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A breechcloth, or breechclout, is a form of Loincloth consisting in a strip of material (usually a narrow rectangle) passed between the thighs and secured before and behind under a belt or string.

A breechcloth is a long triangular piece of tanned deerskin, cloth, or animal fur. It is worn between the legs and tucked over a belt, so that the flaps fall down in front and behind. Sometimes it is also called a breechclout, loincloth, skin clout, or just a flap.

In most Native American tribes, men used to wear some form of breechclout. The style was different from tribe to tribe. In some tribes, the breechcloth loops outside of the belt and then is tucked into the inside, for a more fitted look. Sometimes the breechcloth is much shorter and a decorated apron panel is attached in front and behind.

A Native American woman or teenage girl might also wear a fitted breechcloth underneath her skirt, but not as outerwear. However, in many tribes young girls did wear breechcloths like the boys until they became old enough for skirts and dresses. In the summer Sioux indians wore Breechcloth.

European men around 2000 B.C. wore leather breechclouts, as can be seen from the clothing of Ötzi the Ice Man.

During World War II, Allied prisoners of war in Japanese camps often had nothing but a textile breechcloth to wear, affording them only a modicum of modesty and free transpiration, but virtually no protection against the tropical sun, parasites etc.

A breechcloth is in some ways like a loincloth or a fundoshi, designed only to cover the genitals.

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