Puttees for an old trooper.

[Baltimore Ed]

Happy New Years to all of CasCity's troopers. I've got a question about those aggravating but essential lace up puttees. My deteriorating physical health has gotten to the point that it is just about impossible for me to lace up my tall khaki puttees that are part of my Wild Bunch--Punitive Expedition uniforms. I love the look but the struggle is real. Has anyone experimented with some kind of velcro seam on the inside of the puttee? A full length piece of Velcro could be sewn to the inside of the puttee while the opposite Velcro sewn to the other. Edges properly rolled over and sewn of course. The sturrup on the bottom would not be messed with. With the seam on the inside of the leg it shouldn't be too obvious. A pair of collar hooks could be used to keep the top and bottom together. The puttee's lace hooks could be bent down slightly to hold the laces or a khaki thread could be tied around the lace and hook hold the lace in the hook. A couple of stitches would hold the laced side permanently closed. Anyone done something like this to simplify putting these critters on? Terrible thing to get old but it's better than the alternative.

[pony express]

I don't know about Velcro, but maybe a zipper? Wouldn't be too obvious, and on the inside of the leg it would be much easier to deal with than on the outside.

[38OVI]

One of our older reenactors (Rev and 1812) has his leggings set up with the buttons through button-holes and a strip of velcro behind them so they look proper and are unnoticeable on the field. I suppose if you opened up the side away from the lacing and had an overlap to place the velcro on, it would look like an inner seam.  Just a thought.

[1961MJS]

I don't know about Velcro, but maybe a zipper? Wouldn't be too obvious, and on the inside of the leg it would be much easier to deal with than on the outside.

Hey, does anybody lace their leggings on the inside and twist them around?  It would probably twist your pant legs, but it might be doable.

Just a thought.