Article of Clothing

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an article of clothing. The article of clothing includes an upper portion that is connected to first and second leg portions. The article of clothing also includes first and second lower portions that are attached to the first and second leg portions, respectively, on an end distal to the upper portion. The first and second leg portions are made from a first material, and the first and second lower portions are made from a second material.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable

REFERENCE REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable

SEQUENTIAL LISTING

Not applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an article of clothing. More particularly, the article of clothing is adapted to be worn with footwear, for example boots.

2. Description of the Background of the Invention

Wearing a pair of boots over trousers, particularly jeans, has become a widespread fashion trend. This trend is especially popular among women. Knee-high boots (i.e., boots that cover the lower leg) are the style of boot most often worn over jeans. Knee-high boots may be made from leather, synthetic materials, or some combination thereof. Knee-high boots are mainly comprised of a lower shoe section that covers the foot and heel and an upper section that covers the ankle and calf muscle of the wearer. The size of the lower shoe section of the boot dictates the width of the upper section. Thus, a boot that is a size 6 will have an upper section that has a smaller width than the upper section of a boot that is a size 9, for example.

Jeans come in a variety of styles including boot cut, straight-leg, tapered, and skinny, for example. Straight-leg, tapered, and skinny jeans are generally the preferred jean styles to wear under boots as they contain less material around the lower leg portions than boot cut jeans, and therefore fit better under boots than boot cut jeans. However, these jeans may not fit properly under a boot for all wearers, especially a wearer that has a wider ankle or calf muscle. As noted above, the width of the upper section of a boot is determined by the shoe size of the boot. Thus, for a wearer who wears a small shoe size but has a large ankle or calf muscle, wearing jeans under his or her boots will be uncomfortable because the jean material and/or the seams of the jean may press against the lower leg thereby resulting in sore ankles and/or legs. For some, this discomfort forecloses the ability to wear boots over jeans at all. Further, most jeans have a double hem at the bottom of the leg sections, which adds bulk around the ankle or lower calf muscle of a wearer and may press against these areas. Thus, even in the best circumstance, the bottom hem of the jeans will become uncomfortable to a wearer over a period of time. Therefore, there exists a need for an article of clothing, particularly a pair of trousers, that can be worn comfortably under a pair of boots by an individual or individuals including those having various lower leg widths.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the invention, an article of clothing is disclosed. The article of clothing includes an upper portion and first and second leg portions connected to the upper portion. First and second lower portions are attached to the first and second leg portions, respectively, on an end distal to the upper portion. The first and second leg portions are comprised of a first material, and the first and second lower portions are comprised of a second material.

Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pair of trousers showing an upper portion, two leg portions, and two lower portions, a pair of boot is also shown in dotted lines for illustration purposes; and

FIG. 2 is a close-up front view, the rear view being substantially identical to the front view, of one embodiment of one of the lower portions of FIG. 1, the other lower portion being substantially a mirror image thereof.

FIG. 3 is a close-up front view of another embodiment of one of the lower portions of FIG. 1, the other lower portion being substantially a mirror image thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Disclosed is an article of clothing 10. In one embodiment, the article of clothing is a pair of trousers 12. The article of clothing includes an upper portion 14 as well as a first leg portion 16a and a second leg portion 16b, which are connected to the upper portion 14. In one embodiment, the first leg portion is shown as the left side and the second leg portion is shown as the right side, but the opposite arrangement is also contemplated. The first and second leg portions 16a, 16b may be integrally connected to the upper portion as shown in FIG. 1. The first and second leg portions 16a, 16b may also be connected to the upper portion via stitching, gluing, fusing, bonding or the like.

The article of clothing also includes a first lower portion 18a and a second lower portion 18b. The first lower portion 18a is attached to the first leg portion 16a, and the second lower portion 18b is attached to the second leg portion 16b. Both the first and second lower portions 18a, 18b are attached to the first and second leg portions 16a, 16b on an end of the leg portion that is distal to the upper portion 14. The first and second lower portions 18a, 18b may be attached to the first and second leg portions 16a, 16b, respectively, via stitching, gluing, fusing, bonding or the like.

The first and second leg portions 18a, 18b are fabricated from a first material 20. In one embodiment, the upper portion 14 is also fabricated from the first material. The first material may be a material such as denim or dungaree textile. The first material may also be a synthetic textile (e.g., a polyester or spandex textile), another cotton based textile (e.g., a corduroy or khaki textile), or some combination thereof. The first material may further have elastic properties.

