Spats are a type of shoe accessory
worn in the late 19th and early 20th century.
They were stiff fabric covers attached to
the top of the shoe and extending up the
lower part of the leg. Spats, especially
white ones on highly-polished black shoes,
form part of the stereotype dress of a wealthy
young man of the era, along with a top hat
and a cane. Similar (but strictly practical
rather than decorative) articles known as
gaiters are still worn today, to prevent
mud getting into walking boots.A mobster
in the film Some Like It Hot was nicknamed "Spats"
because he wore that type of shoe.
