c. 1920s-1930s

Man's Spats

Long gaiters, or "spatterdashes," had been worn throughout the eighteenth century by Englishmen to protect their lower legs from country mud; by the 1870s, short versions of these were fashionable for town wear. Called spats, they were often made of the same material as trousers. In the 1920s, newly popular low-cut oxford shoes led to the adoption of spats by dapper dressers, who wore them with formal daywear and business suits as well as summer wear. Made of light gray or fawn wool or white canvas, spats required considerable maintenance to keep clean.