As we celebrated the ESMOD Fashion Business graduation, the school’s
Heritage department pointed us in the direction of an example of women’s
workwear that hasn’t always been feminist: the suit. We asked fashion
historian Xavier Chaumette, author of the book Le Tailleur, un vêtement-
message published by Syros and the earlier Le Costume Tailleur published by
ESMOD Editions, among others, to talk us through this archetypal ladies’
workwear— a meaningful part of the creative history of fashion that also tells a
story of social and societal development.
Planet ESMOD: When and why did you start looking into the suit issue?
Xavier Chaumette: This book was written in the early 1990s, when the suit was still
popular but was starting to show signs of decline. The suit experienced a real
comeback in the 1980s in a way that was both quite dated and at the same time
innovative. Then in the early 90s it became a somewhat conservative uniform. The
fashion world began to look for other forms of urban workwear that would offer
greater freedom of movement. The jacket remained but without the suit trousers.
P. E.: How did this book take a different approach to the history of fashion?
X. C.: I focused on women and how, from the late-19 th century onwards, they had
been able to use the men’s jacket to emancipate themselves, despite still
experiencing complete social and legislative confinement! The jacket helped to
liberate them. There were still limits, of course, such as the trousers, which would
only gradually be introduced from the 1920s onwards, and even then for a few avant-
garde women only. The jacket didn’t really become part of every woman’s wardrobe
for that matter until the late 1960s. The original suit was therefore a skirt version.
P. E.: Why is the suit so important?
X. C.: The suit is a wonderful frame of reference for understanding the history of
women and of our societies. This highly innovative and disruptive garment in the
early-20 th century, for example, would become ultra-conventional in the 1930s, with
women even wearing it to mass! The suit had come to conform to a democratic
reality, but women who wore them came to convey conservative values. Meaning
that, over the course of a century, the suit had come to embody two completely
opposing images of a woman.
P. E.: What place does the suit hold in today’s society?
X. C.: Just like its male counterpart, the ladies’ suit has been seen as a somewhat
conventional uniform since the early 1990s. Do we really want to be subjected to this
garment, and if so, why? It’s both an unremarkable, formal and slightly old-fashioned
garment, in the case of the skirt suit, and a positive thing in the case of the trouser
suit. And the gap between these two poles of femininity continues to widen. That
said, creative luxury brands are trying to bring the skirt suit back into fashion,
although I’m not sure they’re having much success. On the contrary, images of the
trouser suit such as those created by Yves Saint Laurent with photographer Helmut
Newton, and snapshots of Marlene Dietrich dressed as a man, continue to fuel its
avant-garde vibe; this is the ‘liberation’ suit, with an intellectual touch. It’s ultra-
positive and interesting. The skirt suit as women were forced to wear it is still
somewhat conventional.
“The suit is a wonderful frame of reference for understanding the history of
women and of our societies”—Xavier Chaumette
P. E.: What made this suit so inflammatory in its early days?
X. C.: The suit generally represented the idea of a neutral, unadorned garment that
contrasted with the highly elaborate designs of the late-19 th century. It also
represented a merging of the genders. The suit that was originally made by men, at
men’s tailors, was suddenly being adopted by women, and in appropriating it, women
also gained access to the freedom that men had, to the ability to go out into the
world, the ability to work, etc. The suit therefore came to represent some extremely
important social and democratic values, taking women’s clothing into the modern
world.
P. E.: What values are you referring to, specifically?
X. C.: The suit helped establish a sort of egalitarianism between women in that it
enabled those from the provinces and from less privileged social classes to look just
as good as more affluent Parisian women. A bit like jeans did later on. The suit was a
democratic uniform, which wealthy women didn’t always agree with, so the haute
couture sector quickly appropriated the suit. For women who could travel, it was still
more practical to wear a suit than a dress with a bustle or a complex parlour attire.
The suit, and even couture versions thereof, erased social differences; it created a
blurred picture of social representation, which came as a great shock to the ladies of
high society of the time.
The notion of opening or removing a jacket and revealing bust in public was simply
not the done thing at the time. It was not considered acceptable. The coats and
visites of the late-19 th century were uncomfortable and heavy but dignified; the
buttons weren’t visible and they would never be taken off outside. Lots of faux suits
then started to emerge at the turn of the century in the form of dresses that created a
visual illusion of a suit. The men’s suit jacket, like men’s coats, conversely, showed
women that they could wear several layers of clothing and remove them as they saw
fit, depending on their mood or the temperature.
Another gripe in the early-20 th century was that suits were too simple, requiring less
work than late-19 th century fashion, as if tolling the death knell of embroiderers,
lacemakers, featherworkers, etc. This resulted in it being largely blamed for the
imminent collapse of the French fashion economy!
P. E.: In today’s world, and where ESMOD alumni are concerned, for example,
the neutrality of the suit still plays a key role in the process of finding a job,
doesn't it?
X. C.: These days you might opt instead for a different type of outfit for an interview
with HR, for example, without going down the evening wear route or choosing
anything overly fancy or elaborate. More comfortable knitwear or at least a more
modern look than the conventional suit that is inevitably seen as the typical work
uniform. Like the ones worn by air stewardesses—and many airlines are even
removing the jackets from their uniforms these days—and hostesses in the hospitality
industry, at trade shows, etc.
Whereas the trouser suit is possibly too decorous, I think. It’s an act of courage
bordering on bravery in the context of a job search, I’d say.
Reading list:
Le Costume Tailleur - La Culture Vestimentaire en France aux XIXème et
XXème Siècles by Xavier Chaumette, published by ESMOD Editions.
Le Tailleur. Un vêtement-message, by fashion historian Xavier Chaumette and
archivist Emmanuelle Montet, published by Editions Syros Alternatives, Droit
Fil collection.
