Over the past century, the suit has mirrored women’s role in society. Now, it has become the uniform of the modern woman—unapologetically her own. It is proof that femininity doesn’t need frills and ruffles to make a statement.
Let’s take a look at the history of the suit in womenswear throughout the 20th century:
‘20s: Although there were previous references that resembled it, Coco Chanel is credited with creating the women’s suit. During the First World War, the couturier gained popularity by designing clothes that freed women from corsets and restrictive clothes. Influenced by menswear, Chanel designed pieces that allowed women to move while maintaining their femininity. Then, in 1923, Coco Chanel created an ensemble that consisted of a wool jacket with embellished buttons and a matching knee-length skirt. Although it still didn’t include trousers, the Chanel suit revolutionized women’s fashion and opened doors that were, until then, closed. In the late 1920s, women started wearing pants for leisure activities and sports such as tennis, golf, horse riding, and cycling.
‘30s: Then, in 1932, Marcel Rochas took a step further. The designer is credited with using pants instead of skirts in the women’s suit. The ensemble was made of gray wool and consisted of a jacket with padded shoulders and matching pants. In the following year, Vogue published one of the earliest photos of a woman in a pantsuit in their September issue. In the feature titled Riviera Days and Nights, Marlene Dietrich is wearing a summer suit. In her films, the actress wore suits that challenged common gender norms. In 1939, Elsa Schiaparelli designed a speckled brown wool blazer with four large buttons and a matching pair of single-pleat cuffed pants.
‘40s: In the forties, other actresses such as Greta Garbo and Katherine Hepburn also raised eyebrows by wearing suits on and off the screen. With women in the spotlight wearing pants, the piece became part of everyday women’s wardrobes.
‘50s: In the fifties, the suit’s popularity halted as women returned to domestic roles after the war and embraced Dior’s New Look with nipped waists and full skirts. However, after a retirement period, Coco Chanel started designing again and created her iconic Chanel suit in 1954. The suit was a modern version of her 1920s suit and liberated women once again from the restrictive silhouettes.
‘60s: By the sixties, the suit was back in fashion as more women joined the workforce. Then, in 1966, Yves Saint Laurent created the Le Smoking tuxedo, the first tuxedo designed for women. Different than previous versions of the suit, Le Smoking consisted of a classic dinner jacket in black grain de poudre wool or satin and trousers with a satin side stripe, a ruffled white shirt, a black bow tie, and a wide cummerbund of satin, all adapted for women’s proportions. He later called it his most significant design. However, the tuxedo was polemic, to say the least. Not only was it a fashion statement to wear the piece, but it was a political one.
‘70s: In the seventies, as more and more women joined the workforce, they needed a look that proved they were to be taken as seriously as the men. And the suit was it. Nonetheless, although there had been progress since the sixties, women wearing suits were still largely criticized for trying to emulate men. During this time, the movie Annie Hall was released, and it came to represent unisex dressing.
‘80s: By the eighties, Giorgio Armani created androgynous suits with an oversized silhouette, launching the stereotypical look of the decade, the power suit. He made masculine suits for women without lacking femininity. The designer revolutionized women’s suits, particularly for women working in offices, as his clothes disguised the women’s figure beneath them. Thus, it took the focus off gender and blurred the lines between menswear and womenswear even further.
‘90s: In the nineties, the suit shrank and softened. More women chose skirts over pants, and the excess was removed. It was the beginning of a more casual look, and the suit mirrored the times.
NOW: Today, in the age where “anything goes,” this includes how we wear suits. Whether paired with heels or sneakers, matched or mismatched, or even separated, the suit is a perfect example of how we approach dressing in the 2020s. As Giorgio Armani said, "[Women] have edged out their standing in the world. Today, they don’t have to wear a suit jacket to prove their authority.”