When did trouser creases become fashionable?

[jruley]

Has anyone (maybe Terri?) nailed down the date when trousers began to be worn with a crease?

One reason I'm asking is this thread:

http://movsd.com/BespokeCutter/index.php?topic=395.0

which shows that the ironwork for shaping trousers requires stretching and shrinking with the parts folded along the crease lines.  Obviously the creases can then be pressed out, but this is liable to destroy the shaping unless done over a rounded form.

So, are creases a consequence of ironwork, or did the necessity for ironwork make creases fashionable?

Or does it have to do with clothing storage methods?  Even my casual pants start to crease by themselves after spending a few days on a clothing hanger.  So, did creases become fashionable about the time clothes hangers did?

[Schneiderfrei]

I have no information about your question directly, but I have observed this, through following the instructions in the ABC.

The more baggy the trousers the less ironwork is required.  So the shaping is more to do with following the contour of the leg, whether you put a crease in it or not.  The references to the creases is more of a landmark, since they lie in the centre of the shape.

I would also like to know about the history of creases though.

[TTailor]

Well As far as I know, since we have a lot of photographic evidence to go by, you don't see many before 1910, but they were definitely the fashion by the end of WW1.
Before the turn of the last century they had no crease and there is some evidence that they sometimes were creased sideways.
There is also some sartorial story about youthful rebellion by George V wearing centre creased trousers to annoy his father Edward VII if I remember correctly, but that just may be urban legend rather than documented information.

[Greger]

I read that, it may have been quotes, the king said to his son for some important event, that he could not wear the terrible new high fashion that him and his friends were wearing. Some how the creases were mentioned in it as the major eye sore. Even the kings son was of wild fashions. And, of course, everybody wears creases now. And, we'd think we'd look ridiculous without them, nowadays. Went looking for the quotes, but, couldn't find them.

Seems like I heard a WWl veteran say creases were a new military requirement. Short hair was a military requirement, too, which got two generations..

[jruley]

Seems like I heard a WWl veteran say creases were a new military requirement. Short hair was a military requirement, too, which got two generations..

You may be right.  I believe short hair was required as an anti-louse measure.  And the "overseas cap" got its name because the regulation "campaign hats" (think of Smokey the Bear) took up too much room on shipboard.  I could see trouser creases being required because of clothing storage in footlockers...

[jruley]

Getting back to the original question:  I found a ca. 1901 reference ("Tailor's Guide:  The Making and Repairing of Trousers, Vests, and Coats") that describes pressing trousers into a final shape similar to what is shown in the 1938 "ABC des Schneiderhandwerk".  This is however done after assembly; nothing is said in the trouser making section about preliminary ironwork.  The book describes shrinking away surplus material at the back of the knees while stretching the calves, then shrinking the front of knees, all with the trouser legs flat.  It goes on to note:

The creases formed at the back and front next have to be taken out by sprinkling with water and passing a fairly hot iron over them.  This must be done very carefully, or the previous shaping will be rendered futile.

[TTailor]

well I think like many changes in fashion, it happened gradually, then took off and became a standard thing to do.
I think there is a photo of King EdVII and George V where you can see that he has centred creases and the king's trousers look definitely pressed flat so teh sides almost look creased. I can't find it right now, and I wasn't sure what date it was.

[jruley]

Maybe you were thinking of this?

http://putthison.com/post/44718379419/side-creased-trousers-and-king-george-v-ive-been

It has King George V wearing side creased trousers in 1922, and Edward VIII as the rebel sporting the new, center creased style.