Capri pants (also known as three quarter legs, or capris, crop pants, man-pris, clam-diggers, flood pants, ankle 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 ar ...
, but are not as long as
trousers
Trousers (British English), slacks, or pants ( American, Canadian and Australian English) 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 ...
. ''Capri pants'' can be a generic term for any cropped slim pants, and 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.
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. A popular resort destination since the time of the Roman Republic, its natural beauty ...
, 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,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
''. The actress
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Kathleen Hepburn ( Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Holly ...
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 French former actress, singer, and model as well as an animal rights activist. Famous for portraying characters with Hedonism, hedonistic life ...
famously wore capri pants at a time when trousers were still a new fashion for women.
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...
always traveled with capri pants.
Capri pants were popularized in the United States in the 1960s television series ''
The Dick Van Dyke Show''. 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), whic ...
, 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
Cargo pants or cargo trousers, also sometimes called combat pants or combat trousers after their original purpose as combat uniform, military workwear, are loosely cut pants originally designed for rough work environments and outdoor activities, ...
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 retired 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 (1963 ...
, who wore them in some episodes of the popular ''
Flipper''. After a drop in popularity during the 1970s through the 1990s, capri pants returned to favor in the mid 2000s. Spanish tennis player
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
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 as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
had turned down before him.
["Ueda's Commentary on Modern Tennis Champions" (30 November 2010). ''A. Ueda''.]
In 2017, the superintendent of the
Douglas County School District in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, United States, 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, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...
*
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 underpants; this is an example of fashion-industry words taken from designs across history, ...
*
Fashion
Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...
*
Knickerbockers
*
Pedal pushers
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capri Pants
1960s fashion
1970s fashion
2000s fashion
Trousers and shorts