Breeches

Formerly a standard item of Western men's clothing, they had fallen out of use by the mid-19th century in favour of trousers.

Breeches is a double plural known since c. 1205, from Old English brēc, the plural of brōc "garment for the legs and trunk", from the Indo-European root *bhrg- "break", here apparently used in the sense "divide", "separate", as in Scottish Gaelic briogais ("trousers"), in Breton bragoù ("pants"), in Irish bríste[2] ("trousers") and brycan or brogau in Welsh.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, uses the word breech as a synonym or perhaps a euphemism for anus in his letters.

In the latter 16th century, breeches began to replace hose (while the German Hosen, also a plural, ousted Bruch) as the general English term for men's lower outer garments, a usage that remained standard until knee-length breeches were replaced for everyday wear by long pantaloons or trousers.

Male and female children's styles were distinguished by chest and collar, as well as other aspects of attire, such as hairstyle.

Currently, britches reflects a common pronunciation often used in casual speech to mean trousers or pants in many English-speaking parts of the world.

Sanctioning organizations and tradition both dictate that show clothing is to be quiet, classic and conservative in design.

The balloon legs were there to accommodate the riders knees as they sat in the saddle, but fabrics that stretched in all four directions made such excess material unnecessary and the form-fitting and much thinner modern breeches and jodhpurs became normal.