Trousers

“ Meanwhile the coat becomes older and older, and he hardly dares to wear the trousers. Can’t you imagine the wretched man, after some splendid evening of debauchery, contemplating these garments—hanging them over the end of the bed, arranging them now in full light, now in shade, and wondering whether they will survive him, or he will survive them? ”

“ Assuming that the modern trouser is a necessity—and we believe it is regarded as such, at least primarily—the point arises, how is the modern trouser to be made picturesque in Art?
The tailor's notion of the ideal in trousers and that entertained by the sculptor are separated by a wide gulf, which very few of the latter fraternity show any disposition to bridge. ”

“ It comes up to hit you in the face year after year in all its amazing variations: waist-line under the arm pits, "trick" little belts, what-nots in the cuffs; trousers so narrow you fear they will burst before your eyes, pockets placed in every position, buttons clustered together in a tight little row or reduced to one. And the worst of it is, few of our younger men know any better until they go abroad and find their wardrobe a subject for jest and derision. ”

“ The blue trousers are terrible things, being lined with some thick material and kept up by a tape at the waist. A friend of mine in Paget's Horse will not have them called trousers, but always alludes to them as leg casings. ”

“ The younger men are of inferior stature, and nearly all bow-legged. They have turned the flowing trousers into modern pantaloons, the legs of which are cut like the old-fashioned gigot sleeve, very big and baggy at the top, and tied with a drawing-string around the waist. My first impression was, that the men had got up in a great hurry, and put on their trousers hinder-end foremost. ”

“ The tight young fellow in blue jacket and shiny tarpaulin, and equally shiny belt, and white trousers, the latter enormously wide at the bottom, which trousers he was always hitching up with a very peculiar movement of the body, standing first upon one leg and then upon the other ”

“ At the top of the trousers a binding of tanned sealskin incloses a thin, strong rawhide line as a draw-string, by which the trousers are adjusted closely to the wearer’s body. The bottom of the legs are made just as small as will allow the feet to go through, and when the trousers are pulled up into place, they fit the leg closely just below the knee. ”

“ When trousers are worn without suspenders, they must be cut shorter waisted, shorter in the legs and closer around the waist. If one wears suspenders it is a luxury to have a pair for each pair of trousers. ”

“ Their coat-sleeves are all-too-short, the legs of their trousers all-too-brief, their wrists and ankles, in startling contrast to their abnormally thin shanks and arms, seem over-developed. They are opulent in white eyelashes, blushes, mobile Adam’s-apples, affection, and honesty. ”

“ Rough blue jackets, with mother-of-pearl buttons, oil-skin hats, coarse checked shirts, and large canvas trousers that look as if they were made for a pair of bodies instead of a pair of legs, are the staple commodities. ”

“ The costume of most is limited to shirt and trousers, the material for which their own hands or those of their women-folk have sheared, spun, woven and dyed. Some of the better dressed wear trousers of blue and white striped stuff, of the kind now-a-days exclusively used for bed-ticking. ”

“ Beware of badly made seams, which have a vexatious way, as many a masculine wearer can testify, of pinching out a bit of skin at some inopportune moment. The trousers should be cut away a little over the instep, and fastened down under the sole with straps, which may be either sewed on or attached by buttons inside the band, in which case india-rubber is the best material, being easy alike on buttons, stuff, and fingers. ”

“ Sit down, sit down!« With a savage light in her eyes, she threw off the knitted wrap, again baring her rosy shoulders and thin soft arms. »Why am I all wrapped up like this? It's hot here and I ... I must have been saving him! How kind!... Look here, you might at least take your trousers off. It's only good manners here to do without your trousers. ”

“ There is one vestige in connection with trousers that we may mention before leaving this subject, and that is the stripes which are to be seen on many official dresses, and which have been adopted by some men in their evening dress of recent years. It seems that this takes us back to a row of buttons which were once used along the whole length of the breeches when these were too tight for the foot to be put through them, and in consequence they had to be undone and done up again along the side of the leg. ”

