# What is the purpose of jodhpurs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2024, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681 "2024-09-03T13:44:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/41 "2024-09-04T15:17:43Z")
It was Gorringe Sportswear aka Gorringe Ridingwear. Based in Walsall, UK. He sold the company about 15 years ago and it’s been winding down slowly since then, but he sold worldwide including through a US wholesaler based in Connecticut, whose name escapes me! ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/42 "2024-09-04T15:38:42Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It was a fashion choice for all of them. No, they are generally a practical response to the uses and designs of the saddle (or lack thereof, in the case of indigenous riders). The word ‘fashion’ implies that the main influence is visual only, how one looks to others when practicality does not matter. Both are in play. Here, [more than you wanted to know](https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/jodhpurs-guide-pants-history-style-where-to-buy/) about the history of the jodhpur pant. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/43 "2024-09-04T17:41:07Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Why was mnemosyne’s answer correct when all the others were wrong? I didn’t say it was the only one that was right. I said that it stated what seemed to me the correct answer succinctly. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/44 "2024-09-05T15:28:22Z")
I’m not saying they weren’t practical. They were based on fashions originally, selected for practicality and probably modified for practicality also. But still rooted in a fashion of the time. There are other types of riding garb based on clothing styles that don’t look like jodhpurs. Perhaps someone has engineered some riding gear on a purely functional basis by now. Maybe it looks cool or earns snickers from other riders, you probably know better than I about that. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/45 "2024-09-05T15:36:04Z")
Yes of course. I said that twice. The baggy thighs are not ever seen in actual riding apparel any more because stretch material is much more practical. And cowboys would be hooted out of the corral if they wore anything but jeans or similar. There are riding fashions, all right, but they must be based on the practical concerns of the chosen discipline. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/46 "2024-09-05T20:34:06Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > There are riding fashions, all right, but they must be based on the practical concerns of the chosen discipline. Exactly. Mention any seemingly odd item of riding apparel and we can point out why it’s practical, even downright necessary. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/47 "2024-09-05T23:10:29Z")
I found out empirically why it’s necessary to spring for tall riding boots if using an English saddle. I initially learned Western but when I continued lessons in Japan I had to switch to English because that’s all the stable used, and they taught jumping which isn’t done in Western riding. My first lesson I wore what I was used to, jeans and regular shoes, and those unprotected stirrup leathers pinched my calves unmercifully and gave me bruises down both legs. Ouch! Western saddles have a big leather flap that covers the stirrup straps so nothing can pinch. Lesson learned, and I successfully leaned on my parents to spring for proper boots. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/48 "2024-09-05T23:58:05Z")
To bring this back around to puttees, you can wear 1/2 chaps over your lower legs. They provide protection and a little bit of grip, and make sure you don’t have fabric bunching in bad spots. There is also a knack to keeping the leathers from pinching, it has to do with how you let your weight hang into your leg, supported by the stirrup, and how you carry yourself as the horse moves. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/49 "2024-09-06T01:11:04Z")
There are boot jeans, normal fit, skinny fit and my favorite _mens fit_ (🤔). I know for a fact boot jeans fit looser. The Wranglers worn for fashion may not work for the working cowboy. Seems like they’d chafe some. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/50 "2024-09-06T09:35:04Z")
> [@saje](#): > > To bring this back around to puttees, you can wear 1/2 chaps over your lower legs. They provide protection and a little bit of grip, and make sure you don’t have fabric bunching in bad spots. > > There is also a knack to keeping the leathers from pinching, it has to do with how you let your weight hang into your leg, supported by the stirrup, and how you carry yourself as the horse moves. This is true. I ride in a lightweight endurance saddle without flaps, and if I am sloppy the leathers can pinch. But that’s a reminder not to be sloppy. Half chaps do protect your lower leg, but I would be hard-pressed to get jeans into them, even skinny jeans, as they are designed to be form-fitting. And in my experience any inside seam is going to chafe eventually. Might not be a problem doodling around an arena but after three or more brisk hours on the trail, anything that has the potential to rub, you will feel. I’m not an endurance rider, I just borrow their technology, but those competitive rides are typically fifty to a hundred miles in a day. You don’t see a lot of jeans. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/51 "2024-09-06T10:20:17Z")
Oh, for the serious endurance rider, absolutely not. The seams on jeans that chafe aren’t just the lower legs, it’s the whole inner seam. I used to use paddocks and 1/2 chaps when I trail rode or schooled in jeans, and then tall boots with breeches. For the jeans I just wrapped them around my ankles, and the chaps themselves had a stretchy panel to them. But since the advent of zippers in tall boots it’s just so much easier to get in and out of them, and they are pretty much all I wear to ride in. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/52 "2024-09-06T18:17:24Z")
Towards the end of my riding life, since I wasn’t riding long or hard, I’d often just wear paddock boots and sweatpants, since they’re much softer than jeans and don’t have that aggressive inner seam. But that wouldn’t hold up well for serious equestrian exercise. Oh, and I was riding in an Aussie saddle, which has long flaps like dressage saddles, although the leathers actually go over rather than under the flaps. But then, riding a smooth-gaited horse at the walk and trot (posting low because of the saddle shape) made it easy to keep a steady leg position. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/53 "2024-09-12T06:58:03Z")
On the subject of _Star Wars_, did anyone notice that Han Solo wore breeches? > [@saje](#): > > As someone who manages an equestrian retail store (and as a lifelong rider), may I ask which company? I’ve always been a little tempted to do a cosplay as New Jerset from _Buckaroo Banzai_ How difficult would that be? > [@SanVito](#): > > It was Gorringe Sportswear aka Gorringe Ridingwear. This Gorringe? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lpvOBxZdOYg/hqdefault.jpg "Hilarious QI moment - Prep School Tailor") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpvOBxZdOYg) ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/54 "2024-09-12T08:07:54Z")
Ha, no. But there was a department store called Gorringe’s in London back on the day, which is certainly the sort of place a posh boy would have gone to get his private school uniform. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/55 "2024-09-12T10:29:09Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > New Jerset from _Buckaroo Banzai_ Never saw the movie so I had to do a bit of googling. That’s a great outfit, but as far as I know it’s not remotely like anything currently worn in any riding discipline. That’s a classic Roy Rogers-y look. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/56 "2024-09-12T18:45:31Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > On the subject of _Star Wars_, did anyone notice that Han Solo wore breeches? Did he? He wore high boots, yes, but we don’t know how long his pants went underneath them. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681/57 "2025-01-13T22:49:30Z")
Bumping this with the recollection of my younger (even stupider) years when I somehow acquired a baggy pair of jodhpurs (from thrift store? strange acquantaince? side of the road?🤷‍♂️) that fit almost too tight around the waist but ballooned out proudly and forthrightly. (or more like flabby-bagged, side to side, especially walking in the wind). At pubs and the hockey arena I was a hit, (like _hot_ - 😒ask the chicks!) with tall, brown leather boots that hurt, smart black belt, and one time with a short-cropped kinda smoking jacket or whatever the hell it was. Lost them probably in a move. Which is a saddening thing. Another jodhpur-wearer was David Yow - Scratch Acid’s first gigs had him done up Adolph style (complete with toothbrush moustache). That was enough personal purpose for me, anyway. Considering getting another pair again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-jodhpurs/1006681.md?page=2)