From Blue Jeans to Royal Blue: How denim jeans became acceptable to wear in the Netherlands during the 1960s

A Dutch person buys on average 1.82 jeans a year. In comparison to the Italians, who buy 0.6 denim jeans per person, this is quite a lot. Though almost everyone now owns a pair of denim jeans, only fifty years ago it was not that common to wear them. During the 1960s denim jeans, a garment representing the working class, became appropriated by the middle class in The Netherlands. This thesis discusses this appropriation of denim by the middle and upper classes in the Netherlands during the 1960s. This was accomplished by analysing how denim was discussed in two youth magazines and two major newspapers. The first chapter discusses the meaning of denim jeans during the 1960s. The second chapter discusses push-and-pull factors within Dutch society which caused a change in how people dressed. The third chapter deals with how the main youth magazines in the Netherlands discussed denim during the 1960s. Finally, the fourth chapter analyses the way denim was discussed in the two main newspapers in the Netherlands during this same period. This thesis uses the leading fashion theorist Georg Simmel’s theory on fashion appropriation. In his article, ‘Fashion’, Simmel argues that fashion unites certain classes horizontally but divides them vertically. Through fashion, the individual is able to pursue desires for group identity and individual expression. Thus, one can express personal value while following the norms of a certain group. In Western capitalist societies, individuals use clothing to show that they belong to a certain social group and to display individual identity The research on youth magazines showed a strong focus on the US and the emergence of an international youth culture. Denim jeans played quite an important role in this. The newspaper research showed that young people wearing denim jeans were considered too casual. Women wearing denim jeans were discussed with disgrace. Royal families, however, started appropriating denim jeans around 1965. During the second half of the 1960s denim jeans were slowly becoming more acceptable once not in a young deviant connotation, but with an American connotation. All in all, denim became more acceptable during the 1960s in both of the newspapers and magazines that have been researched. The research on these publications provides insight into how denim jeans were appropriated by the middle class during the 1960s.