When Did Men Start Wearing Pants?

Although "pants" from Pantalone (the Italian word for Trousers) like those today, (i.e., a one-piece garment that covers the human body from the waist to the ankles, and each leg individually) were starting to be seen in clothing ads from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the inspiration for the design most likely came from the three-piece ensemble worn by men of 15th century Europe. The three pieces were pair of hose (stockings), attached to a doublet (a type of coat) with ties in front and back, and a cod piece to cover the genitals. Then to breeches (knee-length pants, knickers) with hose. Pant-like garments can be seen in paintings, illustrations, and sculptures of soldiers from the Qin Dynasty, China, 210 BCE (remember the thousands of life-sized, terra cotta, sculptures of the ancient Chinese soldiers undearthed in China). However, those "pant-like garments" were not called "pants" and therefore cannot be included in this answer as the question specifically states "When ...  more

Until the 18th century, men's pants as we know them today didn't exist. At that time, well-dressed men wore knee breeches that reached just below their knees, with long hose to cover the rest of their legs. Then in 1789, when the French Revolution began, men who supported the Revolution gave up the knee breeches worn by the king and his supporters, and started to wear trousers instead. These revolutionaries soon became known as sans-culottes, which in French means "without breeches." Trousers didn't catch on in America until around 1810. The first American president to wear long trousers was James Madison, the fourth president.  more