Denim
There is a fetish for everything, every oddity, every fabric...
There is a fetish for everything, every oddity, every fabric and every thing. So, undoubtedly there is a “jeans” fetish. I mean I hope there is, because growing up, denim was everywhere and for many of us, kinks are unconsciously implanted at an early age. Jeans were universally popular and all my teenage crushes wore jeans at some point. Perhaps the best thing about jeans is that they are unisex and they look great on a curvy bum whoever you are.
I want to take a look at some highlights through the decades and remind you about the perks of this legendary fashion fabric. This will then help us see why it is still clinging to perky butt cheeks all these years later.
From the saddle to the dancefloor
How Rivets changed the game
The popularity of jeans, which started out as workwear, took decades to take off. It was all driven by the rise of the movie industry and pop culture, and of course Mr Levi Strauss and his riveting “rivets” that changed the game. As soon as he lost the patent in the 1900s everyone started making them and making big money along with them. In the 1930s to the 1960s jeans were synonymous with cowboys.
Western movies were being made and the tough heroes were always in jeans (and chaps if we were lucky). Then came the James Dean and Marlon Brando movies of the 1950s; now men in jeans were officially hot and a bit dangerous. In the ’60s and ’70s with kids and teens wearing jeans, they were an item that seemed to relate to being young and rebellious. In the swinging sixties and free-love seventies jeans got seriously fashionable. Coloured denim was available, there were hipsters in bell bottoms, and socialites in high waisted white jeans. They were so versatile and so transcending. It didn’t matter if you were rich or poor, black or white, you would have been wearing them at some point during that era.
Ripped, double and ultra tight.
Denim in advertising
The ’80s was possibly the peak for jeans. There were denim jackets, denim shirts and double denim was so in. Ripped jeans that flashed the flesh were de-rigueur. White denim was a total vibe and they were tight! Tight white jeans, heels, shoulder pads and big hair, a phenomenal look (I think I have an 80s fetish).
The advertising campaigns that fuelled this appetite for denim, really ignited after the Levis “launderette” advert – that guy, that soundtrack – it made men in jeans that had previously been painted as ultra-masculine (back to the cowboys) now seem adorable, and super hot. Jeans and a white tee was all you needed to be “on-trend” back then. Not forgetting all that Madonna did for the fabric, she was rarely out of denim, and the Calvin Klein ad with Brooke Shields. The supermodels sent it into overdrive in the 90s with Kate Moss modelling for Calvin Klein too and the Cindy Crawford Pepsi commercial. The sexiest people in the world wore jeans and it sent sales soaring. Jeans weren’t particularly tight in the 90s, they were baggy if anything. It wasn’t a time for the super-tight, bum shaper jeans, it kind of hid your figure a lot of the 90s looks. The “poured into them” look was coming though.
From ultra masculine to genders neutral
A cute butt is for some reason, always hotter in figure-hugging jeans. The way the pockets accentuate each butt cheek. The central seam and the waistband, it all works to complete the package. Speaking of “packages” a man in jeans on the big screen always had a bulge (I imagine the sales of socks were quite high in the ’80s and ‘90s too). Jeans could make a man seem effortlessly hot – as long as they weren’t white; that look on guys needs to stay in the archives.
Jeans were not only gender-neutral, accessible to all, they were also a day and a night look. So, wearing them out to a club with a sexy little top and heels was a good look, which only heightened their visual appeal in the daylight. A wiggling denim-clad butt seemed to be everywhere, and it seemed to fit every shape and size. These days there are low rise, skinny, super skinny, so many ways to wear them. Tight is going out of fashion once again and the ’90s wide leg is coming back. Despite these cyclical trends jeans are always in wardrobes somewhere, even if they are stuffed in the back somewhere. What other wardrobe staple has survived this long?
Denim is limited in a fetish fabric appeal, but jeans as a item are very popular
Now, despite its unending popularity in mainstream culture, I think it has limited appeal in fetish culture for one important reason; its lack of tactile impact.
No one can argue it looks sexy, on everyone, when it shows off someone’s shape; what is not to like? Well….the feel is pretty unexciting compared to all the other fabrics we fetishize. Think of rubber, satin, leather, PVC, they’re all very erotic to touch.
If you could look at long legs and a firm arse in tight jeans or latex, I’d guess you’d prefer the shine that latex gives, it’s more visual too.
But having a fetish isn’t about doing what other people are doing, or liking what’s popular. It’s about finding what turns you on and finding the people that feel the same. There are tribes within the kink community, and as fetishes go, this is a relaxed, everyday look. You have an interest that you can access every time you leave the house. That must be cool. Everywhere you go there will be someone wearing jeans. Is this a blessing or a curse? I’m not sure. Feel free to let me know.
