Made from denim, bright cotton and satin polyester, they were so popular that they became a symbol of the outlandish and colorful style of the decade. The pants were typically flared from the knee down, with bottom leg openings of up to twenty-six inches. In the 1970s, bell-bottoms moved back into mainstream fashion Sonny and Cher helped popularize bell-bottoms in the US by wearing them on their popular television show. Bell-bottoms are still worn by carpenters who decide to spend their time after the apprenticeship as journeymen on the road.Ĭonstable Diana Hotchkis of the Queensland Police Service models the new female summer uniform consisting of a light blue safari jacket with dark blue pockets and bell bottom slacks, 1979īell-bottoms are mentioned in the popular 1971 music single " Bell Bottom Blues" by blues-rock group Derek and the Dominos. Other traditional usages īell-bottoms have also been worn for centuries by European carpenters, which is explained by the fact that the widening legs prevent sawdust from falling onto their shoes or feet. The inflated trousers can provide extra flotation while awaiting rescue. As part of their survival training, sailors are taught to remove the trousers while floating, tie the leg bottoms in a knot, and then use one of several methods to inflate the trousers with air. In the event of a sailor falling overboard or having to abandon ship without a life vest, the bell-bottomed trousers can be quickly removed in the water without having to remove footwear. The trouser material is made of cotton fibers that swell when wet and can hold air. Some modern naval uniforms continue to use bell-bottomed trousers as a potential life-saving device.
This style has been popular for many years, perhaps originally because the trouser leg can be rolled up easily, allowing the wearer to work in bare feet, but there is no reliable documentation that confirms a specific timeline or reason for the popularity of bell-bottomed trousers in naval apparel. The wearer's thigh fills the upper trouser leg, making the bottom of the pants leg appear flared. Īlthough the trousers of the present-day uniform of the United States Navy are still referred to as "bell-bottomed", they simply have large straight legs. They continued in use as a distinctive feature of the RN rating's " square rig" uniform until replaced by more conventionally flared trousers in 1977. These "bell-bottoms" were often just very wide-legged trousers, rather than shaped trousers that flared below the knee. The British Royal Navy had often been a leader in nautical fashion, but bell-bottoms did not become part of the standard uniform until the mid-19th century.
In 1813, one of the first recorded descriptions of sailors' uniforms, written by Commodore Stephen Decatur, noted that the men on the frigates United States and Macedonia were wearing "glazed canvas hats with stiff brims, decked with streamers of ribbon, blue jackets buttoned loosely over waistcoats, and blue trousers with bell bottoms." Navy, some sailors adopted a style of wide trousers ending in bell-shaped cuffs. In the early 19th century, when a standardized uniform did not yet exist in the U.S. Illustration of Royal Navy sailors in uniform 1854
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