U.S. Government-issued sailor’s trousers, hand-embroidered and made c. 1840. These were worn by saiIor Henry Vincent Gerrodette on special occasions during the Mexican-American War.

I would love to see more details of the embroidery, but the image in the Smithsonian online collections is small and low quality.

Royal Naval uniform: pattern 1836.

White cotton twill trousers with a satin finish. Fall-front with four metal button fastenings, worn by Lieutenant Horatio James (died 1850), later Commander. The flap fastens with two additional buttons. There is a fob pocket in the waistband. The pocket flaps also fasten with metal buttons, but are separate from the flap. There are four buttons along the top for braces. At the back there is one button on either side of the gusset to secure braces. The central back gusset also had two eyelets on either side with cotton tape to adjust the fit. (NMM).

King George IV died on 26th June 1830. A fortnight later his brother, William IV, ordered that the collars and cuffs of the dress coats of [Royal Navy] commissioned officers should be changed from white to scarlet, that three buttons should be placed under each of the pocket flaps, and that no gold lace should be worn on the trousers. His Majesty also gave breeches a final kick in the seat by decreeing that they should no longer be worn at king’s or queen’s drawing-rooms. Thus they made their exit from the naval officer’s wardrobe.

[…] Trousers, however, remained problem garments. ‘Doubts appearing to be entertained’ as to when to wear white and when to wear blue, His Majesty was 'graciously pleased to command’ that on all occasions of full dress officers should wear white trousers between 1st May and 14th October and blue trousers between 15th October and 30th April. In undress the decision was left to to the weather and the officer concerned, as it had been in the past.

— Dudley Jarrett, British Naval Dress

Apart from a narrow lining to the waistband and to part of the flap in the ‘falls’ cut, fashionable trousers were seldom lined. There is however a record of a dandy in 1834 with 'trousers with silk linings and padded calves attached’.

— C. Willett Cunnington and Phillis Cunnington, on men’s trousers of the 19th century in Handbook of English Costume in the 19th Century.

Fashion plate of men’s Costume de Bal dated September 1833, Met Collection.

I had to search for more formal dress/evening dress to find an 1830s man in pants tight enough to benefit from padded calves; and even these body-conscious pantaloons are not as snug as Regency-era menswear. He is wearing a waist-cincher like this extant example, also in the Met Collection and dated 1830-1840:

His silk vest has a design in velour, and he presents the correct neckwear for evening dress of the 1830s, as the Cunningtons describe it: “A black or white cravat tied in front in a bow, leaving the frilled shirt-front uncovered, was the common mode.”

Handbook of English Costume in the 19th Century by C. Willett Cunnington and Phillis Cunnington has an eyebrow-raising line about men’s pants in the 1840s:

TROUSERS. All through the decade these were tight and generally worn with instep straps; these by 1848 were sometimes made of india-rubber.

At first I misinterpreted this as the trousers were made of rubber: but it’s just the instep strap that goes under the shoes, which makes sense! I have long wondered how early to mid-19th century men kept those trouser straps clean—wouldn’t they constantly be wet and muddy?

Here’s a good look at the trouser instep strap in a circa 1840 cartoon (British Museum). (Also illustrating the dangers of announcing that you become extra bigoted when tipsy).

I found several 1849 advertisements for trouser straps in “Cornish’s Stranger’s Guide Through Birmingham” (Google Books). It reads almost like an 1840s yellow pages, full of advertisements for local businesses.

Absolutely visit the A.P. Dadley manufactory on your next trip to Birmingham! Vulcanised India Rubber trouser straps and Parker’s Metallic Oxide paints!

Eighteen-Forties Friday career day: who doesn’t want to be un journaliste?

The Victoria & Albert Museum credits this picture to “after Paul Gavarni, Pauguet, and other artists,” from a series of prints depicting characters and the costumes of different professions. Gavarni was known for gladly collaborating with other artists who wanted to work with him, although I’m not sure if he was involved with this particular piece. It appears to be signed “Lavieille” and “C. Lami” for the artist and engraver.

Even more mysterious: does the check pattern on those 1840s pants go all the way down?!

Detail of an 1843 cartoon by Paul Gavarni in Le Charivari of a married couple returning from a bazaar (Rijksmuseum). The gentleman has an impressive amount of chains and striped pants.

My evidence is anedoctal, but I feel like 1840s Frenchmen loved their zany pants even more than 1840s Englishmen. Farid Chenoune writes in A History of Men’s Fashion that patterned trousers were all the rage:

The “hermits” model pictured Romantic rocks and waterfalls, whereas the “demolition” model showed a Paris neighbourhood… other styles boasted umbrellas, animals, or snails. A clothier named Falckh et Guéroult had a “fox and stork” model, whereas Chatelain suggested that card sharps sport hearts, spades, diamonds and clubs down their legs.

Circa 1845 cartoon for “illustrated pantaloons” reproduced in A History of Men’s Fashion. What a deal for 70 francs!

Describing the “1840s vogue for striped and checked pants”, Chenoune notes that designs included “horizontal ‘Australian’ stripes that became narrower and narrower as they neared the ankle (sometimes starting only at the knee), or plaids that went from waist to mid-thigh and again from calf to foot.”

I have yet to find these patterns depicted, although John Leech’s cartoon “A Most Alarming Swelling” comes to mind.

1831 fashion plate in La Mode, art by Paul Gavarni. (Rijksmuseum)

The three gentlemen are in evening costume (still brightly coloured at this time), wearing dress shoes with some nice hairstyles on display. Their pantaloons/trousers are tight-fitting, ankle-length, and don’t appear to have falls. According to Handbook of English Costume in the 19th Century by Phillis and C. Willett Cunnington, men’s pantaloons could have a fly opening after 1825.

Here’s a similar pair of American men’s trousers in the Met Collection, dated 1830-1839:

Pantaloons with a foot strap are more characteristic of the 1830s; this 1826 fashion plate detail shows them buttoned at the ankle, with pumps and embroidered stockings.