Bell-bottoms

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Bell-bottoms (also called flares) are pants that get wider from the knee down, forming a bell-shaped leg. They started as practical sailor clothes in the 1800s. An 1813 description mentions US sailors on the frigates United States and Macedonia wearing blue trousers with bell bottoms. The Royal Navy later adopted them in the mid-19th century, and they stayed a feature of sailors’ uniforms for many years. Modern US Navy pants are still called bell-bottoms, but the legs are straight; the flare comes from the thigh filling the upper part of the leg.

Some sailors used bell-bottoms as a lifesaving detail: when wet, the fabric can swell and trap air, helping with flotation. Sailors are trained to remove the trousers in the water, tie the bottoms, and inflate them to aid floating. Carpenters wore bell-bottoms to keep sawdust off their shoes, and the style remains in some trades.

In the 1960s, bell-bottoms became fashion in London and across Europe and North America, often in denim. Peggy Caserta helped Levi’s make flared jeans for her store, leading to Levi’s 646 Bell Bottom in 1969. They were worn by celebrities like Sonny and Cher and by dancers such as Toni Basil.

Variants included loon pants and elephant bells, with very wide hems and platform shoes. The look faded in the late 1970s, then came back in the late 1980s and 1990s as boot-cut and flare jeans. Since the 2000s, skinnier styles dominated, but wide-leg fashions have returned in the 2020s, with runways and celebrities embracing bell-bottoms again.