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Formal trousers, also known asformal striped trousers orcolloquiallyspongebag trousers, are grey striped or patternedformal trousers forday attire in traditionalWestern dress code, primarily associated with formalmorning dress or secondly itssemi-formal equivalentblack lounge suit.[1] Traditionally made from heavywool ranging fromworsted,melton to partialtwill weave, the pattern is most often of a muted design in stripes of black, silver, white and charcoal grey in various combinations (not to be confused withpinstripe orchalkstripe, which are formed of single thin lines spaced equally apart). In addition, formal trousers may also come incheck patterns, such ashoundstooth check, orplaids, although these variants are widely considered as not the most formal.
Typically, formal trousers are intended to be worn withbraces with a fishtail back covered by awaistcoat, and havepleats for correctironing result and comfort. Likewise, for traditional reasons of formality, they do not haveturn-ups, since these are considered less formal.
The British synonym "cashmere striped trousers" refers to the actual name of the stripe pattern, and not to thefabric. Similarly, the slang term "spongebag trousers" or "spongebags" is due to the perceived similarity of the distinctive stripe pattern to traditional sponge-bags, a bag oftoiletries (but does not apply to check patterns). In Germany, the synonym "Stresemann trousers" occurs, for the same reasons as thesemi-formalstroller is called a "Stresemann".
Formal trousers were originally introduced in the first half of the 19th century as a complement to the then widely wornfrock coat. As established formal day attire trousers, they were subsequently introduced to go with themorning dress, which in turn gradually replaced the frock coat as formal day attire standard by 20th century, along with its semi-formal equivalentblack lounge suit.
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Media related toFormal trousers at Wikimedia Commons
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