Plus-Four/Knickerbocker - elastic, knit, button or buckle?

[Fastuni]

I am going to make myself a pair of plus-fours/knickerbocker. A question to the (I guess not too many) gents here wearing this garment occasionally: what would you recommend - elastic band inside the "knee-hem", a knit "cuff", a button or a buckle? I want them to bulge over well, prevent slipping down and make them comfortable.
Your suggestions are very welcome.

Thanks!

 

[Hap Hapablap]

Mine have buckles and they hold in place better than you'd think.

 

[David Conwill]

"The moment your son leaves the house, Does he rebuckle his knickerbockers below the knee?"

If I were having a pair made, that's what I would request. Seems like you'd have better control than with elastic, and I have terrible luck with buttons pulling off.

 

[esteban68]

honestly I have elastic and Velcro versions and the Velcro holds up more efficiently, I suppose with a buckle and strap then it would depends on the weight heavier ones slipping down perhaps?

 

[Guttersnipe]

Elastic strikes me as very "costumey". The vintage ones I've seen all had either a buckle or button fastener.

 

[Fastuni]

Thanks for the input guys.

Guttersnipe, all the options I mentioned (elastic, knit, button, buckle) are "vintage-correct" (meaning 20-40's) - I have also seen vintage examples (and period illustrations) with elastic band.
Maybe this was a more Continental European thing... similar to elasticated sports-backs of jackets - ubiquitous in Germany and France... almost nonexistent in Britain and USA.

Regarding buckles... I have a (very damaged) German 1930's plus-four with buckles. The straps are a bit too short for my legs, so I can't really judge them, but they feel rather clumsy and the "bulging over" isn't very elegant (could be because of the somewhat dry fabric).

A sewn in elastic has the advantage of evenly gathering the fabric... but I am a bit sceptical to the slipping down factor. Of course this also depends on the weight of the fabric - it is a medium weight herringbone woolen.

 

[Two Types]

I have one pair that I had made (and seldom wear): I chose buckles, it just seemed right.

 

[cpdv]

I have a pair of knickers with buttons and a pair of plus fours with buckles both of them mid 20s. I would go with the buckles myself.

 

[Chasseur]

I have several pairs of vintage and modern plus twos, breeks etc. that I use for outdoors stuff and also modern fencing knickers/breeches for fencing . I find the most steady and durable are the buckle fastening.

I am not a fan of the Velcro, I find that if you are using them outdoor the cuffs will be opened up at the wrong moment and you have to spend lots of time fixing them. The elastic is fast/convenient and when new they hold up well, but you have to periodically replace them since they wear out. You can see this in any fencing club where are most the older fencers knickers elastic cuffs have given out and they droop half way down the calf (like those bad knee breeches Morgan Freeman wore in that awful version of Moll Flanders in the 1990s...).

To follow on Fastuni's point a few years ago I learned on the Lounge that web/elastic cuffs on breeks/knickers/plus fours actually date back to at least the 1920s. So they are very vintage.

See this thread:http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?62443-1943-schoolboys-knickers&

I have a vintage 1967 Moss Bros pair of plus twos with elastic bands (that still hold!) and I'll add that Velcro has been used on the cuffs of British breeks etc since the 1970s or 80s (I have a shooting suit from that period with Velcro cuffs on the breeks).

 

[dhermann1]

I have two pairs of plus fours, one linen and one heavy tweed, and they both have buckles. From the pictures I've seen on Shorpy.com, it looks to me like elastic was mainly for kids, back in the day. I've never had problems with the buckes. That's what I'd suggest.

 

[dhermann1]

Or, you could do like the hundreds of hipsters that I saw at Governors Island last weekend, and just stuff the tops of your trousers into your socks. That would be REAL authentic.

 

[Fastuni]

Haha. No... I think it will be buckles. After all I can salvage them from the wrecked pair of 30's plus fours I have.
Thanks.

 

[David-B]

I have a few pairs, with buckles and velcro. The buckles are very good on both heavy tweed and also on a pair I made from a dry baggy pair of wool suit trousers in a nice POW check. I have velcro on a pair of cord breeks and they are fine too. The adjustment with those is easier but the buckles stay put better. I bought buckles that are used on waistcoat straps for the ones I made. They work very well.