Abercrombie & Fitch deerskin breeches

The Vintage Vendeuse

The Vintage Vendeuse

VFG Member
I'm thinking these are pretty old but would love some opinions on age, please. If you look very closely, the font on the label is more curlicue than a similar label used in the 50s. The trousers are super-soft buckskin or deerskin leather, not fabric. The buttons are silk covered and on the back is printed S. & U. KOBENHAVN (with a slash through the O). The buttonholes are bound. I actually have two pair of these trousers though the second pair is quite dirty on the seat. Can this leather be laundered? What are the loops on the front waist used for? Thanks for any assistance. :)
~Donna
 

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I have spent hours trying to find some info on these with no luck. What I just noticed, however, is the labels on the two pair are stitched differently. One pair has the labels hand-stitched on, the other pair has the labels machine-stitched on.

These came from a large estate of a very wealthy couple. The home was filled with vintage and antiques ranging from the 1800s through the 1960s, it was like walking into a time capsule! It has crossed my mind that these breeches may have been created for reenacting and the labels "borrowed" but that would be completely inconsistent with the rest of the contents of the estate.

I haven't been able to find any info on the button maker, S. & U. Nor the Made in Denmark label, since there's no actual company name.

Frustration! :puzzled:

Editing to add: And I don't think reenactors would bother to borrow A&F labels.
 

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The last photo you attached also shows that they have been constructed differently - the upper example has the waistband turned under then stitched, and no topsitching around the outer edge whereas the lower example is has the waistband edge left raw, and also has top stitching around the edge of the waistband. Combined with the labels being attached differently I think they were made in different places, possibly they were made on smaller sites where the skins were obtained?
The ties also look like they are supposed to thread through and then be wound around the leg to keep the trouser tight.
 
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They remind me of a pair of breeches that I used to have, they were made of fine chamois leather, very soft and buttery - and were from the late 1700s, completely hand sewn of course. Quite incredible. Chamois can be hand washed, although I haven't done it before, but you should be able to find information if that's the material you have.

Yours are more modern and the label resembles most closely the A&F labels from the '20s-30s, '40s and '50s so that doesn't narrow it down much! As you've noted, the font is more like the earlier ones. The style looks quite high waisted, so that puts it at the earlier end of that range too.

Could someone try them on perhaps? I think the proportions and look when worn might help.
 
These are definitely styled after Regency-era breeches. (I'm a Jane Austen fan and wouldn't I just love to see a man in these!)

I've found a 1919 A&F ad that mentions fox hunting clothes (sadly, no illustration of them), but these are not your typical riding breeches, even for the early 1900s. I'm really stumped.

Editing to add: Any possibility A&F was importing vintage/antique clothing for their preferred customers? Hmmm, but these are machine-sewn.
 
A member of The Fedora Lounge suggested they were actually an undergarment, something that never occurred to me! Archive.org has the full text of the 1916 A&F catalog and it does mention a selection of chamois garments, "Light, soft and pliable and washes perfectly without hardening. A great protection against wind and cold, especially desirable on account of its lightness and small bulk." Among the garments offered are drawers, both knee-length and full-length. I suppose it's likely that they offered these garments for years so I'm still not sure of a date.
I found a photo of a similar pair, with matching shirt, dated 1870 so, for better or worse, it seems he may be right:
 

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His best guess was 1920s but as he says, something like this can be difficult to pin a decade onto. I suppose 30s (or 40s?) would be possible, too, but I'll never know unless I get my hands on some catalogs. A&F sold hundreds of clothing items, comparatively few being shown in ads and even fewer of those ads available for perusal on the 'net. And I doubt that the advertisement of underwear had the appeal back then that it does now, lol!

On a design note, the FL member was intrigued by the overlapping flap front, which is essentially four layers of fabric. He stated that he's never seen that design on an undergarment though he's seen similar on early motorcycling wear or fireman's trousers.

It's also possible that this was a special order item and therefore wouldn't be in the catalog.

Do we want this label for the resource or is the dating too uncertain?
 
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I have run across chamois knickers twice before and in both cases they were packed aawy with riding togs from the 1910s/20s, so I believe they are part of a riding outfit, probably worn underneath jodhpurs. Chamois is soft, absorbent, washable, and protective, so it makes sense they are worn as underwear with a riding outfit.
 
Thanks, Jonathan. :)

These are ankle-length, not knee-lenth, so maybe could be worn under jodhpurs if for horseback riding. Editting: Hmmm, though I suppose the extra length would be hidden in the boot anyway.

True chamois is sheep or lamb skin. The A&F catalog says they are washable so I'm tempted to give it a try with the dirtier pair. And they both smell quite awful.
 
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I found your underdrawers in both the 1946 and 47 Von Lengerke & Antoine catalog. Von Lengerke & Antoine was in Chicago, and was owned by and carried the same merchandise as Abercrombie & Fitch.

I think this is pretty much when yours were made, though chamois underdrawers are also listed in my 1910 catalog. All the pre-WWII A&F labels I've seen have been black, and the very early ones, before 1913, have the old address on them. They have to be before Von Lengerke & Antoine was merged into A&F, sometime in the mid 1950s, as the labels after that have Chicago on them as well as NY.
 
fuzzylizzie said:
A&F46.jpg

I found your underdrawers in both the 1946 and 47 Von Lengerke & Antoine catalog. Von Lengerke & Antoine was in Chicago, and was owned by and carried the same merchandise as Abercrombie & Fitch.

I think this is pretty much when yours were made, though chamois underdrawers are also listed in my 1910 catalog. All the pre-WWII A&F labels I've seen have been black, and the very early ones, before 1913, have the old address on them. They have to be before Von Lengerke & Antoine was merged into A&F, sometime in the mid 1950s, as the labels after that have Chicago on them as well as NY.
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WOW, that is absolutely fantastic, thanks sooo much!!
 
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