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Comment by fsckboy | Hacker News Reader

in terms of invention, sailors had been wearing bell bottoms since the US Navy introduced them 1817 and sailors tromping around seaport cities would have been more of an every day event through WWII. That US Navy uniform is informally called "Cracker Jacks"

https://www.shopthesalvationarmy.com/Listing/Details/2645572...

They were intended to allow sailors to roll their pants up above the knee while swabbing the decks

https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-trending/this-is-why-t...

But we can see "bell bottomed trousers" referenced in popular culture in the 1940's, here's Louis Prima's band doing the song Bell Bottomed Trousers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QXmdbc5sx0

and here's a painting used for the sheet music

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/bell-bottom-trousers-alb...

https://www.ecrater.com/p/42407644/vintage-1944-bell-bottom-...

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Interesting historical context but I also think fashion is something where subtle changes can completely differentiate the thing, and for that, these are not the bell bottom jeans I think most people think of when that term gets mentioned. They are loose around the upper parts all the way down. Much more similar to the jeans the JNCO brand popularized in the 90s. The 60s/70s bell bottom jeans were hip hugging but also flared at the bottom. They were different enough to not be the same from a fashion perspective.

It’s not a novel invention in the legal sense, I doubt the parent was trying to make a claim in the fashion sense which might have millions of different subtle variations.

yes, my point was saying she "invented bell bottomed jeans" when the word "bell bottom trousers" already existed and was sung about in everybody's recent memory just sounds silly on its face.

She story is interesting and a fun ride, but she applied the bell bottom to blue jeans as part of the rising popularity of blue jeans, James Dean etc. I was just rounding out the history.

The bell bottoms referenced are alterations called “flares” where colorful fabric panels were sewn into the garment rather than manufactured whole cloth. To be clear, people knew bell bottom pants existed, but “flares” were what people wore. I believe everyone just started calling them bell bottoms because it was a generic term.

There’s a lot more to the recent past than you realize and not all of it is online.

>There’s a lot more to the recent past than you realize

listen youngster, bell bottoms were mid to late sixties worn by dirty hippies

while "flared slacks" are really a 70's item, often in polyester, worn by more mainstream types who wanted slacks (not pants), worn to the disco scene, etc.

The main difference would be bell bottoms belled in every direction, while flares were more front to back.

it is true in the early period of bell bottoms that many people would convert their straight leg jeans to bell bottoms by inserting a triangle in the inseam below the knee, often of a contrasting material, paisly/psychedelic/leather that type thing. As that was a bit unbalanced, a more ambitious style would do a bit of a spiral around the ankle and calf.

Actually if you want to find the origin of bell bottoms, according to a museum exhibit on men's clothing I saw, it was the sans coulottes in the 1700s. They protested the aristocrats, who wore high-legged pants, and eventually led to the French revolution and the association of bell bottoms with revolutionary/countercultural things.

I did an image search for sans coulottes and I did not see any bell bottoms. They did appear to wear long pants to the ankles rather than breeches to the knees.

Yeah you're right, I guess it was more the general fashion motif of long baggy pants being associated with revolutionaries/bohemians/anti-aristocrats.

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