Plunders can without exaggeration be ranked among the most extravagant phenomena in the history of men's costume.

Puppet: George Villiers

Ulrich III, Duke of Mecklenburg in the Plunders, c. 1573. 1573 Theodor Fischer 1817-1873

Charles-IX-of-France-Francois-Clouet

Short, wide trousers with vertical stripes appeared during the Renaissance period at the end of the 16th century.

Spherical trousers with a thick lining were first introduced into fashion in Spain. The trousers were made of velvet, expensive smooth or patterned fabric, and the double quilted lining was stuffed with cotton, horsehair, hay or sawdust. The plunders had a variety of designs, lengths and widths, the whole palette of colours. The stranger they looked, the simpler their cut was.

These trousers were worn by royalty and the military. They were worn over stockings and decorated with cuts in different directions, bouffants, embroidery and ribbons. Often the volume of spherical trousers was increased with a lining of rags, hemp and even bran.

The plunders differed from the former trousers in size. They were cut very wide and gathered in thick gatherings around the leg.

Prince-Hercule-Francois,-Duc-Dalencon

Claude of Lorraine 1578-1657, Prince de Joinville, first Duke de Chevreuse. Frans Purbus the Younger. Creation time 1610

Costume of Elector Christian II of Saxony 1583-1611 in dark red satin with original perforation in the form of hearts Made in 1610.

Despite their impracticality, from the second half of the 16th century plunders became part of European court or military costume, and in Poland they were worn in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Buttons were often used as decoration, sewn on the side at the seams. It is interesting that the custom of sewing buttons or beads along the seams is extremely ancient, having come down to us from ancient times. During excavations carried out in the Vladimir region, artefacts dating back some 34,000 years were found covered with thousands of beads made of mammoth bones. And their location suggested that the beads were a decoration of the seams of clothing!

In time these trousers began to stretch downwards, looking more and more like a melon, and began to cover the knee. The man's body was not as puffy and the slits were no longer adorned with them.

Doll: James I Stewart

Puppet: Louis XIII

William-Larkin-Edward-Sackville-1591-1652-4th-Earl-of-Dorset

The uniform of the Swiss Guard at the Vatican

At the end of the reign of the 'Sun King' Louis XIV, the costumes of his courtiers and soldiers looked quite different to those at the beginning of his reign. And the fashion for breeches or culottesas they were called in France, lasted an exceptionally long time...

But that's another story altogether. To be continued...

Based on the article "Pants for soldiers and kings". Vyacheslav Shpakovsky

Photos are taken from open sources on the Internet.

With love and respect, Tatiana Kalinina