Chaps

Chaps --- [Mex.Sp.chaparajos]
Leather trousers worn over ordinary trousers by cowboys to protect their legs.

This is the Webster definition. The look and feel of the many
different kinds and types of Chaps was as different as the cowboys
that wore them.

The "Batwings" type usually had a large flap that hung out to the
side and protected the cowboys legs as he rode through heavy brush.
They usually had three snaps or hooks to hold them in place. Sometimes
they were lace up the side with a saddle string of leather.

The "Shotgun" type was originated in Mexico by the Vaqueros, "Mexican
Cowboys." These chaps had a zipper that ran down each leg and when
zipped up would hold the chaps tight against the cowboy's leg.

Most chaps are dressed with lace or strings down the side, this has
two very defferent uses. First to make the chaps pretty, but also
to help shed water when it rains. Depending on what part of the
country you were in at the time, would depend on what the chaps were
called. In South Texas they were called Leggins, while in Colorado and
and most northern States they were called Chaps. What ever they were
called, they served a purpose in the West.

CATALOG PRICING INDEX:
STYLE:
SHOTGUN
BATWING
CHINKS