Petticoat breeches were voluminously wide, pleated pants, reminiscent of a skirt, worn by men in Western Europe during the 1650s and early 1660s. The very full loose breeches were usually decorated with loops of ribbons on the waist and around the knee. They were so loose and wide that they became known as petticoat breeches. They give very much the impression of very baggy loose shorts since they are not gathered at the knee.
They replaced Spanish breeches during the 1650s as the most popular leg wear of most of Western Europe. By the early 1660s, rhinegraves became very popular and soon replaced petticoat breeches.
Famous quotes containing the word breeches:
“We found it at last, an’ a little shed
Where they shut up the lamb at night.
We looked in an’ seen them huddled thar,
So warm an’ sleepy an’ white;
An’ THAR sot Little Breeches an’ chirped,
As peart as ever you see,
“I wants a chaw of terbacky,
An’ that’s what’s the matter of me.””
—John Milton Hay (1838–1905)