For centuries, dresses and skirts were the only socially acceptable bottom garments for women in Western cultures. Pants were strictly for men. But that all changed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries thanks to pioneering women who challenged social norms and championed the right for women to wear trousers.
Early Pants-Wearing Rebels
As early as the 1850s, some daring women began bucking social conventions by donning pants for practical purposes. Female laborers wore trousers for warmth and mobility. Pioneer women traveling out West found pants preferable for riding horses across rough terrain. These practical pioneers laid the groundwork for pants becoming more socially acceptable.
Amelia Bloomer Introduces “Bloomers”
The most influential advocate for pants in the 19th century was women’s rights activist Amelia Bloomer. In 1851, she began promoting “bloomers” – loose-fitting trousers worn under a skirt. Bloomers provided women with much greater ease of movement than restrictive Victorian dresses and corsets. Though Bloomer only wore bloomers for a few years, the garment sparked major controversy over women wearing pants.
Other 19th Century Innovators
Other activists also helped pioneer pants for women in the 1800s. Writer Fanny Fern and suffragettes Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony wore pants regularly, lending legitimacy to the movement. Wealthy women’s rights advocate Mary Edwards Walker was even arrested multiple times for impersonating a man thanks to her preference for wearing pants.
The Rise of Women’s Sports
As leisure sports for women emerged in the late 1800s, increased physical activity made wearing pants not just socially daring but practically necessary. Cycling in the 1890s was hugely popular with affluent women, wearing skirts while riding bikes proved dangerous and pants offered much safer freedom of movement.
Tennis and golf similarly created more pants-wearing opportunities for athletic women. As female college students began participating in sports like field hockey and basketball in the 1900s, they wore gym bloomers almost resembling loose shorts.
Amelia Earhart Models Sleek Slacks
By the 1930s, aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart sported trim straight leg pants called slacks. Often photographed in her sleek slacks, Earhart demonstrated that not only could pants be practical for women, they could also be chic.
World War II Changes Attitudes
World War II proved a major turning point for women wearing pants. As women took over factory, farming and other manual labor jobs formerly occupied by men fighting overseas, donning pants became a practical work necessity. Powerful wartime imagery of iconic Rosie the Riveter in her work clothes helped legitimize pants.
The Rise of Hollywood’s Pants-Wearing Pin-Ups
At the same time in Hollywood, sexy screen sirens like Marlene Dietrich and Katharine Hepburn brought glamour to women’s pants. Hepburn especially caused sensations by wearing slacks in her films, even when they were banned from restaurants and hotels.
Post-War Changes in Women’s Fashion
In the postwar 1940s, pants slowly became more integrated into women’s wardrobes. Many women held onto their wartime jobs, driving up demand for stylish yet practical garments like slacks and jeans. By the 1950s, stars like Audrey Hepburn made cigarette pants an elegant staple. And teenage girls going gaga for blue jeans cemented pants as a new norm.
Yves Saint Laurent Unveils Le Smoking
In the 1960s, more revolutionary changes were still to come. Designer Yves Saint Laurent unveiled Le Smoking, a women’s tuxedo with stylish trousers that became an iconic symbol of modern femininity and women’s empowerment.
The Triumph of Pants
Today wearing pants has become completely normalized and socially acceptable for women thanks to over a century of courageous pioneers. What was once a defiant political statement is now a fundamental part of women’s wardrobes for work, play and every occasion in between. From Amelia Bloomer to Rosie the Riveter to the Hollywood icons, these innovators changed fashion and history.
