Breeches: a gird at the affected delicacy of the present age; a suit being called coat, waistcoat, and articles, or small clothes.
Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.
Smacking Cove * SmartNathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang
John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes