Why Did Sailors Wear Bell-Bottom Pants?

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why bell-bottoms became the clothing of choice for the U.S. Navy, but we do know the tradition started in the early 19th century, at a time when the Navy lacked a standardized uniform for enlisted personnel. By the mid-1800s, Britain’s Royal Navy had also adopted the flared-pant style, and by the end of the 19th century, other seafaring militaries had joined the bell-bottom bandwagon, too. One of the first descriptions of the attire of U.S. Navy enlisted sailors comes from an 1813 Navy file about the arrival of Commodore Stephen Decatur in New York, which describes “glazed canvas hats with stiff brims, decked with streamers of ribbon, blue jackets buttoned loosely over waistcoats and blue trousers with bell bottoms.” One theory about the origin of these bell-bottoms is that before uniform regulations were established, Navy tailors may have been aiming to differentiate sailors’ dress from civilian clothing. But it turns out that bell-bottom trousers didn’t just serve a stylistic distinction — they were also a practical choice for sailors.