The only contribution I can make is that in Arthur Ransome's Swallows
and Amazons books, written and set in the 1930s, a small boy (Roger) is
described as wearing knickerbockers.
Emily
On 3/20/2013 3:05 PM, Hope Greenberg wrote:
Ah the wonderful vagaries of fashion terms. Here's what I believe the
evolution is:
18th and early 19th century: the general term for pants that end at
the knee is knee breeches--or just plain breeches (let's not go back
to Elizabethan trunk hose, etc. now!)
1809: Washington Irving publishes his satirical take on history and
politics titled A History of New York from the Beginning of the World
to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker. The
frontispiece sports an image of a patrician-looking elder gentleman
wearing knee breeches. (Irving also begins an amusing hoax related to
the whereabouts of Mr. Knickerbocker that has the effect of boosting
sales of the book.)
1810-1840: the name is picked up by the public to refer to New
Yorkers, particularly gentleman of the old school variety.
1840s: the New York Knickerbockers baseball team is formed. They adopt
the uniform of a white flannel shirt and blue wool (long!) pants. No
knickers yet.
mid-19th century: boys wear short pants - not shaped quite like knee
breeches, but not as baggy as later knickerbockers either. The OED
dates the use of knickerbocker for the baggy variety dates to 1859.
And then there's the gentleman's country wear, the knickerbocker suit,
of the late 1860s-1870s. Let's also throw in the baggy pants developed
by Amelia Bloomer for the women's dress reform movement which were
baggy but originally ankle length. They got shorter at the end of the
century and were especially popular for women bicyclists, in fact the
OED cites "knickerbocker ladies" as meaning women cyclists. And when
do baseball uniforms move to shorter baggy pants that are called
knickerbockers...hmmm...
1872: reference to women's under drawers as knickerbockers, followed
by 1895 reference to satin knickerbockers. Other references also refer
to the younger girls drawers as knickers at about this time.
Here's where it gets fuzzy: by WWI the uniform was characterized by
what we would term knickerbockers. At about the same time, boys by the
early 20th century boys pants were short and baggy. By the 1920s
golfers adopted the short baggy look but there's were 4 inches longer
than knickerbockers, hence the label "plus fours." Knickers were also
the staple of baseball and football uniforms. And by 1926 we have a
reference to "French knickers" a British/American term for ladies "tap
pants" or short, elastic waist, baggy open leg drawers. (Think Busby
Berkley dancers or 30s film stars underwear.)
They made a come-back in the 1960s after 1950s ankle pants shortened
to pedal pushers. Knickers were always characterized as baggier and
drawn in at the knee.
Whew! There you have it--what a fun look at this garment. Oh, but back
to your original question: it looks like knickers would not be the
correct term for any knee-length garment before the late 1850s.
- Hope
War days.
Is knickers the correct term for men's knee breeches in
_______________________________________________
h-costume mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
_______________________________________________
h-costume mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
