Capri pants (also known as three quarter legs, or capris, crop pants, man-pris, clam-diggers, flood pants, jams, highwaters, or toreador pants) are pants that are longer than
shorts
Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ...
, but are not as long as
trousers
Trousers (British English), slacks, or pants are an item of clothing worn from the waist to anywhere between the knees and the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth extending across both legs as in robes, skirts, and ...
. Capri pants can be a generic term for any cropped slim pants, and also used as a specific term to refer to pants that end on the ankle bone.
History
Capri pants were introduced by fashion designer
Sonja de Lennart in 1948, and were popularized by her and English couturier
Bunny Roger
Neil Munro "Bunny" Roger (9 June 1911 – 27 April 1997) was an English couturier and socialite. Roger's best known contribution to fashion was his popularization of Capri pants.
Early years
Neil Munro Roger was born 9 June 1911 in London to Sir ...
.
The name of the pants is derived from the Italian isle of
Capri
Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has be ...
, where they rose to popularity in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
["Ancient Capri Still Casts Its Powerful Spell". (29 June 2008). '']The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
''. The actress
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen ...
was among the first movie stars who wore capris, and the pants quickly became synonymous with her classic style. The French actress
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...
famously wore capri pants at a time when trousers were still a new fashion for women.
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
always traveled with capri pants.
Capri pants were popularized in the United States in the 1960s television series, ''
The Dick Van Dyke Show
''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Prod ...
''. The character Laura Petrie, the young housewife played by
Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on '' The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and '' The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), whi ...
, caused a fashion sensation – and some mild controversy – by wearing close-fitting capri pants throughout the show's run
(Capris that were later referred to as 1950s hausfrau).
By the mid 1960s, Capri-style tight-fitting
cargo pants became popular among teenage boys; a good example was the superstar teen actor of that era,
Luke Halpin
Luke Austin Halpin (born April 4, 1947) is a former American actor, stuntman, marine coordinator, diver and pilot. He became a child actor at the age of eight and is widely known for his role as Sandy Ricks in the feature films '' Flipper'' and ...
, who wore them in some episodes of the popular ''
Flipper''. After a drop in popularity during the 1970s through the 1990s, capri paints returned to favor in the mid 2000s. Spanish tennis player
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked world No. 1 for 209 weeks, and has finish ...
wore capri pants in the majority of his matches
before 2009 following a deal with Nike to wear sponsored capris, a deal that
Roger Federer
Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-e ...
had turned down before him.
["Ueda's Commentary on Modern Tennis Champions" (30 November 2010). ''A. Ueda''.] Jodie Whittaker
Jodie Whittaker (born 17 June 1982) is an English actress who is best known for portraying the thirteenth incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2017–2022) and as Beth Latimer in ''Broadchurch'' (2013–2017).
She came to prominence ...
wore Capri Pants when she appeared on ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...
''.
Kate Middleton wore capri pants for outdoorsy events.
In 2017, the superintendent of the
Douglas County School District in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
sent out an email qualifying capri pants as inappropriate garments for the school environment, thus raising the question of what pants length remain acceptable.
Gallery
File:SonjaDeLennart 1949 Erni Mangold modelt Wintermodell der Caprihose.jpg, Model Erni Mangold wearing Sonja de Lennart Capris, 1949.
File:SonjaDeLennart 1949 Mady Rahl modelt Sommermodell der Caprihose.jpg, Model Mady Rahl wearing Sonja de Lennart Capris, 1949.
File:Capris.jpg, Female in capris (2007).
File:Candid 052 (5299485989).jpg, Male in cropped jeans (man-pris) (Stevenage, 2009).
File:Cycling-knickers-capri-pants.jpg, Loose-fit, black, bike capris.
See also
*
Clothing
Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natura ...
*
Culottes
Culottes are an item of clothing worn on the lower half of the body. The term can refer to either split skirts, historical men's breeches, or women's under-pants; this is an example of fashion-industry words taken from designs across history, l ...
*
Fashion
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fash ...
*
Knickerbockers
*
Pedal pushers
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capri Pants
1960s fashion
1970s fashion
2000s fashion
History of fashion
Trousers and shorts