To say that bell bottoms are "baggy at the bottom" is misleading, I think. They are wider at the bottom than they are at the knee. They flare outward.

If your bell bottoms didn't flare enough you had to get a couple of bandannas and cut them in half diagonally and then insert them into the outseam down at the bottom, like a gore, and then you could really flap as you walked. It had a good line when you wore them hanging down over your corkie sandals.

we used to cut the inseam out and insert paisley or indian print tapestry and turn them into skirts !

There were flares, bell bottoms and then there were elephant bells which were really wide at the bottom. The elephant bells were often hip-huggers too and they were pretty much out of style by 1973-74 when the more reasonable regular bells and flares took over. If you had some straight-legged pants or flares that weren't "flared" enough you would open up the bottom of the leg and add a wild paisley or floral fabric wedge to fix them up. And yeah, I think many of us made a skirt out of old jeans at least once (or tried to!)

supa fly

there were regular jean bell bottoms and there were big bell jeans The big bell jeans were cooler they were made by Levis

I love bellbottoms!!!!

Levis bells rule..Especially 684s...Get em now on e-bay while you can with the retro thing going on the price is going up...Just love that big 12-13 inch flare

Also if you get the right size they are not baggy,,slim cut till the knee then flare out after that

I was running up the stairs with my 2 1/2" tall clogs and bell-bottom jeans. My right foot hot caught in the hem of the wide bell and tripped me causing me to fall up the stairs. I ended up with a twisted ankle and bruises, but hey, I was young and I'm sure it didn't hurt half as much as it would now. I couldn't wait to get back into the same cool clogs and jeans. Clothes were so sexy in the seventies!

Bell bottom jeans are Awesome! They were the -IN- thing in the 70's. I say: Bring Em Back!!!

oh yeah, they're definitely coming back! I've seen them in stores and magazines.

I remember getting my "bells" caught in many a bike chains and ripping them! My mom would be so mad!

hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hothot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hothot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hothot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot

Flares were generally tighter at the knee and flare out from there. Jeans were made like that, too. Some bell bottoms were cut looser all the way down with a big bell - like "elephant bells." Go look at DressThatMan.com to see the guys bell bottoms and flares. The site gives good examples of actual clothes from the 1970's. Those were the PARTY DOWN days LOL

bellbottoms were the style of the 70's even though it was nearly 31 years ago before my time, they resurfed regularly because one of my best girlfriends wore them and they were pretty cool, so i went and bought two pairs one was red and the other was the real denim pair, they were really comfortable to wear. at times i would be afraid when i walked in them i would trip over the pant leg..lol. but i still have a pair and i would wear them every other day. they are cool jeans and very comfortable to wear during the spring and summer days.

I recently had a pair of my regular old jeans altered into bell bottoms. The lady inserted panels of material of my choice to the inside and outside of each leg. They have almost 30 inches all the way around each leg. They are awesome. I love bells!

When the bodysuit, bell bottoms and wide leather belts were in fashion a few years back, my daughter was in junior high. It was like looking at myself in junior high. Crazy. Isn't it fun how styles keep coming back! I remember having a pair of bell bottom jeans with studs down the side of the legs and a matching jacket. I thought I was stylin!!

i never had a pair of bell bottoms

iAM lol!! "so big they flapped"!!LOL thats true!! LOL READING ALL THESE PAGES!!--This is great-- so nostolgic!- I remember the bells I wore from about 72- 77 all being high waisted(in the 60's they were baggier and hip hugger) and even tight very high waisted ones that were tight around the waist and butt and huge long long bells (that flapped!) and dragged on the ground-- our clogs had actual wood soles and they clomped like horses walking down the st!! OH LOVE IT!!!

I'm altering a pair of jeans right now into bell bottoms -- my favorite pair with embroidery up the legs have worn out, so I'm inserting the stitched portions into the other jeans to make the flares. Once I get that piece in, I'll put a band of paisley around the bottom to make them just a little bit longer, maybe an inch or two. I get to still wear my favorite jeans AND with a favorite old look!

