Jodhpurs / Breeches

[Lone_Ranger]

The problem is that, the traditional flared breeches, require a tailor that actually knows what they are doing. A rare breed these days. They can still be found, but it's going to be an expensive prospect.

Even the modern 4-way stretch breeches, are in the $200 dollar range, if you get the better German made material.

I don't have any experience with, What Price Glory, but they do a version of the 1930-1940's US mounted breeches. I was thinking of trying them. The price is reasonable, and they come in at $50 cheaper than the stretch breeches.

 

[draws]

I don't have any experience with, What Price Glory, but they do a version of the 1930-1940's US mounted breeches. I was thinking of trying them. The price is reasonable, and they come in at $50 cheaper than the stretch breeches.

Remember, What Price glory, WWII Impressions and most other repro vendors get their breeches from the far east (i.e. India, indo-china or Indonesia) and they are just not the quality of a vintage pair of Breeches. For one thing, they provide a cookie-cutter approach using the same basic cut regardless of one's height, rise and leg length. Often you will receive a pair where the flair starts immediately out of the boot when it should start 3-4 inches above that. That's when I decided to have them custom made. Even though they are more expensive, It's well worth it. PS and the material is a better grade as well.

 

[Lone_Ranger]

Remember, What Price glory, WWII Impressions and most other repro vendors get their breeches from the far east (i.e. India, indo-china or Indonesia) and they are just not the quality of a vintage pair of Breeches. For one thing, they provide a cookie-cutter approach using the same basic cut regardless of one's height, rise and leg length. Often you will receive a pair where the flair starts immediately out of the boot when it should start 3-4 inches above that. That's when I decided to have them custom made. Even though they are more expensive, It's well worth it. PS and the material is a better grade as well.

I've found that Tailored Sportsman works well, for me. And Pikeur, if I'm feeling like spending more. Theirs is a 4-way stretch breech. However, I did have a guy in NYC, that did custom breeches. He did a good job, (was able to do the breeches in the US Army Dress Blues for me) but the last time I ordered from him, the experience was not pleasant. I vowed never to deal with him again. Since then I haven't been able to find anyone as a replacement.

 

[draws]

This is a pair of breeches I recently picked up on-line. They are original 1930s U.S. Army cavalry breeches. The material is khaki. This cut of breeches is indicative of the US army cavalry enlisteman in the 20s through the 30s. Prior to 1920, the flair cut was more rounded. I have several pairs of them and will follow this up with photos of them as well. I will also display the cut of the US Army officer, during the teens, 20s and 30s as well.

 

[Evan Everhart]

Evan,

Here is a link to the horsecountrylife website catalogue for reference to brown dress boots. Refer to page 40 for those you are looking for at a cost of $129 per pair, a big savings under the $350 you contemplate.
http://www.horsecountrylife.com/catalog/FoxHunters2009/cover.html

I have purchased a pair of their moleskin khaki green high waisted breeches and they are absolutely fantastic.

Unfortunately they are rubber. I am supposing that I'll have to keep an eye out for dress polo boots around the local swap meets/flea markets as they do sometimes pop up, Wasteland (a good place where I managed to come across and procure my fiance's lovely boots for only $45.) or, simply await the time when I can throw out a cool $600. or so to get a pair of Der Daus made up. It's such a hassle finding the leather ones! I really appreciate your help thus far though sir! I love that firm! They're very wank with their kit (though I must say that I don't care for their addition of tabs to the collars of all their coats) Anyhow, keep 'em coming and talk to you soon sir! Oh, and Gorgeous BREECHES! I've got a chap who's got a 1920s U.S. cavalry officer's uniform waiting for me, boots, sam-brown belt, pinks and all! (only problem is that the boots were not properly cared for and they're too delicate! AGH!) Still, 250 isn't bad. Anyhow, later sir!

 

[Evan Everhart]

Grandfather in his flared breeches post-war.

As promised, my Grandfather Jack in some riding gear that he procured after he was released from the camp:

My Grandfather's the one wearing the white blazer.

Here he is again but with a button-up biker jacket with a mandarin collar for motorcycle riding. He was only five feet or five feet one inch tall!

