Pantsuits: From rebellion to red carpets
January 22, 2017
There once was a time when it was illegal for a woman to wear pants. Now almost all women have a pair of pants in their wardrobe.
In the past 100 years, women have adapted to the societal norms of men, as has the fashion of women. The women’s fashion industry has taken a lot of menswear staple items and made them their own, including boyfriend jeans, oxford shoes and now the pantsuit.
When we look at history and when pantsuits as a trend began to rise, they always make a comeback when women start to take on new roles and are a part of societal change. The first time we started seeing women in suits was when Coco Chanel introduced them in 1914, according to Allure magazine.
The 1920s followed with a time of rebellion and change, especially through women’s fashion. For the first time, women started cutting their hair short, their skirts slowly began rising above the ankles to the knees and corsets were exchanged for the newly invented bra.
When World War II arrived and men were deployed, women replaced them at their jobs, and the pantsuit started becoming more popular.
2016 Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton made an immense impact on the history of women as the first female presidential candidate for a major political party. Her wardrobe on the campaign trail was equally well-known — an array of multicolored pantsuits. There is no doubt her campaign influenced the fashion industry and the modern rise of pantsuits.
“Because of recent things, I associate [pantsuits] with Hillary Clinton.” Emily Southard, co-president of the Society for the Advancement of Gender Equity, said. “I think that there was like a lot of effort to associate that with her, and the reason I think she chose to have that be her outfit of choice was the symbolism of it and particularly her generation of feminism.
“I think it was really empowering for women to wear pants particularly in the 1960s and 1970s because women were expected to wear skirts. So I think that there is a lot of female empowerment that comes with a pantsuit.”
Throughout Clinton’s years in politics, she has always opted for the pantsuit. The pantsuit became her staple item. Her supporters even named themselves “Pantsuit Nation.” With many years of experience in a male-dominated field, Clinton has always been the target for her appearance.
“I think that [being a woman in politics] must be incredibly challenging because you never ever hear about what a man wears,” Southard said. “In very few professions is what a man wears important, and with women it’s always important. I think that it must have been both exhausting, but in some ways I think that [Clinton] tried to embrace it.”
At the 2017 Golden Globes, women wearing power pantsuits flooded the red carpet, and many said it had to do with Clinton’s staple uniform of choice.
“I got a pantsuit in honor of Hillary. Love you, Hillary. I’m with her,” Felicity Huffman told the Hollywood Foreign Press while sporting a pantsuit on the red carpet at the 2017 Golden Globes.
Although some wore the power pantsuit to support Clinton, Evan Rachel Wood wore one to send a message to young girls.
“I’ve been to the Globes six times, and I’ve worn a dress every time,” she told Ryan Seacrest. “And I love dresses; I’m not trying to protest dresses. I wanted to make sure that young women and girls knew that they aren’t a requirement and that you don’t have to wear one if you don’t want to. Just be yourself, because your worth is much more than that.”
