Who could wear a patch, or two extra seams only, over
the knee? Most behave as if they believed that their prospects for life
would be ruined if they should do it. It would be easier for them to
hobble to town with a broken leg than with a broken pantaloon. Often if
an accident happens to a gentleman’s legs, they can be mended; but if a
similar accident happens to the legs of his pantaloons, there is no help
for it; for he considers, not what is truly respectable, but what is
respected.-Henry David Thoreau