Howdy guys! Sorry I'm late to the party. Mostly cause I've been using and making leggings. Leggings is a generic term for all the different styles of leg protection that Paul mentioned above. Because there are so many types and because the types have started crossing boundries and interbreeding we (us cowboy types), often just use the generic term "leggings".
Agree with everything Paul said above. All the different styles were pretty much regional and had to do climate, terrain and how the job was performed. There are distinct differencecs between cowboys and buckaroos in equipment horses, horsemanship, dress (including leggings), tack etc. How the work was performed was and is distinctly different. In The Southwest a rope was 30 ft or so, other places influenced by the Californio culture, the shortest rope I have is 60 ft and I have a reata that is 85 ft. They will often tie that shorter rope to the horn of the saddle. We dally (dalle verte, to wrap around) the rope around the horn like a clutch more than a brake.
Anyhoo I've got a bunch of legging in my order stream right now. I have 3 pairs of chinks, 1 pair of charmitas, 1 pair of shotgun chaps and 1 pair of wooly shotgun chaps. I will probably at the same time make a couple of three pair of charmitas/chinks for in stock to sell on the website. I have never made any batwing chaps and only know a couple of guys that wear em around here.
Shotguns: Close completely around each leg, most times with a zipper on the outside of the leg under the fringe. Back in the day they were made looser and laced together and you "stepped" into them. Now they are designed to fit a little tighter and they zip up. Shotguns are very durable, warm and weather resitant. Secret is to put em on warm. You leave em hanging in the barn and put em on cold you'll be cold all day. Bring em into the house or the truck cab and get em warm before you put em on and you will be warm all day.
Both of these pair were made from a heavy oiltan type chap leather for weather resistance and durability. I don't make these anymore unless I can measure you or you have an old pair that fit you well and you can trace around a leg and send it to me. Too many problems with folks measuring them selves. In the bottom pic I'm wearing a pir I made for a guy back east. He told me a thigh measurement of 24" whihc is not abnormal, its what I have. Well he was 28" really. How do you miss by 4"? There's no adjustability in these so there you are. Stuck, and these use lots of leather, 2 sides as you cut each leg down the backbone so that they stretch with use, uniformly. So I don't really make these anymore unless as specified. Got bit too many times.
Chinks: Use to be they were shorter and cut round at the bottom like in this pic. Chinks like the shotguns above will generally have the heavier veg tan tops called yokes. Chinks will also have the legplates often with conchos These hold the buckles and straps that close the legs around the thigh. They generally have a belt in the back that either buckles or is laced in and a smaller lighter buckle or sometimes a string in front.
Use to be they were also almost always made of a heavier oiltan leather. But nowadays you'll see a lot of lighter leathers used for more flexability. They are also longer, basically ankle length and almost always more square cut at the bottom.
This last pair I made for a friend in AK. This has been a very popular pair and I've made 3 or 4 pairs just like it and am working on a pair right now where the colors are the same just the tooling on the yokes changed to oak leaves. This pic shows the square bottom cut as well as the length that is used these days.
Armitas: Often called stepins. This is a California style that spread to all the Great Basin buckaroocountry. No hardware at all are used in these. The thighs are laced into the outside of the leg getting rid of the straps and buckles. There are two long 3/4" wide strings that wrap around the back in opposite directions and then tie in the front with just an overhand knot under the apron. You can see them peeking out under the fringe. The fringe on the apron keeps brush, debris and pesky oak leaves from getting down into the tops of your leggings. The apron actually does a really good job of this. Usually made of a lighter leather they are very conforming and flexible, comfortable to wear all day.
Charmitas: While they look very similar to armitas there are some distinct design differences. Buckles and straps are used to close the thighs and a buckle and belt are used in the back instead of the ties. Really they are combination of chinks and armitas and hence the term Charmitas.
This is Nichole a couple of weeks ago checking some calves we needed to castrate before our Spring Works coming up in a couple of weeks. They'd of been just too big later and it would of been traumatic. Anyhoo in this pair we made her she also combined the wrap and ties into her charmitas as you can see in the back but the legs still close with buckles and straps.
Woolies: Can be made really out of any style. Basically some kind of fur is added to the front. This makes them very warm obviously. Interestingly wooly shotguns were very popular here in California in the old days even in the summertime. This is the only pair of woolies I've made. They are chinks with bearhide on the front.
Probably more than you ever wanted to know about leggings.
