A Tuesday TeeHee!

The very first American Presidents — George Washington included — led the country through the American Revolution and its earliest days without wearing a single pair of pants!

That’s because the Founding Fathers actually wore breeches, pairs of tight-fitting men’s bottoms that cut off at the knee. Their calves were covered with knee-high stockings.

Breeches were a status symbol; full-length pantaloons were generally reserved for working folk who needed more ease to complete manual labor, which was difficult to do in custom-fitted breeches. The knee-length items were also the pinnacle of men’s fashion because they were on-trend in Europe; Americans generally kept up with overseas styles, in part because the Colonies initially couldn’t mass-produce clothing. For some time, textiles were the top import from England.

Another revolution — in France — eventually led Americans to turn their backside on breeches around the start of the 19th century. French political groups such as the sans-culottes (literally meaning “without knee breeches”) stylized longer trousers as the apparel of the everyday man, disparaging breeches as the clothing of the wealthy elite.  For a while, American Presidents continued to stick with the cropped breeches, though pants slowly crept into everyday style.

Americans wouldn’t see the country’s highest leader don full-length pants until 1825, when John Quincy Adams became the sixth President — and the first to be inaugurated while wearing a pair of trousers. (He also ditched the powdered wig.)

So there you have it, dear chums!

This week promises to be a bustling one for most with lots goin on. Do hold onto your JOY and GRATITUDE. Sometimes it is easy to lose sight of them but guard them!

Enjoy!

PS. Thanks, Interesting Facts!