Loving Our Pant Suits

If you look at pictures and paintings of women throughout history, you will find that prior to the twentieth century they are all wearing dresses and skirts, never pants or trousers. What happened in the twentieth century that caused women to start wearing pants? Well, what happened was Coco Chanel!

Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel was born in 1883 in Saumur, France. She was born into a poor working family. At the age of twelve, Coco’s mother died and her father left the family. As a result, Chanel spent the next six years in an orphanage, where she was taught to be a seamstress by trade. I am sure she could not imagine then how her trade would someday make her millions of dollars. In her lifetime, she became famous for her hats, her perfume (Chanel #5), the “little black dress”, her signature cardigan jacket and of course, pants for women.

Chanel worked in a milliner in Paris as a young woman and in 1912 opened her own shop. In 1919, she founded a couture house. She decided it was time to revolutionize woman’s clothing. She began by encouraging woman to wear casual but elegant clothing and to liberate themselves from corsets. Coco Chanel created clothing for woman that was simpler and more practical. Many of her styles were inspired by men’s clothing. Chanel launched a line of casual women’s clothes for sport and leisure. Eventually, she created casual clothes made out of jersey – which until then had been a material used only for men’s underwear. Women loved Coco Chanel’s new clothes, which were comfortable yet attractive. However she is most famous for her controversial (at the time) approach to fashion when she introduced trousers and pant suits for women – something which had never been done before. As someone who wears slacks more often that skirts or dresses, I am grateful for Coco’s vision. Most women have far more pants and slacks hanging in their closets than they do dresses and skirts. Can you imagine Hillary Clinton without her pant suits? How would women have survived the corporate boardroom in the 80’s without their power suits? Because of Coco Chanel’s ground-breaking and rule-busting inspiration, women began to wear comfortable but beautiful clothes. Clothing we take for granted today, such as blazers and pants, were ground-breaking in the 1920’s. Only an influential and confident woman would dare to introduce this line of clothes in her collection.

The 1920’s were a period of liberation for women. It was the decade in which women received the vote in many countries. Women slowly began to work in professions and jobs which had previously been held by men. Coco Chanel’s fashion was a reflection of these social and political changes.

Although Chanel passed away in 1971 at the age of eighty-seven (still working and overseeing the preparation of her new spring collection), the fashion changes she created are still an influence in woman’s clothes. Tomorrow, when you reach in your closet for a pair of slacks or a pant suit, remember to think of Coco Chanel with gratitude and appreciation for her fashion leadership and her vision. Loving your pant suits and slacks . . . it's a good thing!