The Trend for Mannish Suits in the 1930s

During the 1930s, fashion and popular press periodicals published reports of women’s suits and separates with the structure and styling of traditional menswear, replete with broad shoulders, notched lapels, deeply cuffed trousers, made in masculine fabrics of woolens, flannels, and plaids. The trend, termed ‘mannish,’ opposed the feminine fashions of the previous decades. Analysis of Women’s Wear Daily, The New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, and Vogue revealed factors that contributed to the trend and sartorial components that encompassed the look. The authors contend that the mannish trend begun as a sports style was promoted by Hollywood, couched in the aristocracy of English tailoring and fabrics, and was advocated for by the fashion and popular press