Tuxedos for Women
Put women in men’s trousers, and no one notices. Put guys in skirts, and all sorts of ideas, none of them very flattering, pop into the public consciousness. If there’s one area in which women seem to have shattered the sexual stereotype ahead of their brethren, it’s fashion. When it comes to clothing, at least, the ladies have far more freedom to do as they please than the gentlemen.
Tuxedos for women first appeared in the 1920s and 30s, but were never antthing that a well brought up young lady would dare to wear in public. In the 1930 film “Morocco” Marlene Dietrich set the movie going public on its ear by performing a nightclub act in a women’s tuxedo and kissing another female.
But the big breakthrough for US women, regarding their freedom to wear trousers in public, came during World War II, when so many women had to begin working in the defense industry to replace the male workers who had been called to serve in the armed forces. By the war’s end, the ladies were not about to give up the comfort and freedom of movement long pants afforded them. While men may have had mixed feelings about the matter, the silhouettes of fit females in well cut trousers probably helped them cope.
Once women’s trousers and jeans had become commonplace, fashion designers turned their attention to adapting other male apparel for women. The women’s suit for decades consisted of a short or mid length jacket and skirt; pairing the jacket with a pair of pants made a statement in many male dominated boardrooms. The pantsuit is now as common in women’s closets as the business suit is in men’s.
And in 1966, Yves Saint Laurent took on another male bastion by introducing “le smoking,” tuxedos for women meant to replace the evening gown as formal wear. These tuxedos for women were close replicas of gentlemen’s tuxedos, and Saint Laurent intended them to be.
The 1966 YSL tuxedos for women had four button down pockets and were constructed of lightweight black grain de poudre wool. The success of “le smoking” tuxedos for women continued with YSL’s later collections.
Tuxedos for women in the 21st century are more in demand than ever, and fashion houses around the globe have done what they can to accommodate, with tuxedos for women appearing in double breasted, caped, collarless, belted, skirted, or sequined variations. Mini dress tuxedos for women have even made an appearance.
But beneath their stylistic differences, top quality tuxedos for women usually follow the same rules as those for men. They are almost always black, and almost always made of fine lightweight wool worsted.
The appeal of tuxedos for women is obvious. With lines flattering to females of all ages, they look elegant either dressed up or left unadorned. Tuxedos for women can even be worn without a shirt and vest, or simply accessorized with a lapel corsage, strand of pearls, or glittery scarf.
Evening gowns for gentlemen? Probably not as a mainstream phenomenon. But tuxedos for women are here to stay.
Tags: Tuxedos