As we saw in the March and April issues, Georgian knee breeches were superseded by fashionable trousers from the early 19th century, but during the Victorian era shortened leg-coverings re-emerged as knickerbockers for young boys, and for men (even women), when engaged in sporting pursuits.

From the 1850s onwards, the hitherto rather limited male wardrobe gradually expanded, reflecting both the growing sobriety of business and formal dress and, conversely, the need for more diverse clothes for different occasions at a time of increasing differentiation between working hours and leisure time. A general standardisation and accentuated masculinity of adult daywear after the mid-1800s encouraged the development of a new ensemble for young boys: the knickerbockers suit comprising short ‘knickerbockers’ or ‘knickers’ teamed with a juvenile jacket, shirt and necktie. This first became popular in the 1860s, when picturesque gathered knickerbockers and a bolero-style jacket were termed the zouave ensemble. Later, styles changed: knickerbockers narrowed, following fashion, and were sometimes open below the knee. Often fashioned in soft velvet for newly-breeched 3- and 4-year old sons and in stouter woollen materials for schoolboys, the knickerbockers suit in all its forms dominated juvenile male fashion during the mid-late Victorian era, throughout the Edwardian age and until at least World War One.

Many conservative men in rural communities had retained traditional knee breeches well beyond their fashionable life and during the later 1800s the new variant, knickerbockers, were widely adopted for country pursuits such as shooting. Often these were tailored to match the material of a Norfolk jacket, forming a practical but relaxed tweed suit. Knickerbockers were also convenient for other Victorian sporting activities that were becoming formalised and attracting ever more participants.

Knickerbockers were especially popular for golf and cycling and were even adopted by some bold female cyclists of the 1890s who preferred sensible cycling ‘rationals’ to dangerous skirts. Between the wars very wide knickerbockers worn with Fair Isle sweaters and patterned socks were named ‘plus fours’, after a golfing term. In 1944 George Bernard Shaw was still wearing ‘a pepper-and-salt knickerbockers suit’ in the country, but the fashion was declining and knickerbockers were a rarity after the war.