Archive of 2022–2023: Very warm winter outfit in mixed styles of the end of 19th century, the 1930s & 1940s with vintage culottes

I almost never wear pants for the reason that I don’t like them. I do not consider them a convenient, practical and even more beautiful part of the wardrobe. In my opinion, the skirt is much more comfortable, more practical and more beautiful.

Another thing is culottes or palazzo trousers, which at different times in different countries and even in the same territory were called differently. For example: English — “bifurcated skirt”, “divided skirt”, “split skirts”, “trouser-skirt”, German “hosenrock”, Italian — “gonna-culotte” and “gonna-pantaloni” and others. In France, the term was common — “jupe-culotte”, less often — “jupe-pantalon”.

Be that as it may, this wardrobe item has all three of the qualities I have listed above. Something that I really enjoy wearing for traveling through the mountains and forests, cycling and other similar pastimes.

Although in this article I will not show you my mountain or forest journey and cycling, but I will show you an outfit in which all this will be convenient and beautiful to do.

This outfit was inspired by fashionable pictures from magazines and old photographs of the late 19th century, specifically the 1890s. Hence my shortened/cropped jacket with batwing/dolman sleeves and culottes, which are a bit like those worn at that time and practically copies of those worn by women in the 1920s-1950s.

Although in almost all fashionable pictures and photographs the ladies wore boaters on their heads, this did not mean that, apart from boaters, they did not wear any other headgear. So in one costumed detective series depicting the mid-1890s, the main character rides a bicycle in a cycling knitted sweater that has already become iconic for many reenactors, which she combines with a knitted beret.

Unfortunately, I cannot boast of having such a sweater. To knit it, you need to be a true master of knitting, in addition to having a very good woolen yarn or be ready to shell out a few hundred euros for a modern replica made to order.

Therefore, I settled on a vintage long sleeve turtleneck, which coquettishly peeks out of the cut of my vintage jacket with its sleeves that fit at the end of the 19th century. Such jackets were very fashionable in the 1980s and just about those times, and mine dates back. A great choice if you want to replicate late 19th/early 20th century and 1930s-1940s style outfits without too many options.

Instead of a knitted beret, I used wool jersey with surreal metallic zippers, which is a bit Elsa Schiaparelli-esque, as are my culottes.

Instead of boots with stockings, I wore very high boots from an old Dutch brand that still exists today. Similar boots cost almost 300 euros, but I was lucky enough to buy mine in a vintage store for only 5 euros.

A little about the trouser skirt.
The appearance in the women’s wardrobe of such a clothing model as a skirt-pants, also known as culottes, is usually associated with the name Elsa Schiaparelli.

In 1931, Spanish tennis player Lili Alvarez appeared at Wimbledon wearing a culottes designed for her by Elsa Schiaparelli. Sports fashion was at the peak of popularity at that time, and tennis was one of the favorite sports.

The model worn by Lili Alvarez attracted a lot of attention. In France, the country where the career of the Italian Elsa Schiaparelli took place, according to the established tradition, Lili Alvarez’s tennis suit began to be called jupe-culotte, that is, a skirt-pants.

Elsa Schiaparelli simply popularized an idea that dates back to the 19th century, when ladies began to borrow trousers from the men’s wardrobe, starting with bloomers and moving on to cycling suits of the 1890s, as well as riding suits, which were the prototype of trouser skirts, as well as sports suits, many of which were also, in fact, culottes.

Although models of culottes very reminiscent of the one proposed by Elsa Schiaparelli could be seen before 1931, for some reason, the culottes in which Lili Alvarez entered the court often continue to be indicated in fashion history as a primary source.

I am wearing:

• Real vintage tan brown distressed nubuck leather shortened/cropped jacket with batwing/dolman sleeves, upper loose fit and fitted waist, made in India, about 1980s
• (partly seen) Real vintage light olive green with dark green stripes rich wool blend long sleeve turtleneck sweater, about 1960s-1970s
• Real vintage beige gray pure wool bellow knee length culottes, made in Austria, about 1970s
• Real vintage dark olive green pure wool jersey beret with metal zipper décor, made in England, about 1980s
• Real vintage light olive green rich wool blend belt, made in Spain, about late 1970s-1980s
• Dark green/brown/beige/black faux snake leather bag by «Luis Rafael», made in Spain, about 2000s-2010s
• Beige nylon tights, about 2010s-2020s
• Tan brown suede very high booties (City Western Boots) with black asymmetrical mid-high wooden heels by “BRONX”, made in India, 2010s-2020s

I think I ended up with a mixed style outfit from the end of 19th century and the 1930s and 1940s. Something like this could be worn by an emancipated young lady in the 1890s, and Peggy Carter in the Agent Carter series.

What do you think? Write your thoughts in the comments, I would be very interested to hear your opinion!