In the 1800s, Levi Strauss made them out of tents.

These days most designers make them out of materials from corduroy to leather.

Blue jeans: They’re an American classic, right up there with cheesy teen movies and www.fishydance.com.

From rhinestones to cargo pockets to bright colors, most trends have found their way onto jeans. And some, like flared or tapered legs, have found their way back onto the fashion scene. Whichever way you wear them, you’re not alone: Americans have been zipping up for generations.

“They are a symbol of America in a way because they really did start here,” said Sally Helvenston, an associate professor of apparel and textile design. “So much of what we see in fashion begins in Europe and moves here. It’s one of the few kinds of things that’s begun here. It’s ours.”

No-preference freshman Richie Wallace has six or eight pairs of the all-American pants.

“They’re comfortable,” he said. “They look good and I look good in them.”

Jeans date back to the mid-19th century, when miners needed heavyweight pants for collecting ore. Strauss was in California selling dry goods when he got the idea to make pants out of tents. Adding rivets for durability, Strauss created what is now a uniform for many people.

During World War II, women who worked in factories wore jeans made out of new stretch fabrics. In the 1970s, sequins and buttons decorated the durable pants.

“By the ’70s, jeans had moved out of the sportswear category and into the fashion category,” Helvenston said. “They keep mutating into these new kinds of looks. They change to fit right in with whatever silhouette is in fashion.”

Between bell bottoms and carpenter pants, most people have a signature blue jeans style.

Computer science freshman Deshaundria Salter, sporting red pants Monday, likes colored denim.

But her favorite way to wear jeans is cuffed with a matching shirt and gym shoes.

“(Jeans are) all I wear every day,” she said. “Jeans can pretty much go with anything.”

Just as the pant has lasted through the years on the runway, each pair lasts for years, Helvenston said.

“You can’t wear them out,” she said. “They just keep going and going.”

The right fit and comfort are critical to a lasting pair of dungarees.

“The whole key to it is the comfort factor,” Helvenston said. “They’re almost an ideal casual pant.”

Business freshman Adam Babcock said jeans are his most comfortable pants.

“When you break in a pair of jeans, they’re just like sweatpants: They fit,” he said.

Finding a good fit is difficult for marketing senior Shannon Houseman, who is 5 feet 1 inch tall.

“It’s horrible. Since I’m short I probably try on 50 pairs before I find a pair I like,” she said.

Although she owns about 10 pairs, Houseman only wears two of them.

“The other ones don’t fit like I would like them to,” she said, adding she likes jeans with a little bit of flare.

She has started buying jeans on the Internet, where she can find different shades in the size and style she likes.

Besides choosing different styles, people can change the way their jeans look with accessories for every event from a night out to a day at the office.

“You can dress them up,” no-preference sophomore Danelle Holland said. “You can wear different shirts with them to make them look dressier.”

In becoming dressier, jeans have gained acceptance in the workplace.

But they haven’t made their way into every place of business.

Amanda Burgess Proctor, who works in the Personal Protection Office in the Ingham County Circuit Court building, said the occasional casual Friday is a special treat.

The criminal justice graduate student has six pairs of jeans, even though she rarely wears them to work.

“I wish I had different ones,” she said. “I haven’t bought a new pair in about two years.”

But Proctor keeps the denim wear on reserve for weekends and evenings away from work.

“When all else fails, I always pull out that pair of jeans,” she said. “I feel good in them.”