The first and second lower portions 16a, 16b are fabricated from a second material 22. In one embodiment, the second material 22 has a smaller linear mass density (i.e., denier or tex) than the first material 20. The precise linear mass density is not critical, only that the linear mass density of the second material 22 is less than the linear mass density of the first material 20. The second material 22 may be comprised of an elastic material that expands and contracts. The second material 22 may be a material that is synthetic, natural, a synthetic/synthetic blend, a synthetic/natural blend or any combination thereof. For example, the second material 22 may be comprised of spandex, nylon, a nylon/spandex blend, spandex/cotton blend, or a nylon/cotton blend textile. Use of an elastic material enables the second material 22 to closely fit a wearer's lower leg so that boots (see FIG. 1) may fit more comfortably over the trousers 12. The elastic material also enables the first and second lower portions 18a, 18b to accommodate wearers having different sized lower legs.

The length of the first and second lower portions 18a, 18b is long enough to cover a substantial portion of a wearer's lower leg but also enables the first and second lower portions 18a, 18b to be completely covered by a pair of boots worn by a wearer (see FIG. 1). Further, the width of the first and second lower portions varies depending on the size of the trousers. For example, the width of the first and second lower portions 18a, 18b will be wider for a pair of trousers that are a size 16 than for a pair of trousers that are a size 4.

FIG. 2 provides a close-up view of one of the lower portions 18. In this embodiment, the lower portion 18 is attached at a first end 24 to the leg portion 16 via a seam 26 with stitching 27. As shown in FIG. 2, the lower portion 18 may be comprised of a single piece of the second material 22. In this embodiment, the lower portion 18 has a single substantially vertical seam 28. The seam 28 may be positioned so that it meets with a seam 30 of the trousers 12. Further, a bottom seam 32 along a second end 34 of the lower portion 18 opposite the first end 24 may be included. The vertical seam 28 and the bottom seam 34 may be formed via stitching, gluing, bonding, fusing or the like.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the lower portion 18 may be comprised of first and second pieces 36a, 36b, respectively, of the second material 22. In this embodiment, lower portion 18 has two seams, a substantially vertical first seam 38 and a substantially vertical second seam 40, which is disposed substantially opposite to the first seam 38. The first seam 38 may be positioned to meet with a seam 42 of the trousers 12 and the second seam 40 may be positioned to meet with a seam 44 of the trousers 12. A bottom seam 34 may also be included. The first and second seams 38 and 40 may be formed via stitching, gluing, bonding, fusing or the like.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

Numerous modifications to the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description. Accordingly, this description is to be construed as illustrative only and is presented for the purpose of enabling those skilled in the art to make and use the invention and to teach the best mode of carrying out same. The exclusive rights to all modifications which come within the scope of the appended claims are reserved.

The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.

Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. It should be understood that the illustrated embodiments are exemplary only, and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. An article of clothing, comprising:

an upper portion;

first and second leg portions connected to the upper portion; and

first and second lower portions attached to the first and second leg portions, respectively, on an end distal to the upper portion;

wherein the first and second leg portions are comprised of a first material, and

wherein the first and second lower portions are comprised of a second material.

2. The article of clothing of claim 1, wherein the article of clothing is a pair of trousers.

3. The article of clothing of claim 1, wherein the second material has a smaller linear mass density than the first material.

4. The article of clothing of claim 1, wherein the first material is a denim or dungaree textile.

5. The article of clothing of claim 1, wherein the second material is a material that is an elastic material.

6. The article of clothing of claim 1, wherein the second material is a spandex, a nylon, a spandex/nylon blend, a spandex/cotton blend, or a nylon/cotton blend textile.

7. The article of clothing of claim 1, wherein the first and second lower portions are attached to the first and second leg portions, respectively, via stitching.

8. The article of clothing of claim 2, wherein the first and second lower portions are of a length, such that when a user wears the trousers with a pair of boots, the first and second portions are completely covered by the pair of boots.

9. The article of clothing of claim 8, wherein the width of the first and second lower portions varies depending on a size of the trousers.

10. The article of clothing of claim 1, wherein the upper portion is comprised of the first material.

11. The article of clothing of claim 10, wherein the upper portion is integrally connected to the first and second leg portions.

12. The article of clothing of claim 1, wherein the first and second lower portions are each comprised of a single piece of the first material.

13. The article of clothing of claim 1, wherein the first and second lower portions are each comprised of two pieces of the first material.