Waldo Lydecker's Pants in "Laura"

[bunkerman]

I am curious, I'm a fan of Film Noir and the film Laura has a character played by Clifton Webb named Waldo Lydecker. Early in the movie he gets out of the bathtub and gets dressed in a pair of trousers with a built-in suspender back. Does anyone know any details about these types of pants, name, history. Just curious and thank you all for your time.

 

[bunkerman]

BTW the movie Laura is currently playing on NetFlix.

 

[Ttailor]



I am curious, I'm a fan of Film Noir and the film Laura has a character played by Clifton Webb named Waldo Lydecker. Early in the movie he gets out of the bathtub and gets dressed in a pair of trousers with a built-in suspender back. Does anyone know any details about these types of pants, name, history. Just curious and thank you all for your time.

There is a short clip of that scene online that ends just with a glimpse of him dressing in front of the mirror.

They look like high rise trousers typical of the period with a fishtail back waist. The back waist is grown on (part of the back trouser) not a sewn on straight waistband as in modern trousers. It fits into the small of the back and the "fishtail" points are where the suspender buttons are sewn on. With the short waistcoats of the period, it keeps the top of the trouser waistband cleanly under the waistcoat.

Also typically used on formal trousers.

 

[bunkerman]

Thank you TTailor for the explanation. I had never noticed anything quite like that before.