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I mentioned bell bottom jeans in conversation yesterday ( yes, really) and my kids looked at me like I was nuts.  That happens more and more often these days, but I think this time it was because they were actually picturing pants with bells attached at the bottom.  Maybe not, maybe they just really think I'm nuts!  I had to explain that bell bottom jeans were a fashion from the 1970's designed to help kids keep track of where their feet were when the walked or rode bikes.  I remember getting myself stuck several times when my jeans became lodged in my bicycle chain.  I'd have to call for help and then my Mom would get mad because my jeans now had black grease stains and frays at the bottom.  Maybe that was my contribution to seventies fashion.

No one really ever wore bell bottom jeans during the 1980's or 90's.  Well, I'm sure somebody did, but it didn't catch back on until this decade.  The flared jeans and bell bottoms you see come from your ancient ancestors back in the 1970's kids.  Maybe some inquisitive kids found an old suitcase filled with them in Aunt Suzie's attic or something.  Actually, the real history goes back to sailors wearing the original bell bottom back the latter part of the 19-teens and the style did start reappearing in the 1990's, but the wider bottoms were referred to as being "flared", not bell bottoms.

There are a lot of 70's clothes popping up on places like eBay.  If you choose to go the eBay route and grab yourself some genuine vintage fashion, be aware that today's bell bottoms may be a bit different than the ones your Mom wore.  In the 1970's people tucked in their shirts more often and wore their pants up higher.  That sounds rediculous as it's written, sorry, but I just mean that there weren't as many low riders in the jeans crowd.  Hey, they put their kids in colored Tuff Skins too, remember?  You can try to compensate by throwing on some platform boots!  The look will rock!

Really, you can find some decent prices (sometimes) on vintage clothing on eBay, but remember that you are buying vintage.  The pants will generally have a higher rise and might feel like they are hugging your mid-section if you are used to wearing low rise jeans.  If memory serves correctly, you might also expect to have your legs and undergarments stained blue if you make the mistake of not washing them first.  (I've seen a lot of deadstock items listed).  If you do go for purchasing deadstock jeans, ask if there is any fading on them.  I never would have though of this, but I did get my hands on some authentic 1970's jeans with the original tags still attached about a year ago.   I noticed immediately that there was a definite change in color where they had been folded and stored for 25 years.  They were still very sturdy, but there were permanent lines of differing color from such a long period of storage.

If you are shopping and just read all of that anyway, thanks for your patience. Check the bottom of the page for Vintage Bell Bottoms!