When I was a teenager in the 1960s, bell-bottom pants were popular. I remember the last time I wore them, they had shifted in my mind from looking cool to ridiculous.
I haven’t thought of them in years, but recently, Denise Teraoka said she remembers teenage boys wearing super-wide-leg pants called “drapes.”
“Boys with girlfriends wore pastel, polished cotton drapes and shirts that matched their girlfriends’ dresses. They were the rage, but my brothers and sons don’t believe me.”
“Drapes” isn’t a term I remember, so I asked readers of my Insider newsletter what they recalled about these fashion trends.
Bell-bottoms, flares and ‘drapes’
Roger Imai in Franklin, Tenn., formerly of the Big Island, believes “bell-bottoms were typically tight around the hips and thighs, and flared only below the knee, forming a bell-like shape.
“What I see described as ‘drapes’ evolved from zoot suits, which used an over-generous amount of fabric. Their wide legs tapered at the ankles, creating a flowing, ‘draped’ appearance.”
Flare pants are similar to bell-bottoms, but often with a less pronounced bell shape. Locally, teens might have used the terms interchangeably.
Tailors
Keith Fujita commented, “Back when I was 16 years old and the ‘baby of the family,’ I was spoiled. My mom allowed me to get customized, tailor-made pants.
“They were made by Mr. Nii, the tailor in Waianae, who fashioned custom- made surfer shorts for the big-wave riders in Makaha.
“We used to call them ‘drapes,’ ‘flare’ or ‘bell- bottom pants.’ They were made of khaki fabric, with 6-inch tunnel belt loops, and a 2-inch slit coin pocket just below the waistline.
“I remember the circumference of the very bottom of the leggings of the pants was 24 inches.”
Wally Camp added, “Drapes were all the rage during my time (1958-62) at Hilo Intermediate and High School, but you had to have them made by a seamstress, and my parents decided I didn’t really ‘need’ it!”
Small-kid time and wearing drapes
James Wakari said, “In Moiliili, T. Hirai Tailors was the ‘go to’ place to get what we used to simply refer to as ‘drapes.’ I believe it was located on King Street, Diamond Head of University Avenue on the mauka side of the street.
“In McCully, Kawakami Tailor was located on the makai side of King Street near Washington Intermediate, where Zippy’s is now.
“The first consideration was the size of the bottom. I think the standard 24 (inches) at the bottom was most popular. Usually the knee measurement was 2 (inches) smaller than the bottom — so 22-(inch) knee.
“Next came the selection of material. The tailors had khaki, gabardine, flannel, cotton and corduroy bolts, as I recall.
“Cotton came in various weaves: twill, plain weave and satin. Gabardine and flannel were impractical, given our tropical weather, but all ‘with it’ teens had at least one pair of flannel drapes. The flannels were more expensive and usually reserved for more ‘dressy’ occasions, like dances, concerts and first dates.
“Corduroy was ‘noisy’ as it made a sound when walking, caused by the ridges or wales rubbing against each other with every step taken. The sound was a characteristic ‘whook whook.’”
Smaller bottom
Ken Takeya said, “I owned drapes, but I chose to wear them with a little smaller bottom, 18 inches wide. We owned a fabric store in Kaimuki — Kaimuki Dry Goods — and my mother would let me pick out fabric.
“The deal was, she would sew everything but I had to iron everything. That was a real chore. I had two pairs of corduroy drapes that I took to Okamura Cleaners to have them waxed so they would be stiff as cardboard.
“When you put them on, they were so stiff, they would stand up by themselves. They crackled when you walked.”
Fitting in
Russell Komoto remembered that the pant style often was paired with a particular shirt-sleeve length.
“Back in the early 1960s, 22-(inch) to 24-(inch) ‘drapes’ (or bell-bottom) pants were the fad, along with three-quarter-length shirt sleeves.
“In 1961, I relocated from Honolulu to attend intermediate school in Kona, and my mom bought me a bunch of drapes pants and three-quarter-length sleeve shirts for school.
“However, on my first day at school in Kona, absolutely no one was wearing them. I felt so out of place, I asked my aunt to buy me jeans and T-shirts, like most other kids had. I wore those to school from then on, to make sure I fit in.”
Long-haired hippie
Wendy Tolleson recalled, “When I was at Radford High School, I wore the most beautiful pair of beige, satin drape pants. The bell bottoms were huge! I looked like a hippie with my long blond hair and drapey bell-bottoms.”
Gordon Jay said drapes were a big deal in the mid-1950s. “I recall getting my drapes at a tailor shop on Waialae and 10th avenues. The wider the drape, the more status, with outrageous colors and material.
“I think royal blue was the ‘in’ color. I had a few in mustard, and salt and pepper in corduroy.”
Skippa Diaz
Another reference to drapes involved Ed “Skippa” Diaz, the Farrington High School football coach from 1982 to 1999. Rod Ohira interviewed him in 1988 for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
When he was a teenager, Skippa got into many fights. One sent him to the hospital.
“About the only thing that frightened him in those days was disappointing his parents. Diaz once came out of a big fight at Aala Park with bad cuts on his head and body,” Ohira wrote.
“I was at the hospital when I noticed my mustard- colored corduroy drapes (custom-made bell-bottom pants that were popular in Hawaii) were ripped,” Diaz recalled.
“I knew my mother was going to broke my butt because we didn’t have a lot of money, and those pants were expensive. I was really scared.”
Bell-bottoms
Bob Ohl wrote about the history of these pants in “Have Bell Bottoms … Will Travel” in All Hands, a Navy magazine. He said bell- bottom pants were worn for practical reasons as early as 1815 by U.S. sailors. They could be easily rolled up to stay dry when swabbing the deck.
The style did not make a big splash until 1965 in San Francisco. Peggy Caserta opened a clothing store called Mnasidika, near Haight and Ashbury streets.
Mark Gallagher said Caserta and her seamstress mother elevated bell-bottom jeans into a cornerstone of the 1960s counterculture.
“She cut the bottom of Levi’s leggings and inserted a triangle-shaped piece of material to create the bell shape.”
Caserta asked Levi’s to make some for her, and they sold so quickly, the jeans manufacturer made them a regular part of their line. Her next-door neighbor, singer Janis Joplin, wore them to many of her concerts. Soon every young American had them.
Silly-looking
“Drapes were indeed in style in Hawaii,” Hiroshi Kato said. “But many local young men went to college on the mainland and continued to wear them there. It wasn’t long before they realized how silly they looked.
“I remember how funny guys looked when they ran in drapes. Since they were very wide, the motion of the knees was not seen, and they looked like they were running with stiff legs.”
Wide-leg pants went out of style in the 1970s but have made several small comebacks over the years. What do you remember about how you dressed in your teen years?
Bob Sigall is the author of the five “The Companies We Keep” books. Contact him at Sigall@Yahoo.com or sign up for his free email newsletter at RearviewMirrorInsider.com.
