Difference Between Pants and Trousers

While today a pair of pants and a pair of trousers do not make much of a difference to people (most consider them to be synonyms), it has not been so always. However, most people think of them as being similar items of clothing for men. Yes, they are similar in that both are worn below waist to cover the lower part of the body, but this is where the similarity between pants and trousers ends. In this article, we shall look at the differences between pants and trousers.

Have you ever worn or seen someone wearing cycling shorts? They are perhaps closer to pants than whatever you think about them. Thus, American shorts or underwear are closer to pants as they are called in England. Pants are for men what panties are for women. However, where panties are shorter and tighter and cling to the body of the lady wearing them, pants are neither that tight nor that short. In Victorian England, pants referred to a piece of clothing meant to cover the hip area down from waist and often reached down to groin. Pants were meant to be worn in private while in public, men used to cover pants with another piece of clothing called trousers. Trousers are long and relaxed, and they cover a greater portion of men’s body down from hip to just above the feet. Interestingly, this apparel was termed as trouser pants by Americans.

In fact, Americans are not rigid when it comes to definitions of trousers and pants. The basic difference remains between an American shorts and a British pants is that, pants are a bit longer than shorts that look more like underwear. Americans prefer to call trousers pants and pants for them are underwear or shorts. In Britain, underwear or underpants are referred to as pants and pants are called trousers. It is this dichotomy that makes many Americans wonder why Britons are laughing at them.

As far as Indians are concerned, almost 200 years of British rule meant that Indians adapted to British mode of apparels. But Pantaloons, as they were called by British became patloon for Indians and it has been so ever since, at least in rural parts of the country. In cities, patloon means an apparel that is almost same as trouser though people, try to differentiate saying pleated ones are pants, while non pleated ones that are mostly made of non denim cloth are called trousers.