“ Ladies’ trousers should be of the same material and colour as the habit, and if full flowing like a Turk’s, and fastened with an elastic band round the ankle, they will not be distinguished from the skirt. ”

“ The clothing should always be loose about the waist. As suspenders are inconvenient to wear and very uncomfortable in hot weather, I would suggest that the simplest, and I think the best, way of holding up the trousers is by means of a band sewed around the inside of the flannel shirt, with buttons sewed through the shirt and band and then the button-holes made on an extra band on the inside of band of trousers, the same as little boys’ waists and trousers are joined. ”

“ One of the great steps in personal cleanliness and therefore in culture made by our forefathers, was the adoption of a linen tunic next the skin, the “short” garment, or shirt. Again, a piece of cloth wrapped round the body and held up by a girdle forms the skirt or kilt, and the way in which Eastern women fasten their skirts together between the feet for convenience of walking, shows how trousers were invented. ”

“ In another place he continues this subject with an amusing accuracy of analysis:—"The mere substitution of trousers for their loose dress interferes seriously with their old habits; they all turn in their toes, in consequence of the Turkish manner of sitting, and they walk wide, and with a swing, from being habituated to the full drapery: this gait has become natural to them, and in their European trousers they walk in the same manner. They wear wide-topped loose boots, which push up their trousers. ”

“ The trouser, otherwise full, is narrow at the ankle, where it is confined by a band of the same material, of gold or of jewels, according to the quality of the wearer. Gloves are not worn by men, but their trousers being so massive they can place their hands in the ample folds when walking in the sun.
Another important article of male attire is a large piece of drapery, which, fastened in front and on one shoulder with a jewel chain, is carried to the back, and being attached to the opposite arm, falls in graceful folds below one knee, where it may be fastened. ”

“ The upper one appears very much like an American lady's dressing-sack, only somewhat longer, with flowing sleeves, and is quite loose fitting, the fastenings being along a curve from the neck to beneath the right arm, and then in a straight line down that side. The lower garment is a pair of loose trousers. There is little or no difference in the style of the outer and inner garments, more or fewer being worn according to the state of the weather. ”

“ We accuse you of making above two hundred thousand shirts for the bare backs of mankind. Your trousers too, which you have made of fustian, of cassimere, of Scotch plaid, of jane, nankeen, and woollen broadcloth, are they not manifold? ”

“ To Shorten the Trousers considerable care is needed in determining just where the alteration should be made. The length of the underwaist to which they fasten has a great deal to do with their length when worn. It is well to measure an old pair of trousers on the child, taking the measure from the waist to the crotch and then to just below the knee, allowing for the extra fulness to fall over the knee in knickerbockers. Any alteration in length above the crotch should be made across the pattern below the extension for the pocket opening, changing the seam edges as little as possible. ”

“ In the evening, after "Soup," we were taken to the riding-school, having to dress for the purpose in undress uniform—namely, the red trousers with leather covering which I have previously described, a short jacket, a képi, and white gloves—pieces of rags being tied round the rowels of our spurs. We were first taught how to dress in line, and how to stand at our horse's head. ”

“ One might hazard the contention that a painter would be perfectly safe in introducing a pot-hat and a pair of trousers at practically any period of the world's history—not in conjunction, mind; no, that glorious consummation was reserved for this happy age of ours. The Greeks, however, as is well known, wore trousers. Some form of the trouser was worn by the lower classes at most periods of English history. Ben Jonson makes Peniboy junior walk in his "gowne, waistcoate, and trouses," expecting his tailor. ”

“ Let your schneider baste the trousers together, and when you have put them on, let them be braced to their natural tension; the schneider should then, with a small pair of scissors, cut out all the wrinkles which offend the eye. The garment, being removed from your person, is again taken to the tailor’s laboratory, and the embrasures carefully and artistically fine-drawn. The process for walking or riding trousers only varies in these particulars—for the one you should stand upright, for the other you should straddle the back of a chair. ”

