Oxford Bags

Very wide-legged pants, flared from the knee down, worn long so as to rest on top of the shoes. They used to have a very high turn-up. Their name comes from the Oxford University students who first wore them in the 1920s. The Duke of Windsor wrote: “While I was at Oxford, these very wide-legged pants were fashionable, transforming the students of the oldest and most renowned university in the British Isles into so many little elephants. I had a pair myself, but my tailor made a big scene about them.” The style has had various revivals in the 1970s and again in the 1990s. They were once more very popular with teenage boys and girls, particularly in high-tec fabrics. Equally famous were Oxford Kilties, lace-up shoes with leather fringes and laces.