How women started wearing men's suits

A woman in a man's suit these days is unlikely to be able to challenge public taste, but a few decades ago everything was different.

The first ensemble of women's clothing close to the "costume" in the modern sense was the vestments of a horsewoman "riding habit". It appeared in the 17th century and underwent changes until the 19th century, in which it took root in the form of a jacket, skirt, and hat.

The military era forced society to reconsider the relation to the boundaries between men's and women's clothing. The final coup occurred when Marlene Dietrich appeared in the film "Morocco" in 1930 in a men's tailcoat and kissed another woman.

Since the 20s of the last century, a men's suit in a women's wardrobe has been a component of a provocative stage image and an instrument of youth rebellion. Masculine clothing was often accompanied by relaxed behavior and ostentatious sexuality.

Starting from the 60s, women's trouser suits enter mass fashion and then finally take root in world culture thanks to Yves Saint Laurent with his Le Smoking.

The female formal dress code is more blurred than the male ones, so the styles of the jacket and trousers can vary significantly. The classic mecca of a traditional man suit it is London's street - Savile Row. The most famous tailor on this street is considered to be Edward Sekton, who in the 70s turned the whole world upside down. Нe made clothes for Mick Jagger, John Lennon, and other stars. Today, sekton annually presents women's collections.

Obvious masculinity has become a symbol of maturity. The world finally changed with the heyday of alternative fashion, which presented women with the Ann Demeulemeester and Yohji Yamamoto collections. In the recent Givenchy collection, you can even see almost copies of the Yves Saint Louran's tuxedos. Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga created deaf black oversize suits with jackets.

But today, the representatives of the “weaker sex” no longer need to aggressively prove their own strength or put on a “woman's costume” in order to pass for this very woman. Perfectly tailored clothes are now exclusively for pleasure.