My flared ‘cord’ trousers

My pair of elastic cord trousers are from Quiz, a fast fashion brand originated from Scotland in 1993. Quiz states that its aim is ‘delivering catwalk style looks and all the latest trends at value for money prices’(Quiz, no date). Quiz is keeping in with the latest trends with this design as flared trousers are becoming increasingly popular in recent years; the flared style and cord fabric are a recycled trend made popular in the 1970s. 

British designer Mary Quant and two models wearing her autumn collection outfits in May 1972 (Whitmore, 2015). Quant wears flared trousers with a striped pattern much like cord.

​Flared trousers
Flared trousers originated as army attire, they were worn by US Navy soldiers in the early 19th century and became official uniform for British Royal Navy soldiers later on around the mid-1800s (Heritage Association, 2018). Flares became fashionable around the same timeframe as cord but flares were more widely desired.

​Corduroy
My trousers are what I would describe as ‘loosely corduroy’ as the fabric is elasticated but is still ribbed like corduroy.
What we would recognize as Corduroy is a material created in the 18th century in Manchester England (Cabral, 2023). It remained overall only worn as working clothes until the 1960s when it became an anti-materialistic statement for college students and youths (Cabral, 2023). In later decades the fabric was worn by more mainstream youths but the fabric became a staple for the grunge culture of the 1990s (Cabral, 2023). Modern fashion hasn’t quite found cord to be as appealing as it has in the past but the trend is making a comeback. It is peculiar to see that fabric that in the past was associated with anti-materialistic sentiments and fighting the status quo is now readily available by fast fashion retailers to satisfy the need for quick cheap trends that disassociated from their original context.

References
Quiz (no date) About Us. Available at: https://www.quizclothing.co.uk/about-us (Accessed: 03 February 2024).
European Fashion Heritage Association (2018) The History of Symbols: Flares. Available at: https://fashionheritage.eu/the-history-of-symbols-flares/ (Accessed: 03 February 2024).
Whitmore, G. (2015) The history of flares - in pictures. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/gallery/2015/jan/24/the-history-of-flares-in-pictures (Accessed: 03 February 2024).
Cabral, L. (2023) The History of Corduroy Pants. Available at: https://www.backthenhistory.com/articles/the-history-of-corduroy-pants (Accessed: 03 February 2024).