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Brigadier Gen­eral John Pope, 1860s

John Pope… had come swag­ger­ing up in pan­taloons that but­toned down the front – “flies,” the inno­va­tion would later be called – the first ever seen at the Acad­emy… and the Acad­emy was sup­posed to set fash­ion for the Army. When the offi­cers’ women-​​folk heard of this style which so boldly rec­og­nized male anatomy there was hor­ror and con­ster­na­tion, and Mrs. Delafield, learn­ing that her hus­band was prais­ing it on the grounds of econ­omy and prac­ti­cal utility…was reported as say­ing that “cadets thus dressed should not come in per­son to the house.”

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From today’s New York Times