“ A tall young man, looking as if he had got a holiday from a tailor’s fashion plate, his hair sleek, black, and stuck down to his head with a cosmetic, his trousers so immaculately creased they seemed cut out of cardboard, led out a girl dressed in a skirt so tight that she could not have moved in it had it not been cut open to the knee. ”

“ Trousers are often wrongly thought to be a modern invention, and it is easy to go away with the idea that they are exclusively the attributes of men. This is far from being the case, and as in Scotland we find the petticoat still in use by men, so in France and Switzerland (see Figure 81) we see the peasant woman wearing trousers of the ordinary type, to say [81] nothing of Oriental countries like Persia and Siam (see Plate V) , where trousers form part of the dress of women even of the highest rank.
A Siamese Princess, shewing the trousers worn by women of high rank. ”

“ Trousers.--If you are likely to have much riding, take extra leather or moleskin trousers, or tweed covered down the inside of the legs with leather, such as cavalry soldiers generally wear. Leather is a better protection than moleskin against thorns; but not so serviceable against wet: it will far outlast moleskin. There should be no hem to the legs of trousers, as it retains the wet. ”

“ Trousers without straps, slipping up the leg of a timid horseman, are an acute form of unnecessary misery, which was the fashion for many years up to 1877, when straps again appeared on the trousers of the more correct riders in Rotten Row.—Illustrated Book of the Horse. ”

“ Costumes of red cambric; knickerbocker trousers, jacket belted at the waist, and cut in points below the belt, each point having a small bell on it; cap like toboggan cap with bell at the point. Let the boys go in stocking feet, or with red cloth slippers. Stockings red. Each carries a stick a foot long, and one-half the size of a broom handle. ”

“ You know how we make trousers—what substantial, well-selected patterns we carry; how carefully we cut, so as to get perfect fit in the crotch and around the waist; how we whip in a piece of silk around the upper edge of the waist ”

“ In addition to the fur coat, boots and shoes, which are exactly like those of the men, the women wear trousers which differ very slightly, a shift, and over it a robe-like upper garment, falling below the knee and clasped in the middle ”

“ We were first sent to the tailor. When my turn came he cast a glance over me, took from a shelf two pairs of trousers, two tunics, and one morning jacket. A Corporal showed us how to put them on according to regulations. The trousers are made of red felt, the seat and inside of the legs being of double thickness, that is to say, fully one inch thick; from the knee downwards they were covered with soft but thick leather, with straps to fix under the boots. ”

“ On the other days of the week, morning wear, or afternoon dress, or evening dress, according to time of service, may be worn.
Suspenders.—These may be of silk, or any other suitable material. Silk should always be worn with evening dress. White is the neatest color that can be worn.
Suspenders are worn with every dress, summer or winter, with or without a sash. Each pair of trousers should have its individual suspenders. Great care must be used in adjusting the suspenders; if not, the trousers will set awkwardly. ”

“ Stout men do not want their trousers very long waisted and up under their arms, therefore great care must be taken when selecting, cutting and making stout men's trousers. When trying on a pair of trousers, or in fact any garment, stand before the mirror in one's natural position, do not twist and turn, and cause wrinkles to form all over the garment, and when looking at the trousers, look at them in the mirror ”

“ The man's dress invariably consists of long loose trousers or of close-fitting breeches, and of a moderately tight-fitting, buttonless jacket. These two articles of dress are supplemented by a bamboo hat, a betel-nut knapsack, and by such adornments in the shape of beads, and other things, as the man may have been able to acquire. ”

“ The Page's trousers are of the ordinary close-fitting type, and may be made rather smarter fitting than is the rule for other Liveries, and as the seat is fully exposed to view, care must be taken to avoid having any surplus materiel, either in width or length, although of course sufficient width must be left for ease or stooping, &c.; they are always made fly front, and when the edges of jacket are piped, the sideseam of trousers are done to match. ”