Wednesday 4 August 2010

Trouser breaks



There is a little point of detail that is often overlooked, in relation to trouser breaks (the way they fall on the shoe). Formal morning and evening trousers should have a whisper of a break, a horizontal crease, at the front and should decline over the top of the back of the shoe. However, otherwise, trousers should fall just on the top of the shoe, without a break. I am not entirely sure of the origin of this differentiation but it might have something to do with Edward VII's introduction of turn-ups or cuffs on country trousers; rolling them up to save them from the mud. Therefore, maybe, informal trousers became that little bit shorter than formal ones, thanks to Edward The Peacemaker. The pictures demonstrate the difference.

2 comments:

  1. That is an interesting hypothesis. But don’t you think Edward VII’s habit of wearing trousers with side creases may not also have played a part on the origin of the difference between trousers with a break on the shoes and trousers without a break? I suspect it may be more difficult to obtain the desired effect – the break on the shoe – with side creases.

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  2. I think that the picture above of him in formal clothes does show a break but maybe it is not as clear as it would be with a forward crease.

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