Leather Breeches in the 18th and early 19th Centuries

Last updated: Dec 09, 2024

Breeches in the 18th century were available in hard-wearing buckskin, fine doeskin, soft sheepskin, and other types of leather. Leather breeches continued to be made well into the 19th century for fashion and durability. The Universal Dictionary of Trade and Commerce (1766) provides additional commentary:

Leather Breeches Maker, is a buſineſs ſprung from the glover, and is a trade, whoſe number of artizans has greatly increaſed within theſe few years, and employs a great many hands in all parts of the kingdom, there being ſcarce a market-town or village of any note, but ſome of this trade may be found therein; and it may be truly obſerved, that ſome of the preſent maſters of this buſineſs, in the cities of London and Weſtminſter, have brought it to ſo great perfection, that what was thought to be a garment fit to be worn only by the laborious, is become faſhionable, and univerſally worn, from the tradeſmen to thoſe of the firſt rank in the kingdom; and may, with ſuitable encouragement, become a very profitable mercantile commodity, when exported to proper markets, the beſt London made leather breeches beginning to be eſteemed, and to be worn in many parts abroad, not excepting even ſome very hot countries.

The ſorts of leather breeches are various; ſome being made of deer, ſheep, and goat-ſkins; others of calf, lamb, and beaver-ſkins. The two firſt ſorts are the principal, the conſumption whereof is of more conſequence than may at firſt appear. The deer-ſkins being chiefly imported from our colonies, and the only commodities (the half dreſſed ones in particular) the Indians have to exchange with our Indian traders in North America, for what they want of them: and as this commerce with the Indians may increaſe, the improt of deer-ſkins will do ſo in the like proportion; conſequently the price muſt fall, if a proper vent not be found; and, in that caſe, a ſtop may, in ſome meaſure, be put to that branch of our trade.

The conſumption of the ſecond ſort, i.e. the ſheep-ſkin kind, is, in ſome degree, an help to the woolen trade; for, if the fell-monger cannot find a market for the pelt, it’s value will, of courſe, enhance the price of wooll.

Trade cards for London makers of buckskin breeches include John Bristow, Rowe Brown, John Chandler, Thomas Coleman, John Currie, Darby, J. Davies, Foster, Thomas Gilbert, Harrison, Thomas Hurlstone, Samuel Penistone, James Potter, William Rogers, and Walter Watkins. The British Library also has a 1780 price list from Leeson’s, also a 1754 bill from Thomas Gilbert & Rice Jones for doeskin breeches, a 1755 bill from Richard Coleman for buckskin breeches with flannel seats, a 1758 bill from Rice Jones for buckskin breeches, a 1760 bill from Martha Holmes for doeskin breeches, a 1760 bill from William Kelly for buckskin breeches, a 1768 bill from John King for buckskin breeches, a 1768 bill from William Kelly for buckskin breeches, a 1778 bill from Samuel Penistone for doeskin breeches, and a 1786 bill from David Thomas for doeskin breeches.

In the American colonies, leather breeches and buckskin breeches appear in estate inventories, such as William Brookes (Virginia, 1748), Ephraim Sprague (Connecticut, 1754), William Timson (Virginia, 1757), Bayley Green (Virginia, 1756), William Brodie (Virginia, 1765), George Wilkinson (Virginia, 1768), Henry Laughton (Virginia, 1777), and Robert Henry (1792). Leather breeches are also frequently described in runaway advertisements, including a 1766 ad in the Virginia Gazette for “a ſervant man named JAMES TERRELL, by trade a leather breeches maker.” There are advertisements for American makers of leather breeches as well, including Hugh Glassford (Connecticut, 1769).

• National Trust 1348890, 18th century buckskin breeches
• Heinz History Center 2017.86.1 a,b, deer hide leather breeches, c. 1775
• Valley Forge 1026, American or English buckskin breeches, late 18th century (also here)
• Connecticut Historical Society 1950.22.0, buff leather, originally owned by Thomas Miner, America, 1781
• Rijksmuseum BK-NM-12167, yellow chamois leather, the Netherlands, c. 1785-1795
• Meg Andrews 8557, buff-colored buckskin breeches, late 18th century
• Augusta Auctions Nov 13 2013, Lot 188, tan fall-front buckskin breeches and a red wool cutaway coat, c. 1790owned by Thomas McDonogh, appointed first British Consul to New England, and worn in >his 1794 portrait; also, another pair of leather breeches (buckskin trousers) owned by Thomas McDonogh, made in Boston c. 1790
• Casco Bay April 23 2022, Lot 116, buckskin breeches of a mounted officer of the East India Company, c. 1795; “this pair of buckskin breeches are incredibly supple and soft. Each knee bears five small (15mm) gilded uniform buttons bearing the EIC device of rampant lion holding a crown, with corresponding self-bound buttonholes. There is a silver button set on the back of each kneeband for securing to a boot or gaiter top, while the bands have leather ties in lieu of buckles, the legs cut to come well below the kneepan, in the fashion of this era. The buttons for the waistband and fall are self-covered in buckskin, and all buttonholes are self-bound. The side and watch pocket bags are made of chamois leather, as are the linings of the waistband and fall.”
• Met 1981.12.2, leather breeches, British, c. 1795
• Cowan’s Nov 2 2016, Lot 670, buckskin leather breeches with white cotton leggings, late 18th-early 19th century
• Colonial Williamsburg 1954-1043, buckskin leather breeches, c. 1790-1850
• Met 1977.308.3, leather breeches, British, c. 1800
• Met 1972.139.7, leather breeches, British, c. 1800
• Met 1976.81.11, leather breeches, British, c. 1800-1820
• Met C.I.54.13, leather breeches, American, c. 1807-1817
• V&A T.328-1989, buckskin breeches made in Great Britain, c. 1800-1830
• National Trust 1348888, sheepskin or buckskin breeches, c. 1800-1830
• National Trust 1348889, chamois and buckskin breeches, c. 1800-1830
• Colonial Williamsburg 1993-13,B, brain-tanned leather breeches made in America c. 1820-1825
• Colonial Williamsburg 2018-333, buckskin breeches made in Virginia c. 1820-1830
• National Trust 1360588, beige suede breeches, c. 1820-1830
• Augusta Auctions November 2007, Lot 345, a pair of gentleman’s leather riding breeches, first half of the 19th century
• National Trust 429176, white chamois leather breeches