By: Jemimah Chungu
The nature of fashion trends is always cyclic as all kinds of fashion have been there ages but come and go out of trends or ‘out of fashion’. The urge for retro fashion is however part of the fashion sense and probably the reason ‘retro’ bounces back in trends.
Bell-bottoms are one of the most fashionable trendy apparels now. Bell-bottoms are pants (worn at the bottom of the body) that have wide parts at the bottoms shaped like bells from the knees to the feet like the name itself. They are also called flares because they are wide.
Flares are said to have originated in the early 19th century, when some sailors serving in the US Navy started wearing these kinds of trousers, since no uniform was set for them yet. They wore big trousers/ pants preferably large at the bottom like bells (bell-bottomed) in order to roll them up easily to make their sailing work easier. The idea was later adopted by the British Royal Navy. They styled the flares as part of the official uniform around the mid-19th century and the style spread to other sailors from different parts of the world.
Bell-bottomed pants were later fashioned by people who were non-sailors and fashion inventors. They have since been a back and forth cycled trend. Flares/bell-bottoms are now the latest trendy bottoms in fashion. Bell-bottoms have pancheted the fashion world and fashion markets in all kinds of styles in the last decade and are most trendy now. Bell bottoms are trendy in all prints, materials and colors and two piece fashion flare. They also inspire flare sleeves tops and dresses and similar styles of apparels. To garb a bell-bottom pants or other flares now is a goal to flirt with the most current fashion trends.
(same text, same author @jemimahchungu https://bestjemyfab.wordpress.com/2022/07/17/bell-bottoms-back-and-top-trendy/ )
