The Age Old Suit

My fascination with a tailed suit in women's wear had me curious where it all began. I took it upon myself to look up a brief history of the suit, to see how it effects trends today.

When I think of the history of the suit, my mind immediately goes to the roaring 20's. Although suits and breaking gender norms dates well before the 1900's, we will start our history with the 20's.

This era was all about having wealth and showing it off. This called for extravagant dresses, elaborate suits, and key accessories. Men's pants were high waited with a slim fit. In my opinion the style of the 20's effect modern-day influencers more than what's realized. The boyish nature of the flappers? the fit of trousers? The need to show off labels, brands, and wealth?

That being said, in the 1920's, Coco Chanel introduced her suit; although the jacket was collarless and almost always paired with a skirt, the revolutionary design influenced women worldwide, and still does. Below, you will find a display I helped created as a Visual Merchandiser at Forever 21.

The name of this shop was "Coco". It was a mixture of Coco Chanel and Cher from Clueless.

The idea of a classy, business causal women was the look Forever 21 was going for last winter. In this display, there were tailed jackets and pants, antique patterns, and feminine colors all inspired by Chanel and Cher.

As the century continued and wars out broke, wool and tweed was replaced with rain due to the focus shifting from "best dressed" to "most practical".

Women began wearing pants for leisure actives and - depending on occupation - the work force. In the Latino community, there were women called "pachucas". This divergent

group of minorities rebelliously wore zoot suits in their everyday lives. They were some of the first feminists who rejected the idea that women should only be mothers and wives. Thus, they associated themselves with male gangs and dressed the part.

To the right you will see a perfect example of young latino women in the late 30's. The baggy comfortable clothing helped them break out of gender norms of dresses and heels.

Trends of the 40's and 50's echoes into the 60's. Everything was slim and sleek (that is until the hippie movement later on) women constantly battled norms. They wore suits to red carpet events, court dates, funerals, and caught attention every time. Brands like Yves Saint Laurent and André Courrèges designed collections for women who enjoyed the suit look. This included tuxedos, smoking suits, minimal pantsuits, and everyday wear.

In the 80's and 90's, women wore suits to high end events while men wore them more casually to work, to events, even to coffee shops.

The "power suit" was styled by men men like Giorgio Armani, and worn by men on Wall Street. The double breasted jackets and crisp pleases were signs of a serious business man. While suits of the 90's were baggy and ill fitting they still resembled the basics of the classic 80's suits.

There were so many suit trends between 1900's and now that I cannot mention them all. I do know every trend from the past has effected how we dress today. It is interesting to see how influencers can take their inspiration from both men and women of the past. This goes to prove that fashion echos thought time: nothing ever really dies.