TROUSERS

also spelled Trowsers, an outer garment covering the lower half of the body from the waist to the ankles and divided into sections to cover each leg separately. In attempting to define trousers, historians often explain that if any portion of a garment passed between the legs, it was an ancestor of the trousers. Thus defined, trousers can be traced to ancient times as worn, for example, by the Scythians, Persians, Japanese, and Hindus. Until the end of the 18th century, bifurcated European garments took forms such as breeches, knickerbockers, and pantaloons. By 1820, trousers as they are known today had come into general use among men. Since then, they have been the basic style of dress for men, varying in style from the narrow cut to the extremely wide Oxford bags of 1924. A fashion revolution in the second half of the 20th century made trousers acceptable women's wear for almost all activities.