1976
YVES SAINT LAURENT

Ensemble

Spring/summer 1976 haute couture
Yves Saint Laurent, French, born Algeria, 1936–2008
Jacket of black wool gabardine and black silk satin; pants of black wool gabardine
Gift of Michael Marsh, in memory of Alexandra Kirkland Marsh, 1988 (1988.273.2a, b, f)

2003
VIKTOR & ROLF

Ensemble

Autumn/winter 2003–4
Viktor & Rolf, Dutch, founded 1993
Jacket and trousers of black wool gabardine; shirt of white cotton ottoman
Shirt and trousers: Courtesy Tilda Swinton; jacket: Purchase, Gould Family Foundation Gift, in memory of Jo Copeland, 2011 (2011.163)

The slow evolution toward the acceptance of trousers for women began in 1851, when Amelia Bloomer and her dress reform supporters donned outfits with full Turkish trousers under knee-length skirts. After women began participating in sports in the late nineteenth century, the practice continued to gain gradual acceptance through the first half of the twentieth century. It was not until the late 1960s that pants became widely accepted for all occasions. Yves Saint Laurent brought women’s trousers to the haute couture in 1966, when he introduced “Le Smoking,” a pantsuit designed after men’s formal wear. The designer included a variant of the style in each of his subsequent collections. Presented ten years after his initial design, this example follows the narrow lines of the 1970s.

Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren of Viktor & Rolf are known for their theatrical interpretations of formal menswear for women. Since the 1990s, they have feminized the men’s suit with ornament and cuts traditionally associated with womenswear—ruffles tracing the silhouette, frills blooming from the neckline, bows stitched to the body, and padding inflating the bust. The designers’ autumn/winter 2003 tenth-anniversary collection opened with this suit, designed with a wide, loosely tied collar and broad sloping shoulders revealing the décolletage of the wearer, muse Tilda Swinton.