Who Wears The Pants?

Photo courtesy of Nick Bradshaw and the Irish Examiner

The spat earlier this year in the UK between Theresa May and the Education Secretary Nicky Morgans, about the price of the Prime Minister's  Amanda Wakely leather trousers may have seemed like a storm in a tea-cup, but the history of trouser-wearing women has often been controversial.  2000 years ago St. Paul asserted that women in male dress were an abomination and this mind-set was still in place at the start of the 20th century for the (male) arbiters of public morality and sartorial propriety. Sara Bernhadt may have appeared in pants in the late 19th century but they weren’t considered acceptable for “respectable” women until well into the 20th century.  Apart from working class women such as the Wigan pit girls who worked at the mouths of the coal mines sorting coal and actresses or acrobats, trousers weren’t considered "proper" for ladies. As late as 1932 there was still widespread hostility to females in trousers: when Marlene Dietrich visited Paris that year, the Chief of Police tried to ban her from wearing trousers in public, arguing that it would corrupt the weak-minded. 

Today we take the wearing of trousers and the liberation of modern female dress for granted. Elisabeth Wilson, a respected historian of dress has called “the advance of the trousers for women, the most significant fashion change of the 20th century”. With wide leg trousers being promoted as a major trend for A/W 2017, we may all be referencing Marlene, not to mention other trouser-wearing heroines such as Greta Garbo, Katherine Hepburn and Ali McGraw in the months ahead. Certainly as someone who has always appreciated the freedom, mobility and easy tomboyish glamour of trousers, I find it hard to conceive of a wardrobe without them.  

 In the past year, stars including Cate Blanchett, Evan Rachel Wood, and Lady Gaga have all attended red carpet events in streamlined trouser suits looking polished, confident and beautiful   while taking their style cue from St Laurent's Le Smoking (the sexy tux suit for females). Suiting on women is having a revival  with the rise of androgynous dressing and the breakdown of gender rules in dress, yet how often do contemporary women reflect on their sartorial freedom to wear trousers? The modern woman can step into her trousers without thinking twice but for her forebears this act was initially considered scandalous and even shocking. Fashion reflects our priorities, aspirations, liberalism or conservatism, even our emotional needs and can convey subtle or overt sexual messages. Currently with serious global unrest and polarising political philosophies re-emerging, it is not surprising that trousers for women have become a serious sartorial statement again. 

Donning trousers in the early 20th century was a call to arms because for centuries women's legs had been concealed and kept firmly pressed together (even riding a horse was conducted side saddle and swathed in long skirts). To define and separate a woman’s legs was not only to reveal her shape but also to confer on her the physical independence and mobility of a man – shocking concepts for the bourgoisie of the time. 
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​One of the first woman to wear trousers was music hall star, Vesta Tilley, who performed Champagne Charlie in trousers and tails to the titillation and amusemnet of her audiences. Designers flirted with male fashions for women in the late 19th century and early 20th century but trousers and pantaloons were typically worn only by actresses, entertainers or others of dubious sexual morality, such as Radclyffe Hall and Vita Sackville West.  

Prior to this, one of the first advocates of trousers for women was Amelia Jenks Bloomer.  She published an article in her feminist paper The Lily, in support of her husband's theory that short skirts worn over ankle length trousers (akin to the costumes worn by Turkish women) were far more practical than the voluminous skirts and petticoats of Edwardian European and American women. The look was adopted by a liberated few with the growing popularity of cycling but the wearing of bloomers was initially the object of public outrage, amusement and even blatant ridicule. Subsequently the arrival of the Ballet Russes in Paris in the early 1900s popularised harem pants, which became a favourite of designer Paul Poiret, but these were also cumbersome consisting of very full legs gathered into a band at the ankles.

The First World War in 1914 put women into men’s jobs as well as their trousers which was endured as a temporary measure. During the inter-war years however, trousers for women began to become acceptable for the upper classes and in the 1920s Coco Chanel, with her typical talent for purloining garments from the male wardrobe, introduced  wide legged trousers for women, christened “yachting pants” based on sailor’s bell bottoms. They reflected her signature style which was casual, unstructured and uncomplicated and she further promoted trousers by subsequently designing beach pyjamas and wearing them with great elegance. 
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​In the 1930s and 1940s  a group  of Hollywood actresses including Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Katherine Hepburn and Lauren Bacall adopted wide leg trews as their relaxed off-screen ensemble, which increased their popularity. However many ordinary women still felt unconvinced. Then the advent of World War 2 and the participation of women in the war effort and heavy industry saw them cast these reservations aside as they donned, boilersuits and dungarees in their thousands to work in the forces and munitions factories.

After the war, with resistance to trousers partially broken down, they were adopted for leisure wear in the1950s when capri pants, Bermudas and pedal pushers were popularised by actresses such as Audrey Hepburn and Brigitte Bardot. However dresses still ruled for formal-wear and trousers were considered inappropriate for many occasions.

