Oxford Bags

“In 1925 the era of the baggy pants dawned.  This fashion would influence menswear for three decades.  Oxford Bags were first worn by Oxford undergraduates, eager to circumvent the University's prohibition on knickers.  The style originated when knickers were banned in the classroom.  As the bags measured anywhere from twenty-two inches to forty inches around the bottoms, they could easily be slipped on over the forbidden knickers.

John Wanamaker introduced Oxford bags to the American public in the spring of 1925, although Ivy League students visiting Oxford in 1924 had already adopted the style.  The trousers were originally made of flannel and appeared in shades of biscuit, silver gray, fawn, lovat, blue gray, and pearl gray”.

From…MENS FASHIONS OF THE NINETEEN-HUNDRED TWENTIES by Carol Nolan

It was a dark and stormy night. Ok, ok I’ll start over. It was about three years ago. I can’t explain it. I had a craving flung on me-I was caught in the tentacles of circumstance-tossed around in the moment. Sh_t, I don’t know. All I do know is that I walked out of the Polo Ralph Lauren store in Georgetown with a pair of these “updated” Oxford Bags.

I never wore them out of the house and I’m usually not afraid of anything sartorially risky-y’all know this to be fact. These certainly belong in the “what the flip was I thinking” file.

I’m off to drop a ton of stuff off at the Goodwill shop in Old Town. These will be part of the delivery.

Forgive me. Onward Baggily…ADG