Pantaloons, 1820s, English; Black knitted silk

Black machine knitted silk pantaloons

Given by Messrs Harrods Ltd.

These were part of a very large collection of items of dress and accessories which was given to the Museum by Harrods, the department store, in 1913. The collection had been formed by the artist Talbot Hughes, who wrote a book on the history of dress, illustrated with photographs of models wearing items from his collection. A large firm in America had offered to buy the collection and present it to the Metropolitan Museum, New York, but Hughes did not want it to go abroad. At the suggestion of Cecil Harcourt Smith of the V&A, Harrods bought it for £2,500 and gave it to the Museum for the 'public good'. Harrods displayed the collection for three weeks in December 1913.

In Britain pantaloons made their appearance as daywear in the 1790s. They evolved from the tightly fitted, knitted breeches of the period. Pantaloons were usually machine knit in cotton or silk. They reached down to the calf in the 1790s, then extended to the ankle in the early 19th century. Although by 1820 they had been taken over by trousers for daywear, pantaloons continued to be worn as evening dress until the 1840s.

T.683A-1913