Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(also kicksters) breeches, thus trousers.

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Kicks, c. Breeches. A high Kick, the top of the Fashion; also singularity therein. Tip us your Kicks, we’ll have them as well as your Loure, c. pull off your Breeches, for we must have them as well as your Money.
1719		A. Smith Lives of Most Notorious Highway-men, etc. (1926) 207: Kicks, breeches. Tip us your kicks, we’ll have them as well as your lowr, i.e., Pull off your breeches, for we must have them as well as your money.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1753		J. Poulter Discoveries (1774) Nap his Tuggs and Kixes take his Cloaths and Breeches.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1819		‘One of the Fancy’ Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress 13: Has there any thing equall’d the fal-lals and tricks / That bedizen’d old GEORGY’S bang-up tog and kicks!
1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc.
1837		‘Sam Weller’s Adventures!’ in C. Hindley James Catnach (1878) 277: A cove vearing Vellington kicks.
1839		H. Brandon Dict. of the Flash or Cant Lang. 163/2: Kicksters – a pair of breeches.
1846		Swell’s Night Guide 57: schikster: And how about the lushy cove? gonniff: Oh, Sall planted him in the dunniken, pinched his kicksters and his shaker.
1848		Ladies’ Repository (N.Y.) Oct. VIII:37 316/2: Kicks, pantaloons.
1851		G. Thompson Jack Harold 60: I got a pair of flash kicks, a tog and cady too.
1879		Cincinnati Enquirer 7 Sept. 10/7: Kicks–Pants.
1886		Bulletin (Sydney) 31 July 17/4: [He][ would often ‘bash up to a bug,’ assisted by one or two other ‘guns,’ turn him over and take the money ‘out of his kicks.
1891		Emporia Dly Repub. (KS) 28 Apr. 3/2: Trousers are ‘kicks,’ shoes are ‘squills’ or ‘stamps,’ and boots are ‘churns’.
1907		J. London Road 193: I took my pick of the underwear, socks, cast-off clothes shirts, ‘kicks,’ and ‘sky-pieces.’.
1910		Bulletin (Sydney) 15 Dec. 38/4: Whenever a bloke passed out a thin un, Wibs’d give him threepence change an’ pass on. [...] Nine times outer 10, th’ blokes’d put the traybit in their kicks an’ says nothin’.
1920		O.O. McIntyre New York Day by Day 16 Sept. [synd. col.] I left ten bucks in my Sunday kicks.
1922		Joyce Ulysses 241: In Grafton Street Master Dignam saw a red flower in a toff’s mouth and a swell pair of kicks on him.
1936		L. Duncan Over the Wall 346: I’ll sort out the necessary duds [...] What size kicks do you wear?