I've got a red leather tie and a pair of rugger pants,
I put them on and I went to the high school dance.
Dad said I have to be home by eleven -
aw, man, I'm gonna miss Stairway to Heaven.
--
Grade 9,
Barenaked Ladies
A style of male pants (sometimes referred to as "
rugger pants") that was briefly popular -- for like about a day -- in the early '80s.
Rugby pants were cotton casual pants with an elastic
waist, no
belt loops, a draw string, side pockets, and an absent
fly. If I might, for a moment, heighten the horror, some variations of the rugby pant came in
corduroy.
Popular colors were
navy, grey,
teal, and
burgundy.
Break dancers tended to favor a brighter red rugby pant with a black torn mesh tank top and white
Velcro Adidas runners.
While from all accounts rugby pants were highly comfortable, the lack of a fly gave the front of the pants an oddly
puffy, billowy look. It appeared like one was storing a
loaf of
bread along the waist line.
The lack of a fly also makes one wonder about the mechanics of male
micturition. Did boys simply yank down the front of their ruggers, letting the
tackle all hang out while peeing at a
urinal, or did rugby pants turn men briefly into women, forcing them to use the
bathroom stall out of a sense of modesty? Well, some questions are better left unanswered, cause, frankly, I don't want the answer to this one.