Sarah Bernhardt - Pantsuit Confidence

The term “pantsuit” has been around since the 1860s, referring to suits worn by young men. This word was coined and used rather than just normal “suits” because the pantsuits came with short pants for boys whereas real suits came with long pants. Up until the mid-20th century, it was a momentous occasion for a boy to get his first pair of long pants. The term “pant-suit” at the time signified that someone who was not a full-grown man would be wearing a suit. People realized that those who were not men could wear suits. One fashion pioneer, Sarah Bernhardt, was a well-known French actress, who starred in many plays during the turn of the century. She performed worldwide and made headlines when she began to publicly wear suits in 1870, which she referred to as her “boy clothes.” Although her suits were tailored to accentuate her feminine curves, her bold fashion statement was clearly still very masculine in its design. At the time, a woman donning a man’s suit was highly unusual and even scandalous. Regular women could be arrested and accused of “transvestitism” if they wore pants in public, but this controversy didn’t keep her from further challenging gender roles – she played the lead in Hamlet in 1899. Bernhardt came from a country that was one of the major fashion powerhouses of the time which lent her choice to wear a suit some credibility as if it were just another trend that originated in Paris and would soon spread around the globe. She continued to push gendered boundaries long after her public suit debut. Soon after, many iconic women began to don this “power suit” and were further popularized by designers including Coco Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent.

Today, suits for women are synonymous with business wear, just as they are for men and their suits. A suit is a symbol of power and influence, and it suggests that the woman wearing it is equal to a man in both status and strength. I also believe that pantsuits evoke the emotion of confidence because the prohibition of a woman wearing pants only made the pantsuit more desirable. These women were tired of being told what they could wear or what they could do and donning a suit was the perfect statement of bold assertiveness. This garment holds personal significance to me because in more recent years, many women in business, politics, and other fields have worn pantsuits to declare equality and state that they too were deserving of the power that males had. Additionally, I adore the idea of wearing pantsuits because I as well many women experience self-perceptions of confidence and respect which help contribute to fulfilling my esteem needs.