What is a rivet
The term rivet is commonly misused when referring to the metal hardware at the corners of jeans pockets. The part visible on the outside of the jeans is the “burr” – the "rivet" is the nail that pushes through from the inside.
The rivet was originally used on horse blankets by a tailor named Jacob Davis of Reno, Nevada, who later worked with Levi Strauss in 1873 to receive the patent for “improvement in fastening pocket-openings”. This idea of work pants reinforced with metal burrs/rivets is essentially what gave rise to the modern-day blue jean.