 

[BellyTank]

Very German looking leather jacket.
The guy, second right, in the first photo, seems to be wearing German
military trousers.

Nice, interesting photos.


B
T

 

[Evan Everhart]

Very German looking leather jacket.
The guy, second right, in the first photo, seems to be wearing German
military trousers.

Nice, interesting photos.


B
T

(Starts off on topic, gets a tad bit off, but interesting for it I figure...)

Its possible and probable. When my grandfather and his friends got out of the concentration camps all they had were ticking cotton uniforms which were not suitable for the Winter. They fled the camps as the Russians didn't particularly like them either and had just freed them as they were taking the camp as a military installation. When my grandfather fled the camp he owned only a couple of photographs which he had managed to hide and the dingy worker's uniform he'd been forced to wear. He found a pair of binoculars and a gold watch on the body of an SS officer who'd been shot down in the mud of the road while trying to flee the Russian advance. After that, my grandfather and his liberated comrades reached a neighboring town and raided a German supply depot. He got most of the first clothes which he had after his liberation, from the supply depot. Some of those liberated formed assassin squads and hunted down Nazis and German soldiers with the some of the guns and ammunition which they were able to salvage from the depot before the Russians came and seized most of it. Those were wild times.

I've still got the gold wrist watch and the binoculars.

 

[draws]

As promised, my Grandfather Jack in some riding gear that he procured after he was released from the camp:

My Grandfather's the one wearing the white blazer.

Here he is again but with a button-up biker jacket with a mandarin collar for motorcycle riding. He was only five feet or five feet one inch tall!

Evan, thanks for sharing your grandfather's story. I sometimes wonder how we would handle those same conditions. Now that was a man of character and you should be proud of him. Also, I wonder how we would handle those same circumstances?

 

[Evan Everhart]

Evan, thanks for sharing your grandfather's story. I sometimes wonder how we would handle those same conditions. Now that was a man of character and you should be proud of him. Also, I wonder how we would handle those same circumstances?

Thanks Dennis. I'll continue with our slightly off topic course here...I am Very Proud of my Grandfather Jack. He's the Best Man I've ever known. He lived through some crazy stuff. Out of a family of 15 or so only the four brothers survived, my Great Uncle Michael was killed in the first onslaught of the Blitzkrieg in Poland; he was a Polish border police officer. Out of the four brothers who survived the war, three came here, one went to Israel. He worked as a brick maker in a work camp, the Nazis liked him because he had blond hair and blue eyes and was really strong (before the war, he worked as a Kosher butcher with my Great Grandfather Phischel, butchering back then was heavy labor) but after he caught the fever (it was either yellow fever or typhus, I can't remember which), he got so sick he couldn't walk so his friends would wheel him to work in a wheel barrow or carry him and he'd sit and feed the bricks into the kiln, after that he lost all of his hair and couldn't even do that and they put him in a sack and threw him into the death pit...He crawled back out of the pit. When his hair came back, it was almost jet black. He was an amazingly strong person and I'm just proud and glad of him and that he was the man that he was.

 

[ron521]

One of Olivia Newton-Johns albums from the late 70's or early 80's featured a photo of her wearing (non-flared) riding breeches which fit her flawlessly, knee boots....and nothing else.
This image is burned into my mind...she is still singing, still looks gorgeous, and I'm still a fan.

 

[alden405]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40139095@N07/3702217429/sizes/o/in/set-72157621153354696/

a nice shot of US Army veterinary and remount officers in occupied Germany circa 46

 

[alden405]

As promised, my Grandfather Jack in some riding gear that he procured after he was released from the camp:

My Grandfather's the one wearing the white blazer.

Here he is again but with a button-up biker jacket with a mandarin collar for motorcycle riding. He was only five feet or five feet one inch tall!

Dude,your Grandfather is the Rocketeer!!!!!

awesome

thanks for sharing

 

[filfoster]

Riding Breeches

This look will not work here at the Bank. Even in our equestrian lending area.
Even on some of the lenders who resemble one end of the horse or the other.

