Bell-bottoms
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bell bottoms are trousers, worn by men and women, boys and girls that become wider from the knees downwards. If a person looks at a pair front or behind, they have the form of a bell or trumpet. It is believed that they were introduced in 1817 to sailors working on deck. The flare at the end of the pant leg allowed them to be rolled up more easily than normal straight-legged pants. The bell-shaped leg also made the pants easier to remove in a hurry when forced to abandon ship or when washed overboard. The pants may then be knotted at the legs to be used as a life preserver.
Bell-bottoms became very fashionable in the 1960s, both for men and women. In the mid 1990s they became popular again in women's and men's fashion in Europe spreading to the Americas. They were initially reintroduced as "boot cut" with a slight flare leg. Over time the width of the hem grew wider and the term "flare leg" was favored in marketing over the term "bell bottom". As with boot cut hems, the trend began in Europe and spread rapidly around the world. Today both boot cut and flare leg pants remain popular both in denim and higher quality office wear. In menswear straight leg also gave way to boot cut looks, again initially in Europe, and has made its leap into flare leg, for officewear, the same as what happened in womenswear. In most cases men's boot cut and women's boot cuts differ. Women's boot cut jeans are tight to the knee and then flare out slightly to the hem while men's boot cut jeans are usually flared/loose all the way from crotch to hem, but can be the same as womens and flare out at the knee.
