摘要：Today, we call denim pants “jeans.” But jean and denim are two different fabrics. Denim is a strong all-cotton fabric. Jean is a t

Jean or Denim?

Today, we call denim pants “jeans.” But jean and denim are two different fabrics. Denim is a strong all-cotton fabric. Jean is a thinner, weaker fabric made of cotton and linen. But both fabrics are dyed blue with indigo. They look very much alike, and the names became confused. Eventually, so many people called Levi’s pants “jeans,” the company officially changed the name.

今天，我们称牛仔裤为“jeans”。但是jean和denim是两种不同的面料。denim（牛仔布）是一种结实的全棉织物。Jean（牛仔布）是一种由棉和麻制成的较薄、较弱的织物。但两种面料都被靛蓝染料染成蓝色。两者长得很像，名字也搞混了。最终，很多人把李维斯的裤子叫做“牛仔裤Jeans”，公司正式改名。

Do You Know?

You may have noticed that many blue jeans are sewn with orange thread. This is unusual. Most clothing is sewn with thread the same color as the fabric. The orange thread matches the copper rivets. Many kinds of jeans use two stitches side by side to make the orange show up.

你可能已经注意到，许多蓝色牛仔裤是用橙色线缝制的。这是不寻常的。大多数衣服都是用和布料颜色相同的线缝制的。橘黄色的线和铜铆钉相配。许多种类的牛仔裤都是用两针并排缝起来的，这样就能突出橙色。

Making Blue Jeans Blue

The original jeans were dyed with indigo, which comes from special plants. The plant leaves are first soaked in water. Then the water is stirred, in order to mix in oxygen. This changes the plantmixture from orange to yellow to green to blue. But indigo is very expensive. For many years, jeans makers used dye from coal or oil. But these dyes cause pollution. Some jeans makers have found special bacteria that make blue dye. The next pair of blue jeans you buy may have been dyed by bacteria!

最初的牛仔裤是用来自特殊植物的靛蓝染色的。首先把植物的叶子浸泡在水里，然后搅拌，以便与氧气混合。这使得植物混合物从橙色变为黄色，再变为绿色到蓝色。但是靛蓝染料非常昂贵。多年来，牛仔裤制造商使用源自煤炭或石油的染料。但是这些染料会造成污染。一些牛仔裤制造商发现了制造蓝色染料的特殊细菌。你买的下一条蓝色牛仔裤可能是被细菌染色的！

Now, people can even order custom-made jeans.

You can send all your measurements to a custom jeans company. They will make a pair to fit you perfectly.

现在，人们甚至可以定制牛仔裤。

你可以把你所有的尺寸发给定制牛仔裤公司。他们会做一条非常适合你的牛仔裤。

来源：小敏课堂