Wide-leg jeans, colloquially called baggy pants, are a style of clothing popular from the early 1980s to the 2000s, and also during a revival in the 2020s.
History
Early modern period
Historically, the cut of pants has varied by period. From the 1500s until the early 17th century, very loose fitting
breeches and hosen were fashionable among the wealthy. Frequently, these galligaskins, trunk hose and
Rhinegraves had slits to reveal a contrasting fabric lining and were paired with short doublet or
jerkin. These were replaced with
Slim-fit pants and
justacorps during the 1660s, which remained in fashion until long pantaloons
were introduced during the 1788 French Revolution and Georgian
Regency era. Baggy
trousers (named after
Pantalone from the
Harlequinade) were originally work clothing, and were worn by urban French
sans-culottes seeking to distinguish themselves from the overdressed aristocratic
of the Ancien Régime who wore tight knee breeches.
In the Islamic World, loose fitting harem pants and the shalwar kameez were traditionally worn for modesty. These trousers remain typical everyday menswear in modern Iran, Afghanistan and Kurdistan. Subsequent conflict between the Ottoman, Russian and Holy Roman Empire resulted in the development of the European loose trousers or Sharovary worn as folk costume in Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Ukraine. From the Crimean War until World War I, French were also issued baggy red Pajamas pants inspired by those worn by North African and Turkish soldiers.
20th century
Beginning in the early 20th century, several styles of wide-leg pants gained rebellious connotations. During the 1920s, wide
Oxford bags were favored by the
Hearties of Oxford and Cambridge University because they could be put on over the knickerbockers then worn to play
rugby football.
In the United States, during the 1930s and 1940s, Black, Italian and Mexican
,
and hepcats wore very wide-legged high waisted pants to the dancehalls as a protest against wartime rationing, and because it was easy for gang members to conceal weapons beneath a baggy suit.
In modern fashion
In the 1980s, baggy jeans entered mainstream fashion as the
Hammer pants and
parachute pants worn by rappers to facilitate
breakdancing. In the 1990s, these jeans became even baggier and were worn by
Skater fashion,
,
[# ^ Peterson, Brian (2009). Burning Fight: The Nineties Hardcore Revolution in Ethics, Politics, Spirit, and Sound. Revelation Books. .] and
Rapping to set themselves apart from the skintight
Stone washing drainpipe jeans worn by metalheads.
[# ^ Keyes, Cheryl (2004). Rap Music and Street Consciousness (Music in American Life). University of Illinois Press. p. 152. .] They were largely an underground trend in the early 1990s, but took off in popularity in the mid-1990s. The baggy jeans were very popular along with baggy
bondage pants during the
nu metal era which lasted from the late 90s to the early-to-mid 2000s along with
Pop-punk during the same time. They continued to be popular in the 2000s, but by 2003 baggy jeans started to be replaced by
bell-bottoms among white men.
However, they continued to be popular among African-American and Latino men throughout the mid 2000s until about 2013.
In the United Kingdom, during the 1990s fad they were known as "baggies". However, this term faded with the original fad and now they are generally known as Phat pants and "wide-leg jeans".
In the late 2000s, rap stars like Kanye West popularised a more refined indie-inspired look but baggy jeans continue to be worn by the raver and gangsta rap subcultures.
Revival
The style resurfaced in the late 2010s and early 2020s alongside other baggy attire; possibly due to the shift to more comfortable clothing during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and retro revival fashion trends that started in the late 2010s like the Y2K which took inspiration from late 90s and early 00s fashion. New styles of jeans popular among
Gen Z girls during the early and mid 2020s include
loon pants and horseshoe jeans
[ Vogue horseshoe jeans] which were extra loose in the thigh area, like
jodhpurs.
[ Good housekeeping barrel jeans]
==Gallery==
revolutionary wearing baggy pantaloons as a statement of equality]]
, 2009]]
, late 2010s]]
, 2024]]
Dimensions
Wide-leg jeans and pants are at least 20" in circumference at the
hem. Wide-leg jeans differ from
bell-bottoms in that the entire length of the leg is large in circumference whereas flare or bell-bottom jeans become wider below the knee. Wide-leg jeans can be considered to be a variant of baggy jeans, which were also popular in the 1990s.
Super wide-leg jeans have a circumference at the hem of 23" to 26"; whereas extreme wide-leg jeans are as wide as 50".
See also
