Men’s 1940s trousers, pants, and slacks had medium to wide legs that tapered and cuffed at the ankles. They also fit very high up on the waist, reaching to the bottom of the ribs. Popular colors were striped, plaid or solid color browns, grey, and navy blue.
Held up with a belt or button-on suspenders, 1940s men’s wide leg pants are classics for the swing dancing community, Zoot Suiters, WWII reenactors, and Big Band musicians as well as modern men jumping on the trend for men’s vintage wide leg pants. Lean more about 1940s men’s dress or casual pants fashion history.
Finding 1940s style men’s wide leg pants and jeans today can be difficult. Men’s vintage reproduction clothing offers the best choices, however some “classic fit” men’s trousers, tango pants and balloon leg pants can suffice. Here are some options we found online.
1940s Men’s Pants
Men’s 1940s denim jeans were just coming into mainstream fashion. Previously, they were worn as work-wear or ranch wear only. They were made in a dark blue denim, wide cut, with thickly rolled cuffs and deep pockets. There are only a few choices for men’s reproduction 1940s style denim jeans, such as the limited edition vintage jeans by Levi’s.
Vintage Men’s Wide Leg Pants History
The trend for men’s wide leg pants in the 21st century began back in the 1920s. After the skinny jazz age suit trend ended the wide leg trousers took over. The widest leg pants were the Oxford bags. The 1930s man continued wearing high waist and wide leg trousers with a straight leg.
By the 1940s the leg width narrowed to a classic width- not to wide, not to skinny. Pleats were added to some waistbands to add volume at the top while narrowing the pant leg slightly. The zoot suiters wore the pleated waist pant with tight tapered leg to an extreme.
In the 1950s this look returned, although less extreme, with the peg leg pants. Men’s 1950s trousers, while still wide, were narrowing down back into the skinny fit in the 1960s.
The wide leg pant would return but not for another few decades, in the 1980s. The classic width pant were a welcome change from the slim fit of the 70s. Pleats were added to waistbands for volume again and legs were tapered and often rolled for casual looks. The wide pant grew utlra wide in the 90s for some styles like Grunge and Hip Hop while most people wore a not so baggy pant and jean.
Within these decades were wide leg pants trends for specific sub styles such as Tango pants / Latin pants, haram pants, balloon pants, saggy pants, and many others. These each have their own history yet share a similar appreciate for the comfort of men’s wide leg pants, trousers and jeans
1940s Men’s dress slacks, trousers or pants