Pantsuit

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and the United Kingdom and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may , discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (March 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Hillary Clinton wears a pantsuit at a 2016 campaign rally.

Part of a series on
Western dress codes and corresponding attires
show Formal (full dress)   White tie  Morning dress  Full dress uniform Frock coat  Evening gown  Ball gown
show Semi-formal (half dress)   Black tie  Black lounge suit   Mess dress uniform Evening gown  Cocktail dress
hide Informal (undress, "dress clothes") Suit  Service dress uniform Cocktail dress  Pantsuit
show Casual (anything not above) Business casual Casual Friday Combat uniform Smart casual Workwear Streetwear Sportswear Undress
show Supplementary alternatives Ceremonial dress Court diplomatic academic, etc. Religious clothing cassock, habit, etc. Folk costume Distinctions Orders medals, etc.
Legend: = Day (before 6 p.m.) = Evening (after 6 p.m.)     = Bow tie colour = Ladies = Gentlemen  Fashion portal  Contents/Culture and the arts portal
v t

A pantsuit or pant suit, also known as a trouser suit outside the United States, is a woman's suit of clothing consisting of pants and a matching or coordinating coat or jacket.

Formerly, the prevailing fashion for women included some form of a coat, paired with a skirt or dress—hence the name pantsuit.

History[]

The pantsuit was introduced in the 1920s, when a small number of women adopted a masculine style, including pantsuits, hats, canes and monocles. However, the term, "trouser suit" had been used in Britain during the First World War, with reference to women working in heavy industry.^[1]

During the 1960s pant suits for women became increasingly widespread. Designers such as Foale and Tuffin in London and Luba Marks in the United States were early promoters of trouser suits.^[2][3] In 1966 Yves Saint-Laurent introduced his Le Smoking, an evening pantsuit for women that mimicked a man's tuxedo.^[4] Whilst Saint-Laurent is often credited with introducing trouser suits, it was noted in 1968 that some of his pantsuits were very similar to designs that had already been offered by Luba Marks,^[5] and the London designer Ossie Clark had offered a trouser suit for women in 1964 that predated Saint Laurent's 'Le Smoking' design by two years.^[6] In Britain a social watershed was crossed^{[citation needed]} in 1967 when Lady Chichester, wife of the navigator Sir Francis Chichester, wore a trouser suit when her husband was publicly knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.^[7]

Pantsuits were often deprecated as inappropriately masculine clothing for women. For example, until 1993, women were not permitted to wear pantsuits (or pants of any kind) on the United States Senate floor.^[8][9][10] In 1993, Senators Barbara Mikulski and Carol Moseley Braun wore pants onto the floor in defiance of the rule, and female support staff followed soon after, with the rule being amended later that year by Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Martha Pope to allow women to wear pants on the floor so long as they also wore a jacket, thus allowing pantsuits, among other types of clothing.^[9][10]

Hillary Clinton, who is well known for wearing pantsuits, once referred to her presidential campaign staff as "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits" (in her August 26, 2008 speech at the Democratic National Convention), a play on The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.^[11]

During the 2016 Presidential election, the pantsuit became a symbolic rallying cry among supporters of Hillary Clinton, many of whom donned pantsuits when they went to the polls to cast their ballots. This was in part due to the influence of a Facebook group of 2.9 million Hillary Clinton supporters called Pantsuit Nation.^{[12][13][14][15]}

See also[]

• Business wear
• Women and trousers

References[]

External links[]