The History of Pants and Women Wearing Them

In the past pants have been referred to as breeches, trousers, and trews. Today women can choose from full leg, straight leg, capris, gauchos, jeans, and tailored suits. However, women were far behind men in taking to the tradition of the fashion staple we call pants. 

There is record of 4th Century Persian women wearing pants but that trend did not really catch on or travel to the Western World at that time. The first big rumblings of women wearing pants occurred at the end of the Victorian period. Ladies were getting a bit tired of heavy full skirts, whalebone corsets, cumbersome padding, bustles, and those multi-layered petticoats. Realistically and figuratively the garments were trapping women, keeping them down. Bloomers were soon introduced. Named after feminist advocate Amelia Jenks Bloomer, the outfit consisted of a knee length full skirt worn with full cut trousers underneath. Bloomers did not really become popular. 

The next attempt at bringing pants into the women’s fashion world was with the 1880’s and 1890’s bicycle outfit. Knee length knickerbockers were worn with a split wide skirt and stockings. Knickerbockers, or knickers, are full length breeches with a band just below the knee. The world of fashion tagged this outfit as un-ladylike and it did not become popular, either. 

Then came World War I. Women had to go into the factories to work the jobs of the absent men. They pulled back their hair and pulled off their skirts. Loose pants and pants similar to riding pants became part of the work attire. Lounge pj’s were often worn in the evening. Hollywood put their stamp of approval on pants when Marlene Dietrich donned a pair in the movie Morocco. When World War II began, Rosie the Riveter was seen on posters all over the country wearing overalls.