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The reason why a pair of is used for an item of clothing worn on legs is partly related to the history of clothing and tailoring. For example, pants (short of pantaloons, U.S. English) or trousers became a single garment late in the history. Before modern tailoring, such garments were made in two pieces, two seperate sleeves of fabric called a hose which were tied to a belt with braces and the open crotch was covered with breeches. The plural usage of these garments persisted out of habit even after they had started being made in one piece in modern tailoring. A shirt and similar upper-body garments were always a single piece of clothing, so they were singular.

The reason why a pair of is used for an item of clothing worn on legs is partly related to the history of clothing and tailoring. For example, pants (short of pantaloons, U.S. English) or trousers became a single garment late in the history. Before modern tailoring, such garments were made in two pieces, two separate sleeves of fabric called a hose which were tied to a belt with braces and the open crotch was covered with breeches. The plural usage of these garments persisted out of habit even after they had started being made in one piece in modern tailoring. A shirt and similar upper-body garments were always a single piece of clothing, so they were singular.

Etymologically, the usage of a pair of is connected to how pair was borrowed from Anglo-Norman French (where the etymon is paire) around 1300; and ultimately from Latin paria. French uses the preposition de as seen in an Anglo-Norman example "deux peir de plates" from 1354, listed in the Middle English Compendium. In modern English, pair is restricted to meanings referring to 'two' or 'sets'. It is usually followed by plurale tantum nouns like pants, jeans, trousers or morphologically singular nouns that often come in sets of two like eyes, shoes, gloves. Historically, pair could be used without a preposition, sometimes with an unmarked plural; and it could also mean 'a few'. With the preposition of, pair was first used by Chaucer as "a paire of legges and of feet" (a pair of legs and of feet) in c1395 per OED. Chaucer's usage may have influenced the language also, as he has been called the father of English literature; and the semantic extension of the usage a pair of for garments worn on legs may be an analogy of its usage with legs.

Etymologically, the usage of a pair of is connected to how pair was borrowed from Anglo-Norman French (where the etymon is paire) around 1300; and ultimately from Latin paria. French uses the preposition de as seen in an Anglo-Norman example "deux peir de plates" from 1354, listed in the Middle English Compendium. In modern English, pair is restricted to meanings referring to 'two' or 'sets'. It is usually followed by plurale tantum nouns like pants, jeans, trousers or morphologically singular nouns that often come in sets of two like eyes, shoes, gloves. Historically, pair could be used without a preposition, sometimes with an unmarked plural; and it could also mean 'a few'. With the preposition of, pair was first used by Chaucer as "a paire of legges and of feet" (a pair of legs and of feet) in c1395 per OED. Chaucer's usage may have influenced the language also, as he has been called the father of English literature; and the semantic extension of the usage a pair of for garments worn on legs may be an analogy to its usage with legs.

The reason why a pair of is used for an item of clothing worn on legs is partly related to the history of clothing and tailoring. For example, pants (short of pantaloons, U.S. English) or trousers became a single garment late in the history. Before modern tailoring, such garments were made in two pieces, two seperate sleeves of fabric called a hose which were tied to a belt with braces and the open crotch was covered with breeches. The plural usage with a pair of persisted out of habit even after these garments had started being made in one piece in modern tailoring. A shirt and similar upper-body garments were always a single piece of clothing, so they were singular.

The reason why a pair of is used for an item of clothing worn on legs is partly related to the history of clothing and tailoring. For example, pants (short of pantaloons, U.S. English) or trousers became a single garment late in the history. Before modern tailoring, such garments were made in two pieces, two seperate sleeves of fabric called a hose which were tied to a belt with braces and the open crotch was covered with breeches. The plural usage of these garments persisted out of habit even after they had started being made in one piece in modern tailoring. A shirt and similar upper-body garments were always a single piece of clothing, so they were singular.