Power plays and proportions
Suiting up for 2025
The moments I’ve considered wearing a tie are few and far between — now in 2024, as a cater waiter in 2015, and during a very intense Avril Lavigne phase when I was eight. Ties may not scream innovation in the world of fashion, but their recent resurgence in streetwear, styled casually and worn by everyone (men, women, and everyone in between), is hard to ignore.
So — ties are the trend. But why? To answer this, I started looking into the history (and current state) of women’s suiting.
Yes, practical menswear — suits, ties, trousers — is likely a smart investment and will always be socially acceptable attire. However, menswear as a trend within womenswear tends to carry significant cultural and social meaning (historically, at least). It often rises to prominence during periods when women are either rejecting traditional gender ideals or entering the workforce in greater numbers.
Here’s a brief history of women’s suiting (at least in North America and Europe):
During World War I (1914–1918), with men off at war, women stepped into jobs in factories and offices, which made practical, tailored clothing a necessity.
In the 1920s, Coco Chanel changed women’s fashion forever by offering alternatives to restrictive corsets. Her jersey suits, with their straight skirts and structured jackets, coincided with a period when upper-class women were increasingly “allowed” to embrace more relaxed clothing.
Marlene Dietrich and the influence of Hollywood gave us a lasting image of women in trousers and tuxedo suits — challenging the typical image of femininity at the time.
World War II (1939–1945) brought fabric rationing and a need for utilitarian clothing, where tailored skirts and blazers became go-to staples for working women.
Then came Yves Saint Laurent’s Le Smoking tuxedo suit in 1966. It was the first tailored tuxedo designed specifically for women and epitomized the rise of androgynous fashion. I like to think of it as a rejection of the hyper-feminine aesthetics that had dominated the 1950s.
The power suit of the 1980s, with its broad shoulders and sharp tailoring, was popularized by designers like Giorgio Armani. This suit became synonymous with women carving out authority in male-dominated corporate spaces. One of my favorite moments from this era is how designers and retailers lost millions trying to revive a bow-filled, coquette-ish trend—only for women to flat-out reject it. (I wrote more about that moment here.)
In the 1990s, designers like Calvin Klein and Jil Sander gave us understated suits with clean lines and neutral palettes. Often, these pieces were paired with casual elements like cashmere sweaters, silk singlets, and denim, creating a more relaxed approach to tailoring.
From 2010 to 2014, the suit got cute! (I stole that phrase from a 2014 WWD article.) Millennials infamously turned officewear into clubwear. Think: cropped and colourful blazers, floral patterns, sock buns, and pencil skirts — but instead of a boardroom, you were at a college bar.
And of course, it’s not like we haven’t seen a suit since 2014 (what is Sophia Amoruso wearing on the cover of #Girlboss?) (Yes, I’m referencing this ironically). However, based on the data I could track down, women’s suits have been growing in interest over the past ten years.
Yes, suits are seeing a slight resurgence on the runways, but the real momentum seems to be driven by consumer interest. Historically, suits tend to gain popularity during periods when women are making significant economic advancements.
But what does increased interest in traditional business attire and menswear (like the ties) within women’s fashion signify in today’s context? I have a few theories.
An alternative to coquette aesthetics: This could signal a rejection or countertrend to the bows and ultra-feminine coquette/ballet/cottagecore trends that dominated since 2020.
Workplace propaganda: Is this a subtle nudge to lure us back to the office? Or, more logically, meerly reflecting our practical need for suiting as workplaces edit their covid era wfh policies.
Romanticizing the office: With remote work still prevalent, the mass of early-to-mid 20-somethings who have only worked in a wfh corporate environment are romanticising the office lives that they have never gotten to experience. (This is also the leading theory behind the office siren trend from earlier this year.)
Cultural divides: As tradwife aesthetics gain traction and influence certain cultural and political narratives, perhaps the rest of us are doubling down on our workplace relevance via suiting — holding down the feminist fort, one might say.
Trend saturation: Have we reached a point where trends have lost specificity? Instead of following a singular movement, we might just be seeing a broader interest in fashion as a whole.
So, what’s next for women’s suiting? I wouldn’t be surprised to see a further shift towards masculine and androgynous dressing (mainstream, subcultures are always going to do their thing) given the current political climate. There’s obviously still the ongoing need for women to be taken seriously — a sentiment reinforced by the results of the last U.S. election, which reminded us that we’re not as culturally advanced in this regard as we might have hoped. And second, on a lighter note, we seem to be moving away from the hyper-feminine coquette aesthetics that have dominated the past few years. With that said, I’m feeling inspired to thrift and style a tie myself soon. (And who knows, maybe I’ll even share the results here.)
And that’s all for now! 2025 trend predictions are coming sooooon 🔮💜
Side note — but here is the post from yesterday that got me thinking about suits and ties (in addition to the saint laurent spring summer 2025 collection):
I second this revival as a counter trad-wife approach... more women in menswear!!
Lest we forget about the Chloè Coconut Brown double breasted dream suit 📈📈📈