Fashion Facts - The Pantsuit Invention

One of the must have items in every woman's closet is a classic pantsuit, as it's the safest choice to any business meeting or interview. There are also style suitable for a regular walk it even on the red carpet. The suitable for all women pantsuit, wasn’t available or accepted for women, till recently. Who invented the pantsuit? How was it perceived? Not many of us know the answer. Here is how it all started:

Paul Poiret, an uncommon name for those who aren’t involved in the fashion business, was the first to introduce a suit for women in 1925, consisting of a jacket and trousers. Before that, women only wore dresses or skirts. As all that was new and uncommon, Paul Poiret’s pantsuit was rejected by most women, saying that it was too masculine.

In 1933, Coco Chanel reintroduced the pantsuit, but this time around, it had the chance to be worn by the famous actress and singer Marlene Dietrich, still very much influenced by the masculine lines and structure, but more acceptable.

A breakthrough in pantsuit, was when André Courrèges released his “Space Age” collection in 1964, where he designed very structured, fitted and slim pantsuits. Needless to say, it was very successful, and opened the gates for various designers to unleash their creativity.

One of those designers was the infamous Yves Saint Laurent, who many people thought to be the inventor of the pantsuit. He actually introduced “Le Smoking” tuxedo suit in his Fall/Winter collection in 1966. At first, it was overlooked by other pieces, but gained much more attention a few weeks after, when he released it in his Ready-to-wear collection.

What would have happened, if designers like Paul Poiret didn’t have the courage to think outside the box? Or in this case, outside the skirt? Can you imagine how our lives would be like without the pantsuit? I certainly can’t.