FANS:

MEMORIES:

As a snazzy pants craze of the ‘60’s, bellbottoms were first seen on Navy uniforms. The wide, “bell” shaped bottom of the leg made it easy for sailors to get the pants over their clunky military boots, and made for a snappy silhouette.

 

Hippies picked up the style and made it an anti-fashion statement against the prevailing, conservative straight-leg look. It was the most shocking move in denim pants since teenagers in the ‘40’s started wearing workman’s jeans. The look was personalized with designs and trim. The philosophy of protest was expressed by ethnic ribbons, peace sign patches, smiley faces, and painted flowers or slogans. The hippies protested the war and the establishment with flowers in their hair, love beads around their neck, and bellbottoms on their legs.

 

The rebellious nature of the style meant that a lot of middle American stores wouldn’t carry the pants. They represented an anti-war sentiment that didn’t sit well with the conservative middle class. That didn’t stop teens from creating their own bellbottom jeans. Hippie wanna-bes could slice open the outer seam of their jeans to about knee height, insert a triangular piece of material, called a gusset, into the open seam and sew it back up. This style got wider and more creative, with fabrics like velvet or Indian batik getting sewn into the jeans. Widths got wider and more outrageous, resulting in what was known as elephant bells.

 

Bellbottoms evolved into the flares of the ‘70’s, and later the retro fashion of the ‘90’s. The rave culture featured big bell bottoms of their own. And where would Sonny and Cher and Donny and Marie be without those crazy pants?