 

[Doctor Damage]

(click for larger)

 

[BlueTrain]

There was one of our neighbors when I was little, in the 1950s, who wore breeches now and then. He was a linesman for the power company and he wore them with climber's boots of the sorts that were available then. He didn't ride horses. Breeches seemed to have been fairly popular for sportsmen for "big game" (deer) hunting, typically in thick wool from Woolrich. I've been interested in breeches (foot breeches) from that standpoint. Notice how full-cut the breeches are in the above photos. Military issue breeches in the 20's and 30's tended to be rather tight in the knee and that doesn't work for walking.

In the period prior to WWI, breeches for officers and for enlisted men were of a different cut, the officer's pattern being more flared. With the blue dress uniform, the officers again had breeches but the enlisted men had only trousers even though worn with leggings. Before that, beginning in 1899, all mounted troops wore breeches, worn with either boots or canvas leggings for the EMs. They were reinforced on the inside of the legs and the seat but they did not have the flair we associate with breeches of later decades. And before that, they seem to have worn reinforced trousers. Most wool material has a fair amount of elasticity, which is one reason it was used for puttees. One outdoor writer in the teens claimed they were good for you, referring to full-length puttees.

Officer's OD uniforms in the 20s and 30s were quite elegant and beautifully made, at least if you're partial to olive drab. Beige breeches came in early in the 20s. "Pinks and greens" were later. It's difficult to appreciate the subtlety of the changes over the years when seen decades later. Officers also had considerable latitude when it came to shades (especially shirts) and materials for uniforms. Enlisted men wore what was issued and however the first sergeant insisted they be worn.

 

[Doctor Damage]

There was one of our neighbors when I was little, in the 1950s, who wore breeches now and then. He was a linesman for the power company and he wore them with climber's boots of the sorts that were available then. He didn't ride horses. Breeches seemed to have been fairly popular for sportsmen for "big game" (deer) hunting, typically in thick wool from Woolrich. I've been interested in breeches (foot breeches) from that standpoint. Notice how full-cut the breeches are in the above photos. Military issue breeches in the 20's and 30's tended to be rather tight in the knee and that doesn't work for walking.

In the period prior to WWI, breeches for officers and for enlisted men were of a different cut, the officer's pattern being more flared. With the blue dress uniform, the officers again had breeches but the enlisted men had only trousers even though worn with leggings. Before that, beginning in 1899, all mounted troops wore breeches, worn with either boots or canvas leggings for the EMs. They were reinforced on the inside of the legs and the seat but they did not have the flair we associate with breeches of later decades. And before that, they seem to have worn reinforced trousers.

British/Empire infantry officers rode horses at the beginning of WW1, as did all ranks in the artillery and cavalry, and so riding breeches etc lingered throughout the war after horses disappeared from the battlefield (except among artillery units who still pulled their weapons around using horses). The Americans seemed to hold onto riding-related uniform items up to WW2, much longer than the British. The Germans of course retained it for officers as a rank distinction only.

Most wool material has a fair amount of elasticity, which is one reason it was used for puttees. One outdoor writer in the teens claimed they were good for you, referring to full-length puttees.

Puttees were terrible in the trenches of WW1, though, and disappeared soon after.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Not sure of the date of this photo but it was obviously during his presidency and it looks like the White House lawn (which is surprising, actually).

 

[BlueTrain]

Notice that the Marine Corps officer is also wearing boots. Horse marine?

Those puttees persisted in the US Army for another ten or fifteen years, same as in the British and French armies. The Japanese wore them until the end of the war, Soviets, too, if they couldn't get proper Russian-style boots. I've worn short puttees and they're marginally more comfortable than high (8-10 inches) boots but rather less practical overall. The British kept them into the 1980s.

What are those curious double-breasted light colored jackets the two men are wearing in the photo in #135?

 

[EngProf]

Since it's the 100th anniversary of WWI, there are a number of us doing WWI reenacting. That means that you need to wear puttees sometimes, and my verdict is that they were a mistake from the word "go". A nuisance to put on and a worse nuisance to keep on...
I avoid the issue whenever possible by portraying an officer so I can wear the WWI-era leather leggings instead of the frustrating puttees.