1810-1820s, English; Beige cotton

Given by Messrs Harrods Ltd.

This was 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.

Trousers were working-class dress in 18th-century Britain, worn mainly by sailors and miners. They were also worn by little boys during the period 1750-1800 as part of a boy’s ‘skeleton suit’. However, when the Prince of Wales (from 1820 George IV) wore a pair to stroll in along the beach at the new seaside resort of Brighton, Sussex, trousers became fashionable informal daywear for men. This pair retains the fall-front closing found on 18th-century breeches. By the 1820s trousers were acceptable formal daywear for men and remain an essential element of the male wardrobe.

T.738A-1913