Term query: trouser cuff protection

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

Can't think of it - how are the reinforcement tapes called on the inside of the trouser leg bottom that protrude just a bit and are meant to prevent the edge from abrasion on the shoe? Simply reinforcement tapes? Inner cuffs, bottom liner, liner tape? Selvage is something different, I think.

Wouldn't mind a history lesson about it either, of course.

 

[Barry]

Are these heel guards?

I have a vintage suit with heel guards - I need to have it altered soon, and I'm going to ask the tailor to sew in new ones.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

They're like heel guards but they go all around the base of the cuff, if i understand correctly.

maybe cuff-guard? I've never heard anyone talk about them so i don't know an oficial term.

bk

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

Are these heel guards?

Ah, thank you - you might just have made it possible for me to sleep tonight!:eusa_clap

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

Right, heel guards in a narrow sense might be the stays only, not a tape all around. (Still, that's the word I was looking for.)

So, history?

 

[Tomasso]

Heel guards.

I've seen them sewn in the heel area only, heal and toe area with a gap on the side and all the way around. I like it all around. Some tailors will use excess fabric from the cutting of the suit or the trimmings from the cuff alteration to fashion "self" heal guards. I don't know the history but all my father's trousers had "self" heal guards and he was a Golden Age guy. [huh]

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

They get some extra value if you don't manage to find decent heavy fabrics, adding weight to the trouser ends. I've seen this pleasant effect on some of my modern off-the-peg suits - rather cheap department store ones, by the way.

 

[Micawber]

I've always known it as trouser tape.

 

[Jovan]

Seen it referred to as "kick tape." A suit I got from an online tailor had it.

 

[Tomasso]

They get some extra value if you don't manage to find decent heavy fabrics, adding weight to the trouser ends.

Exactly, not only do they help the trousers hang better but they also give form to the cuffs of linen, silk and tropical wools which are prone to collapsing.