Im 26, and have been infatuated with the trends of the 70's seemingly before it came back into style. Early 90's probably, and I remember making my mom buy me a pair of bell bottom jeans with a peace sign belt in the mall in like 94. They were ladies pants, but I didnt care. I guess I started the whole emo, boys wearing girls pants trend too :)Oh the names I was called ;) Then when I would get mad, my parents and teachers would say "you bring it on yourself dressing like that !" Good times

Get on Ebay and check out my Listings under cespo66 nice "LEVI Bellbottoms" not the junk you find on the shelves in the stores

Except Dress That man is way overpriced on the stuff they sell. my listinga are way cheaper

My favorite at this time is the Levis 516 unisex jean from Europe it a unisex bell similar to the 646 witha slightly bigger flare and a slight Lower rise, same great denim too.. Also the Ginger Flare by Seven for all Mankind fits and wears very much like the Levis 684 nice 12 inch bell too..

Levi's big bells were the sh*t!! They were the only fashion trend of the 70's I truly loved. Well, that and Wallace Beery shirts. :)

Well, I wasn't alive during the seventies, sadly (born 1991) but people close to me always poke fun saying I'm a 'reincarnated 70's/hippie child' because of how I dress. I've never, as far back as I can remember, really 'fit' in in fashion and musical and other various tastes compared to other kids my age. I've never really been a huge fan of most of the modern music and have listened to 60's and 70's music most of my life. I've also never been interested with the trends kids my age are. I don't like low-cut, super-revealing clothes (Ex, Christian Aguleria wanna-bes), I don't really like the whole racoon colored hair and 'skinny' jeans that look painted on, and my interests are more geared towards art, music, world events, and doing my best to try to teach everyone to just get along. I am more likely to be seen in a jean 'mini' skirt (sits about an inch above my knees), a pair of semi-bell bottoms I found at a resell store (they have a faux sued cording in a 'corset' style at the slightly over-flared bottom going up to the knee layered over the denim), and some sort of peace-sign, bell-sleeve, or a 3/4 sleeve shirt with one of my mom's or deceased cousin's old vests over it type clothes. My pride and glory 'hippie' shoes are a pair of wooden-bottom 2" sandals that have a brown faux leather-y material with large faux leathery material medallions that have brass studs. Though I also dress as a polar opposite as well. When not dressed as mentioned above, I'm usually decked out head-to-toe in black with a pair of 4" platform 'monster' boots and studded jewelry.

It's important to note that, like lots of styles from the late 60s to mid-70s, men's and women's bell bottom jeans were identical in cut and color. And in the 70s, we didn't use the term bell bottoms to refer to just any pant with a wide or flaring leg; bell bottoms meant only pants/jeans that were fitted from hip to knee and then flared from the vicinity of the knee to the floor. They were truly in style and popular from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, peaking about the middle of that period. Naturally faded denim, not pre-destroyed like in the 2000s, was the most common, and popular details I remember included orange topstitching, rainbow topstitching, beige leather or beige vinyl piping, colorful embroidery, patchers, studs and grommets, triangular gores/inserts in the bell/flare, etc. Some of the ones in the late 60s/early 70s sat as low on the hips as the low-riders popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

I own a small hand full of bells (couple big bells). Only thing is I gre.. err.. I mean they shrunk over the years lol I bought most of them on ebay and a few at thrift stores. I've been waiting for over 11 years for bell bottoms to come back in mens clothing and yet I still haven't seen any at Sears or JC Penny. Why don't they have bell bottoms for men anymore?

Even though I was a child, I think I had those, too!

I had a pair of girls (bi-colored) pants in the 70s and wondered if anybody else here had them. They came in various colors and made of a soft brushed fabric. Mine were were purple and fuschia. The waist to the legs (above the knee) were fuschia and below the knee to the hem, the belt loops, and back pockets were all purple. My friend had pants which were bi-colored also. They were opposite colors on each side of the legs (ex. in front left leg was blue and right leg was brown, back left leg was brown and back right leg was blue). I don't know where I bought them or what they were called. Anybody remember them?

I had a pair of elephant bells that were blue and white stripes.I loved thoses pants.

Bell bottoms nust have been really popular in the 70s!!

I hated them as a kid. They used to get caught in my bike chain all the time and get ripped and torn...then I would go home and get smacked around for ripping my pants. Even if you worn elastic bands to keep them in, the bigger kids would make fun of you and you would get a beaten for not being cool. I seriously hated those pants.

Grew up in the 70's 80's. I own 12 pair of 684's. I"m still an hippie surfer. Always was always will be. 684's is all I wear.