Pants and side zipper question

hatfeathers

hatfeathers

VFG Member
I have a gaggle of pants to list, been putting them off as it's a pain in the tookis to put britches on m'lady. They all have side zippers.

When did the zipper migrate to the front of the pant?

Would you put these at 50s, 60s, or are they too generic to narrow it down (cuspers)?

Clamdiggers, capris, cigarette pants; is there an official name to length guide? All have a dark plaid, and fall at or below the knee, but not to the ankle.

Vintage-50s-PantsSM.jpg


Vintage-Capri-PantsSM.jpg
 
I think early 60s and I say that because I've had camp blouses with a very similar plaid from that era. PLUS I remember my Mom and aunts wearing these in the early 60s. Clam diggers, capris and peddle pushers are the terms I'm familiar with. Cigarette pants, in my mind, are longer and more narrow.

As for the side zip I would say they were nearly gone by the early 70s but I have no official information on that.

Melody
 
clam diggers would be just below the knees while
peddle pushers were a bit longer, but well above the ankle, as classic capris were too.

i think the "new" capris now are pretty much anything past the knee, tho.

the cigarette trouser (or what my girlfriends and i used to say anyway) were slim cut women's pants that hit right at the ankle, had side zipper, darts just below front and back waistband, typically single front darts, and double back darts for more fit.

i'd say 60s on the dates, too, those dark plaids remind me of/or maybe they are madras (which will bleed in warm water, so they must be washed in cold water), too.
 
I'm going to go with late '50s-early '60s. I've seen side zippers up to the mid '60s but not after, although I had a bunch of repro early '60s pants in the early '80s that had side zippers and I loved them to bits.

Nicole
 
This chart of various pant lengths is from some old sewing book I've got kicking around here. Apologies for the slightly blurry font:

pantschart.jpg


It confirms what I remember about pedal pushers, that they came just below the knee (and were also a slim line).
 
I would go with early '60's on your pants, but I've been thinking about this quite a bit and thought I remembered having side zipper pants later than the '60's, and fly-front Bermuda shorts much earlier. I have a picture of my mother wearing front-zip long white "Burmuda" shorts in 1955. (Love the chart!)

I went through a few photo albums and found a photo of myself in 1972 wearing flat front flowered wide leg pants without front zip's - but that's the only one I found. I remember a pair of moss green velveteen Capri's with a side zipper that I had in the early '70's. I remember flat front knit pull-on pants and shorts, and I also remember with great fondness a late '70's three piece cotton knit tan and black striped outfit with pull-on wide legged pants. The stripes were wider on the pants and narrower on the tee shirt and matching bandeau top.

I looked through "Everyday Fashions of the Fifties" as pictured in Sear's catalogs. There are fly-front Bermuda shorts in the mid-'50's but most of the pants and even some Capri's are back or side zipped. However, there were fly-front stirrup pants available in 1960 and fly-front low rise pants in 1966. (Shown with "poor boy" sweaters.)

Interesting!

Linn
 
Don't forget the difference between "short shorts" and "shorts", both of which I consider, well, just plain short. Though these days short shorts would be known as Daisy Dukes, a hot look on just about nobody. :D
 
Side zipper pants are still available. I had lunch with a friend today, and told her how much I was enjoying my vintage fashion group and that we'd been discussing zippers on pants and shorts. She told me that she prefers side zipper pants, and buys them from Talbott's and Coldwater Creek. She searches for "side zipper." After lunch I went shopping. :0) I stopped in Chico's and saw a pair of pants with a side zip!!! I also remember a pair of flat front ankle length pants with a side zip that I purchased from Ann Taylor in the late '90's. They were raw silk and had a matching sleeveless shell. I have a sense that they have always been available but that fly-front zips have the lion's share of the market.

Linn
 
I wonder if there was a differentiation between casual/sporty pants and shorts with a front zipper and dress pants and more feminine shorts with a side zipper?

I have a vague memory of that, but I was pretty young. I do remember when zippers made the shift to the front, it was part of the rising popularity of jeans I think, but , like I said I was pretty young.

Then there's the 1980s phase of no zipper, side closure with a hook that used the pocket as a placket.

Hollis
 
I think it was the popularity of the Mod look and the idea that girls wanted to look like boys that really boosted the front fly zipper for women.

I have several of those JC Penney catalogs from the mid 60s that featured their Mary Quant line, and ALL the pants in that line had front flies. Most were hiphuggers and had wide loops for the big leather belt. But side and back zippers were still available for the older set, but the trend was toward the front.

Then as Claire pointed out, the trouser set came about, and that must have cemented the zipper's position in the front.

I can remember buying side zippers starting in the mid 90s.
 
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