For centuries, dresses were the only options for a woman. Now, that doesn’t exactly mean all women adhered to this standard, think Joan of Arc. History is filled with women wearing menswear to fight in wars and enter the workforce.

Let’s go all the way back in time to Eastern warriors who rode horse back. High heeled shoes were invented for those men to keep their feet in the stirrups. By the 16th century women had started sporting a high heeled shoe as well. During the 18th century women’s riding attire and redingotes took inspiration from men’s military uniforms as a show of support for male family members. Others like Catherine the Great and Marie Antoinette used menswear as a show of strength. Then came the dress and pant combination which goes all the way back to the mid-1800s when some women rocked the Turkish trouser under a shorter dress. Around the same time the Wigan pit brow girls would roll up their skirts with trousers underneath while working in coal mines. Sadly, these fashion choices were seen as scandalous and not adopted by all women.

The trend of working women wearing pants continued on into the late 1800s when they entered the industrial field. By World War II even more women were forced into working a ‘man’s job’ while the men were off fighting. After the war, women did not want to go back and wore trousers for casual and leisure activities. Celebrities like Katherine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich then made trousers fashionable and a little socially acceptable. By the 1960s, designer jeans, pantsuits and long trousers were fashionable with more women and girls wearing these trends to work, school and out for a night on the town.

Nowadays it is commonplace for women to wear pants, shorts, tank tops, t-shirts, khakis and suits. Let’s check out some trendy menswear inspired womenswear shall we...