People are only just finding out what the metal studs on jeans are for

Did you know that, just like that particularly tiny pocket at the front of your jeans, the small metal studs dotted around your favourite pair of trousers have a purpose?

Or at least, they used to.

Typically, you'll find these circular metal rivets on the corners of the front pockets on your jeans.

This design has been a staple look on Levi jeans since the 1870s, and is one of the key reasons why the brand is known for its long-lasting, top-quality clothing.

It was American tailor Jacob Davis who first invented the riveting of trousers, by hammering little disks on to metal studs that pierced through the fabric.

Aigars Reinholds / Alamy Stock Photo

In 1873, Levi Strauss & Co. patented the design, and metal rivets on jeans quickly became an essential part of the iconic blue jeans design.

So, what exactly are those little metal rivets there for, you ask?

You're not the only one who has been wondering, as one curious Redditor was determined to get to the bottom of this, sharing a photo of the metal studs on his own jeans accompanied by the caption: "These are on all jeans.

"Do they serve a purpose, practical or otherwise? If not... Why are they there?"

Some people, who weren't sure of the answer, were willing to hazard a guess.

"To punish you for taking your laundry out of the dryer too soon", joked one viewer.

Those bad boys do get painfully hot after a go in the tumble dryer...

Another suggested that they were there to 'scratch the hell out of cellphone screens when putting them back in your pocket without looking.'

A third, who had a better idea, commented: "Rivets were used to strengthen denim pants when they were used primarily for work. over the years, the need for them diminished, but the appeal did not."

And there's your answer.

ignazuri / Alamy Stock Photo

In the 1870s, one of the biggest problems that workmen had with their jeans was that the pocket corners would wear and tear too quickly.

That's when Jacob Davis came up with the idea to hammer little metal rivets into the spots where people tearing their jeans - namely, the corners of the pockets and the base of the zipper.

Nowadays, jeans don't really need rivets to prevent wear and tear, since most wearers aren't sporting their good blue jeans to head down the mines.

That being said, you'll still often find rivets on your jeans - though they're purely for decoration. Just like that little pocket you'll often find in the front of your jeans, another Levi Strauss original.

The pocket, known as a watch pocket, dates back to the oldest pair of waist overalls in the Levi Strauss & Co. Archives.

That watch pocket isn't exactly needed these days, since watches are more likely to be strapped to our wrists or confined to our phones, rather than kept in our pocket.

But, just like the metal rivets, it's been kept as a sentiment to the early jeans design.