Lauren
Distinguished Service Award
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One of my favorite looks of the 1930's for women is them in pants. Does anyone have any photos to share?
Brief overview-
Amelia Bloomer in the mid-1800's was the first to endorse women wearing pants. These being worn under a skirted tunic which reached about the knee. It was thought to promote health. These large and billowy pants adopted the name "turkish trousers" and while they didn't catch on much in Amelia Bloomer's time, they still bear her name in later dates. In the 1890's it became very popular to wear them with the advent of the bicyle and the sport being taken up by more "wild" women.
Pre WWI, Paul Poiret introduced the "lampshade" look, which included a tunic with a hoop in the hem worn over "turkish trousers" similar to the ones ameilia bloomer introduced. While these caught on more, they were still the fashion of daring women.
WWI made women take up factory work, so a few adopted the pants of the men to do it. Post war it was back to skirts, though the flappers were taking off and skirts started getting scandelously short.
In the 20's pants were adopted for loungewear, overalls for working in the garden, and in the form of riding pants.
In the 30's more daring women entering Hollywoodland wore masculine attire like men's tailored suits, slacks, vests, and even hats. This was popular especially with Marlene Dietrich and Katharine Hepburn. When the studios threatened Hepburn to wear skirts when walking around the lots because of the tabloids taking shots of her over the walls, she threatened to walk around in her underwear instead. They insisted, and pretty soon she DID walk about in her underwear. Needless to say, they OK'd the slacks.
In the early to mid 30's, pants were getting to be accepted more for leisurewear, but mostly by the Hollywood crowd and the collegiate girls. Beach pajamas consisted of Palazzo style pants and were very fashionable at seaside resorts for all women. And pants were still popular for sporting events. It seems that since women found freedom of movement in the 20's thanks to the flimsy frocks, there was no way they were going back to long skirts for activewear. But newspaper headlines still read "Girls Want to Be Boys".
Later 30's and it was set. Pants for women stayed accepted, and were added to women's wardrobes.
Anyone got any pics?
Brief overview-
Amelia Bloomer in the mid-1800's was the first to endorse women wearing pants. These being worn under a skirted tunic which reached about the knee. It was thought to promote health. These large and billowy pants adopted the name "turkish trousers" and while they didn't catch on much in Amelia Bloomer's time, they still bear her name in later dates. In the 1890's it became very popular to wear them with the advent of the bicyle and the sport being taken up by more "wild" women.
Pre WWI, Paul Poiret introduced the "lampshade" look, which included a tunic with a hoop in the hem worn over "turkish trousers" similar to the ones ameilia bloomer introduced. While these caught on more, they were still the fashion of daring women.
WWI made women take up factory work, so a few adopted the pants of the men to do it. Post war it was back to skirts, though the flappers were taking off and skirts started getting scandelously short.
In the 20's pants were adopted for loungewear, overalls for working in the garden, and in the form of riding pants.
In the 30's more daring women entering Hollywoodland wore masculine attire like men's tailored suits, slacks, vests, and even hats. This was popular especially with Marlene Dietrich and Katharine Hepburn. When the studios threatened Hepburn to wear skirts when walking around the lots because of the tabloids taking shots of her over the walls, she threatened to walk around in her underwear instead. They insisted, and pretty soon she DID walk about in her underwear. Needless to say, they OK'd the slacks.
In the early to mid 30's, pants were getting to be accepted more for leisurewear, but mostly by the Hollywood crowd and the collegiate girls. Beach pajamas consisted of Palazzo style pants and were very fashionable at seaside resorts for all women. And pants were still popular for sporting events. It seems that since women found freedom of movement in the 20's thanks to the flimsy frocks, there was no way they were going back to long skirts for activewear. But newspaper headlines still read "Girls Want to Be Boys".
Later 30's and it was set. Pants for women stayed accepted, and were added to women's wardrobes.
Anyone got any pics?
They were really easy to make.
