Why Did Men Stop Wearing Cuffed Pants (Trousers)?

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Gentleman's Gazette

00:00 Cuffed Pants/Trousers: Introduction

To cuff or not to cuff, that’s been the question men have been asking for over a century now when it comes to their trousers. In recent history, however, the current trend has been to opt for a straight hem. This wasn’t always the case. In fact, most men during the Golden Age of Menswear would opt for a cuff, which was also known as turn-ups, for most of their trousers.

01:23 History of Cuffs & Turnups

The idea of adding cuffs to the bottom half of your outfit has been something popularized since the medieval era. However, we didn’t start regularly seeing this on pants until around the 1890s.

Cuffs on trousers soon became the preferred fashion for most men going into the early 20th century. Despite their popularity in the 20s and 30s, trouser cuffs were one of the victims of cloth rationing during WW2, where men became used to having trousers without them to support the war efforts.

05:45 Why Men Stopped: 1. Dated Appearance
07:16 2. Perceived Proportionality
08:30 3. Styling Confusion
09:53 4. Confusing Formality
11:59 5. Bulkier Silhouette
12:33 6. Cost

Like with so many other items within classic menswear, just because cuffs are currently not in mainstream fashion, it doesn’t mean they can’t work for you. In fact, many of us at the Gentleman’s Gazette prefer this style of pants, and couldn’t imagine not at least owning one pair of pants with a cuff.

15:28 Outfit Rundown

#cuffs #trousers #notsponsored

[AbandonedRaven]

Every time I get something tailored and I say I want cuffs on suits/pants, the tailor is always surprised. And then when I say I want medium break/as close to no break it’s even more surprising and usually leads to a discussion. I never realized how much history was behind cuffs, or how so many people stopped getting them. Aside from the really slim/skinny suits, not having cuffs on a suit looks really strange to me.

[createlovehappy]

Love these trousers. I made a pair for myself back in the 80's when I was in costume class for theatre. The teacher thought I was nuts because plaid is difficult, wool is difficult, but I managed to match the pattern into the pocket so it all lined up perfectly. They had pleats, a slight taper in the leg, cuffs, and a very similar pattern to yours. Unfortunately, i grew out of them and they did not fit anymore. I gave them to a friend.

[derlachendevagabund]

Detectives in novels and crime films often found traces such as sand or sawdust in those cuffs

[janerkenbrack]

Whether or not I have cuffs is based on the pants, and on which shoes I will wear them with. For example, cuffs do not look good with chelsea boots, in my opinion. But I am with you in the general appreciation for how cuffs help the pants drape.

[billyo]

The stylish swing that a cuffed trousers has when walking can't be beaten.

[gritsteel]

I love cuffs on my dress pants, especially on heavier fabric, even though nowadays I just buy rtw. I don't know, where and when I was growing up, cuffs were associated with more formal pants. Nowadays, I agree that it's rare to find cuffs. I brought some new dress pants I had to a clothes altering company to get them cut and cuffed, and none of their young seamstresses knew what a cuff was lol. I had do show them what it looked like in Google. Nevertheless, in the end they got it right :).

[saxophonicmusician]

It depends on the suit. Some suits I have cuffs some I leave as a plain break, I do love the cuff look though, I usually get good comments on my suits that have the cuffs or people are surprised that I have my pants cuffed. I go up to a 2" cuff which suits me better. Thanks for sharing the history of the suit cuffs! Your videos are always a great source of information! 😁

[martindouglass]

I put myself through school working at a suit store and I still wear suits or dress pants and a jacket at least 3-4 days a week. Because of that absolutely wonderful experience in the tailor shop and selling suits, etc to this day, I don’t feel comfortable in a suit without cuffs, let alone pants without at least one or two pleats lol. Wonderful video. Subscribed.

[thebigds]

I love cuffs on my pants! I'm a tall guy so I can afford to shorten the leg line a bit. Sam with pleats, I have large thighs and bum for my waist, so the extra fabric really helps the fit work for me. Plus its fun to be a bit different from the mainstream.

[douglasdietz]

Great subject Sven,
1-1/2" is what I go with.
Suits with no cuffs. Chinos, cords and jeans no cuffs. Full cut, high waisted, pleated wool trousers get cuffs just landing on the shoe laces.. Always worn with braces. No clip on suspenders please.

[JerzyCarranza]

Having been watching a lot of your videos, seeing thing from 5, 7 or 8 years ago, seeing this pop up with a 5 months ago tag is wild. I love that you have been able to spread all this great knowledge through the years. Even seeing how some things have changed slightly, such as how there is a confusion with cuffs, when really old videos said they were thought of a formal, now its changing back to formal since people dont' see them in sweatpants and so on!

[Qwerty-]

I thought I recognized that tie, I wore that exact tie today! I wore it with a light blue dress shirt and a navy sweater

[bargaincollector]

There wasn't a did-you-know video where Raphael was talking himself for a long time, finally!

[TexasBroskiActual]

I had a dream last night I was wearing cuffed trousers again!😂😂 Then you release this video hours later!😊

[thechairman]

At Spier & Mackay, as I'm sure other sites do, they offer to finish the hem in a cuff (for an extra fee of course) on top of their hemming service.

[markely]

I have always had slacks, suit pants, and khakis that were pleated and cuffed. For some reason a straight pant leg doesn’t look dressy to me. I was disappointed that LL Bean stopped offering a cuffed khaki as their pleated wrinkle free khakis are my favorite.

[walterfoyt]

I enjoy your videos but would like to see one on braces/suspenders.

[kyivwithgeofftanya]

Recently my tailor in Kyiv was also surprised that I wanted cuffs. He used the excuse that there was not enough material in the leg to create turn-ups, I was not convinced 😂 love pleats

[glgreetham]

Great show, the angled cut is often called a West Point cut, popular in the military. I use cuff on all suits and slacks that I wear with a dress shirt. Style and manners are not ‘old school’ it the mark of gentleman. Keep up the great show!

[siegfriedo]

Love to see Rafael presenting one of the vids again, brings back the channel's beginnings vibe. ❤️‍🔥👍