The real trouser revolution  happened in the late sixties when unisex fashions emerged – early in the decade André Courreges introduced long trousers for women and in 1969 Yves Saint Laurent showed his then "shocking" and subversive, Le Smoking. From then the trouser was de riguer for fashion pioneers and women adopted them as an integral part of their smart look for work and evening wear. The previous prohibitions against girls and women wearing trousers in schools, the workplace and socially gradually eroded.  

In the 1970s the concept of executive dress for women gained popularity as they entered the workforce in large numbers and infiltrated management positions. The solution: tailored trouser suits, often in pinstripe, frequently with a matching waistcoat and a man’s shirt and tie or a blouse and bow tie. However not all approved of these trousered valkyries and stories abound about women wearing pants being refused entry to restaurants. There is an urban legend about one lady, who on being refused entry in her trouser suit by a particularly condescending Maitre D sighed, shrugged, stepped out of her pants and was seated in her bum grazing jacket.

Halston  popularised the trouser during this decade, but in a more relaxed and sexy variation in wide sensuous jersey pants or fluid halter-neck jumpsuits. By the 1970s rules and attitudes had relaxed in the wake of the sexual revolution and the feminist movement, to the extent that pants were generally accepted as a normal part of a modern woman’s wardrobe. The eighties saw the advent of body-con with super slim leggings kept in shape with a new  fibre, lycra and it seemed that trousers had evolved as far as possible in revealing the curves of the female anatomy.

While the early nineties saw the continued popularity of the trouser suit, the end of the decade saw its gradual decline. Bohemian femininity and eclectic seperates were popular and trousers, while still worn by women, became less of a fashion item and more of a uniform. The noughties saw  the revival of the dress as the backbone of many women’s wardrobes but when the recession devastated many lives post 2008, the sober streamlined trouser suit suddenly seemed desirable and chic again. While women have always had trousers in their wardrobes, this A/W now sees them back as a fashion statement as power dressing is revived and elegant wide-legged incarnations look fresh and directional.  

Women want to look competent, efficient and attuned to the demands of a competitive corporate landscape - there is not doubt that sleek tailoring is one of the most confidence-boosting looks that anyone can wear.  So this winter as you step forward in your trousers,  spare a thought for those women who endured ridicule, derision and condemnation in their early variations. When investing, choose carefully and concentrate on the fabric and fit - trousers are one of the hardest garments to get rights as a designer. Some of my favourite trouser brands for beautiful flattering pants are Joseph, COS and Max Mara but trousers are a very personal thing so you need to find your own perfect fit by trying on lots of labels. See my notes below re the various silhouettes and how to wear them.   

Women wearing pants now seems perfectly natural, it wasn’t always so. A designer like Chanel cut clothes for women along the same liberating and simplified lines as men's clothes: trousers are symbolic of that heritage and of the sartorial and social advances made by women over the past century. As Chanel stated: "Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury." Today women have the luxury of choice - they can choose to wear the pants and no one can deny them. 

Trouser Silhouettes 
Skinny Leg 
Key Elements - A slim flattering leg to showcase great legs. Lycra is a must to avoid sagging.
Advantages - a skinny leg can flatter all sizes as long as it fits correctly. It is a flattering silhouette as it is elongating and can camouflage weight by streamlining your lower body and pulling in your shape. Pair with a loose tunic, shirt, knit. or a long tailored jacket. 
How to Wear Best - Ensure that skinny trousers aren't too tight as they will become very uncomfortable. Avoid muffin top and VPL by wearing hight waisted seamless underwear. 

Wide Cropped Leg
Key elements - An easy wearable shape that flatters slim ankles and highlights brown summer legs.
Advantages - They should allow you to look relaxed yet polished, so must fit perfectly at the waist and around the bum. 
How to Wear Best -  Wear with a tailored shirt, cropped knit or short fitted jacket for tomboyish glamour. 

High Waisted
Key Elements - A flattering built up waist to highlight a neat waistline and give the illusion of a longer leg length.
Advantages - They make you look effortlessly elegant and taller while emphasising a shapely bum, if you are lucky enough to possess one. 
How to Wear Best - pair with slim fitting, tucked in, silk shirts or fine-gauge knitwear. A sneaky flash of skin between the hem oy your top and the waistband of your  trousers can be subtly sexy.

Straight Leg 
Key Elements - Fuss free and a staple of your wardrobe. They are equally adaptable for work and weekends.
Advantages - Their shape works equally well with flats and heels, boots, brogues and pumps. 
How to Wear Best - because they are an extremely versatile cut, they can be worn with virtually everything. The fit should be slim but not skintight and the most flattering length is just above the ankle.

Wide Leg  
Key Elements - Timelessly elegant and on trend again for this season thanks to the revival of 1970's glamour. 
Advantages - Beautiful, polished and leg lengthening. An investment, so spend as much as you can afford to get the best quality fabric and tailoring. 
How to Wear Best - Classic when paired with a tux jacket, silk blouse and heels. The length should be floor grazing so get them altered for your perfect personal length and shape.

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Le Smoking by Yves St Laurent, photo Helmut Newton.