Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
Bell-bottoms are trousers that become wider from the knees downward, so that seen from the front or behind, the leg has the form of a bell or trumpet. This page traces the style from its working origins — it is believed bell-bottom pants were introduced in 1817 for sailors working on deck — through the absurdly wide hems fashionable in the 1960s to its peak of popularity in the 1960s and 1970s for both men and women, and its 1990s reincarnation as flares, worn mostly by women.
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It is believed that bell-bottom pants 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 also be knotted at the legs to be used as a life preserver. Absurdly wide hems became fashionable in the 1960s, both for men and women.
If a person looks at a pair of bell-bottoms from front or behind, it has the form of a bell or trumpet. Bell-bottoms are sometimes worn by carpenters in order to prevent dust from getting into their shoes. In the modern fashion scene, bell-bottoms were most popular in the 1960s and 70s. They become popular again in 1990s in a reincarnation known as "flares", worn mostly by women.
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& Clothing definitions and Glossaries. |
Bell-bottoms are a case of workwear becoming fashion almost unchanged. Every part of the sailor's original case for the flare was functional: a wide hem rolls up quickly for deck work, pulls off fast in an emergency in the water, and can be knotted at the legs to trap air as an improvised life preserver. When the style reached civilian fashion, the function fell away and the silhouette remained — and then fashion exaggerated it. By the 1960s, hems had become absurdly wide, and through the 1970s the bell shape, flaring from the knee into a full bell or trumpet outline, was one of the defining trouser shapes for men and women alike.
The style's 1990s revival under the name flares was narrower and mostly women's wear — the same widening from the knee, moderated for a new decade. The two names are worth keeping distinct when shopping or reading vintage descriptions: bell-bottoms properly suggests the dramatic 1960s and 1970s width, while flares suggests the slimmer revival cut. Either way, the fitting rules are the same. The trouser should fit cleanly through the thigh and begin its widening at the knee; the hem should clear the ground over the shoes it will be worn with, since a wide hem that drags wears out quickly and spoils the bell outline. Worn at the right length, the flare still does its oldest incidental job — covering the top of the shoe, the reason carpenters have kept it as working dress.
The flare began as sailors' practical wear. The wide leg could be rolled up more easily than a straight leg on deck, was easier to remove in a hurry when abandoning ship or washed overboard, and the legs could even be knotted to use the pants as a life preserver.
In the modern fashion scene, bell-bottoms were most popular in the 1960s and 1970s, for both men and women, when hems became extremely wide. They became popular again in the 1990s in a reincarnation known as flares, worn mostly by women.
Yes — the flare is not purely decorative. Bell-bottoms are sometimes worn by carpenters in order to prevent dust from getting into their shoes, since the wide hem covers the top of the footwear, a direct descendant of the style's working origins.