulphur Bottoms
Many manufacturers apply a sulphur dye before the customary indigo dye. This is known as Sulphur Bottom Dyeing. It can be used to create a grey or yellow “vintage” cast.

Tonello Machine
Companies such as Italian producers Tonello have produced automated robotic arms that move a jeans-clad dummy from one processing booth to another, without human intervention. The inflatable mannequins move along different planes and rotate fully.

Waistoveralls
The original term for what we now know as Jeans. Levi’s continued to use this term until the 1960s to distinguish their jeans from bib overalls, also known as Koveralls.

Warp
Yarn that runs parallel to selvedge. In denim, it’s dyed indigo.

Weft
Weft, or filling yarn, runs from selvedge at right angles to warp yearn. In denim, this yarn is left a natural, undyed color.

Weight
Denim is traditionally graded by its weight per yard of fabric at a 29-inch width. Early jeans were nine-ounce Levi’s, increasing to 10-ounce in 1927. Lee Cowboy Pants were introduced in the much heavier 13-ounce weight, and most modern jeans are now 14 ounces.

Wartime Restictions
Wartime restrictions meant that denim companies needed to simplify their designs. This brought the disappearance of the Cinchback and the loss of the pocket flap from the Type 1 Jacket. The jacket now featured a simpler “doughnut button” with a laurel wreath, which used 30 percent less metal. The distinctive Arcuate stitching was replaced by the painted version that normally disappeared after only a couple of washes. The stitching returned in 1947.

Yoke
A V-shaped section at the back of the jean used as a “riser” to give curve to the seat. The deeper the V of the yoke, the greater the curve. Cowboy jeans often feature a deep yoke, while workwear or dungaree jeans may have a shallow yoke or none at all.

[altitude]

too much info, dude. its just a pair of jeans afterall.

[adero]

cool! very good! I like. cheers!

[CD]

Got some good info there, expecially if you aren't to hot on some of the 'techincal' terms.

I kind of agree with altitude BUT the same outlook could be said of ANYTHING. Oh it's just a car, oh its just a house, oh its just a footballer, oh its just a hi-fi etc etc to the untrained eye. But to those in the know it's the DIFFERENCES, the details which seperate everything & everyone! Good from bad.

Got some good info there weed.

Maybe we could create a thread which contains a glossary of fashion/clothing terms. Similar to above but a more general view. Could be quite useful.

[BASS]

Nice One!

[done-diesel]

knowledge is power or in this case a sedative