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Plus fours are
Plus fours
An "extravagant, careless style that fit right in with the looser fashions and lifestyles of the 1920s", plus fours were introduced to the United States by Edward, Prince of Wales (later
p.674
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Plus fours are breeches
Breeches ( ) are an article of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles. Formerly a standard item of Western men's ...
or trousers that extend four inches (10 cm) below the knee
In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...
(and thus four inches longer than traditional knickerbockers, hence the name). Knickerbockers have been traditionally associated with sporting attire since the 1860s. Plus fours were introduced in the 1920s and became popular among sportsmen—particularly golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
ers and game shooters—because they allowed more freedom of movement than knickerbockers.''Fashion Encyclopedia''Plus fours
An "extravagant, careless style that fit right in with the looser fashions and lifestyles of the 1920s", plus fours were introduced to the United States by Edward, Prince of Wales (later
Edward VIII
Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January ...
), during a trip in 1924.
They were later brought back to prominence by the professional golfer Payne Stewart
William Payne Stewart (January 30, 1957 – October 25, 1999) was an American professional golfer who won 11 PGA Tour events, including three major championships, the last of which came just a few months before his death in an airplane acciden ...
, who wore them on the PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
(active years 1982–1999).
In 2008, plus fours were featured in André Benjamin
André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries, as well in Portugal ...
's Benjamin Bixby clothing line, which was based on clothing worn by Ivy League
The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...
athletes in the 1930s.
Less known are plus twos, plus sixes, and plus eights, of similar definitions, but accordingly varying lengths.''Esquire's encyclopedia of 20th century men's fashions'', by O. E. Schoeffler, William Gale, 1973p.674
/ref>
References
Trousers and shorts Breeches History of clothing (Western fashion) Sportswear Golf equipment Golf culture Edward VIII {{clothing-stub