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TROUSERS

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 312 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TROUSERS , the name given to the See also:

article of See also:dress worn by men, covering each See also:leg separately and reaching from the See also:waist to the See also:foot. The word in its earlier forms is always found without the second r, e.g. trouses, trouzes, trooze, cf. the See also:Lowland Scots word " trews," and is an See also:adaptation of the See also:French trousses, See also:trunk-See also:hose, breeches, the plural of trousse, a bundle, See also:pack, See also:truss, from trousser, to pack, bundle up, tuck, tie up, girth, of which the origin is doubtful. In See also:English the word " trousers," when it first appears, was used of the leg-garments of the Irish, who wore their breeches or trunk-hose and stockings in one piece, a See also:custom to which there are many allusions in 17th-See also:century literature. See also:Knee-breeches and See also:top-boots for out-of-See also:door See also:wear or stockings for indoor use lasted till the beginning of the 19th century as the See also:regular See also:costume for men. Pantaloons, loose trousers reaching to above the See also:ankle, were worn in See also:Venice by the poorer classes in the 17th century (for the origin of the name see See also:PANTALOON). The characters of the See also:Italian See also:comedy made the See also:style of garment See also:familiar in See also:France, but it was only seen in the fantastic costumes of the See also:ballet. During the reign of See also:Louis XVI. loose pantaloons became See also:fashion-able for the See also:morning deshabille of men. Their See also:adoption by the supporters of the Revolution was the origin of the name of sans-culottes applied to the revolutionaries. Beau Brummel, in See also:England, was probably the first to make the " pantaloon " popular. A striking feature of his dress were the tight-fitting See also:black trousers reaching to the ankle, where they were buttoned. From this See also:developed the true trousers, cut over the See also:boot at the instep, at first open at the bottom and fastened by loops, later strapped tight under the boot. It is said that the See also:duke of See also:Wellington introduced this latter See also:form after the See also:Peninsular See also:War.

They were not recognized as correct for evening wear, and strong opposition was taken against them by the See also:

clergy and at the See also:universities (see COSTUME).

End of Article: TROUSERS

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