Breeches are an article of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles. The breeches were normally closed and fastened about the leg, along its open seams at varied lengths, and to the knee, by either buttons or by a draw-string, or by one or more straps and buckle or brooches.
In Middle-earth most breeches were standard male clothing of all cultures of the Westlands. Elves and Edain wore tight breeches while Hobbits and Dwarves often preferred more baggy types. Orcs wore breeches made of furs and animal skins (Shali).