What is the history behind trouser lengths?

[PhantomKnight]

I've been watching Mad Man for a while and now that i have gotten past gawking at the sheer brilliance of the suits i am starting to notice some odd, perhaps 'creative license' type clothing.

For example: Do you think these trousers are cut this short to give a more high rise when seated? I admit it looks pretty cool, but in the first image his socks are showing by many inches!

So i guess on a larger scale, i am too young to have experienced this era, how accurate is Mad Men to the actual CBD of New York in the 60's?

Perfect example: i thought spread collars were a recent trend (last 20 years)

I am struggling to find much 60's style (i almost wrote fashion, but that is fleeting of course) on this website, any help?

Thanks

 

[Ugarte]

I'm not sure about the pant length. I suspect it's just the way a properly cut cuff rides up. The leg of the pants should just have a break when standing. My opinion is that pants are typically cut a bit longer these days, but that is just my suspicion.

As for shirt collars, I believe the "command collar" was introduced with the bold look around 1947.

Of course, I could be wrong.


Mark
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[Tzedekh]

I've been watching Mad Man for a while and now that i have gotten past gawking at the sheer brilliance of the suits i am starting to notice some odd, perhaps 'creative license' type clothing.

For example: Do you think these trousers are cut this short to give a more high rise when seated? I admit it looks pretty cool, but in the first image his socks are showing by many inches!

No, the trouser length is pretty accurate. Look at old movies going back to the 1930s. Trousers generally had only a slight break or no break at all. In the '60s it was fashionable to dispense with the break, and slim-cut trousers tended to ride up a little, making the trouser leg look even shorter.

Perfect example: i thought spread collars were a recent trend (last 20 years)

Nope. Ronald Reagan wore spread collars back in the '50s and even appeared in a Van Heusen ad wearing one. (The points were longer, but collar points got shorter in the '60s to harmonize with the narrower lapels, neckties, and trouser legs.) Besides, the character is British. Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor, popularized spread collars in Great Britain in the '30s.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I thought spread collars were a recent trend (last 20 years)...

No. Spread collars have been around since the 19th century. Theodore Roosevelt (U.S. President, 1901-1908) wore them throughout his life.

The British have been wearing spread collars without interruption since the 1920s, when the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VIII) first popularized them there.

.

 

[R.A. Stewart]

Agreed on both the collars and trouser length. This is from personal recollection, as I was born in 1950. Personally I hated that length, along with the whole tight and skimpy effect of early-60s style, and still do--but that's why we have so many different styles to choose from, isn't it?

~Rich

 

[PhantomKnight]

Trousers generally had only a slight break or no break at all. In the '60s it was fashionable to dispense with the break, and slim-cut trousers tended to ride up a little, making the trouser leg look even shorter.

That is interesting and solves my question. I would love to see some photographs or links to pages of these slim-cut little-to-no break trousers.

No. Spread collars have been around since the 19th century. Theodore Roosevelt (U.S. President, 1901-1908) wore them throughout his life.

I had never noticed these spread collars pre-1950. This comes from not spending the needed to time to browse this site. All in time i say...

Personally I hated that length, along with the whole tight and skimpy effect of early-60s style

I really like the use of the word skimpy; it evokes thoughts of suits being as much a sex symbol back then as lingerie.