Despite hose, long gowns and full-skirted coats remained acceptable and fashionable parts of the male wardrobe until the first half of the 20th century, though their mainstream popularity declined rapidly in the 1800's.
Skirts were effeminized. "Henceforth trousers became the ultimate clothing for men to wear, while women had their essential frivolity forced on them by the dresses and skirts they were expected to wear".
It was only in the 18th Century that men in much of the Western world moved away from skirts, and they became known as a feminine item. Today, though, the skirt is hanging up in the wardrobes of men everywhere – whether Cena stans like it or not.
The Great Male Renunciation (French: Grande Renonciation masculine) is the historical phenomenon at the end of the 18th century in which Western men stopped using brilliant or refined forms in their dress, which were left to women's clothing.
Perhaps to the surprise of modern upholders of certain gender-specific constructs, men have been wearing dresses for centuries. Ancient Romans wore draped togas. Men in the 14th century wore tights under skirts almost daily.
Eventually, more practical child-friendly clothing started to be adopted. (For example garments like rompers that kids could climb and lark about it in.) Then, once boys were old enough to do up the fastenings on pants – or old enough to be sent to work – they were allowed to wear pants instead.
The oldest known trousers, dating to the period between the thirteenth and the tenth centuries BC, were found at the Yanghai cemetery in Turpan, Sinkiang (Tocharia), in present-day western China. Made of wool, the trousers had straight legs and wide crotches and were likely made for horseback riding.
It was in the first quarter of the 20th century when nightgowns gradually went out of style, followed by night robes and nightshirts, and were replaced with what we know as the modern day pyjamas we see today by the mid 20th century.
The floor-length gown became an exclusively feminine item in the early 16th century. From 1530 female costume was composed of the bodice and the skirt or 'kirtle'; the one-piece outfit remained as a long undershift. This form of dressing was worn for ceremonial occasions until the 18th century.
Pants-wearing became an everyday affair in Europe during the eighth century, after the fall of the Roman Empire, "when the continent fell under the rule of warriors who fought from horseback — the knights," Turchin explained. "So wearing pants became associated with high-status men and gradually spread to other males."
Curiously the first 'skirts' were actually worn by men. These simple garments were similar to a wraparound skirt that was belted at the waist, called the Shendyt.
They were only invented to facilitate horseback riding. Both men and women wore roughly the same clothes without them defining the aesthetic standards of their sex. For example, in Ancient Greece, the skirt symbolized virility and youth, as did the kilt in Scotland.
Victorian era boys clothing shared similar characteristics as the girls'. Boys would commonly dress according to their age. They commonly wore knickerbockers as a standard, casual piece of clothing. Young boys wore frocks, blouses, and tunics with pleated skirts up until the age of three or four.
Men wearing skirts is commonplace in certain countries including Fiji, Myanmar and Bhutan. In Greece, it's an integral part of the military dress uniform. However, nowhere has a skirt been of more cultural significance than the Scottish kilt.
And Pitt also isn't the only high-profile skirt-lover in Hollywood as a number of male stars, including Harry Styles and Oscar Isaac, have also recently started incorporating the garment into their red carpet style.
Trousers on Horseback
The first recorded reports of trousers were made by sixth century BC Greek geographers. They noted the appearance of Persian, Eastern and Central Asian horse riders. The comfort they provided from extended periods on horseback made trousers a practical choice.
It wasn't until America entered WWI and women joined the workforce that a demonstrable need for shorter skirts arose. By the 1930's however, hemlines (yes, now an actual term) fell once again, but only for evening dress. Women continued to prefer shorter skirts hemmed just above the ankle for day wear.
As corsets encouraged waistlines to become smaller, hoop skirts got larger and larger. At one point, hoop skirts had a diameter of nearly 6-feet. Worn by both women and girls, hoop skirts were popular both in Victorian England and American high society during most of the 1800s.
Yes, boys can dress in girls' clothes and vice versa. Although society still has some hang-ups on cross-dressing, people fear their children dressing as the opposite gender could be a sign of their sexual orientation or gender identity later in life.
By the Victorian era, the nightshirt had become the standard sleepwear of choice for men, women, and children. They resembled typically men's day shirts of the time with their collars and buttons, only longer.
Nightgowns were handmade during most of the Victorian era and followed the same basic shape. Wealthy women often had lovely lace, ribbon, or embroidery added to the top and/or front. How gorgeous is this nightgown? I love the collar on this proper Victorian nightgown!
The word pajama (as pai jamahs, Paee-jams and variants) is recorded in English use in the first half of the nineteenth century. They did not become a fashion in Britain and the Western world as sleeping attire for men until the Victorian period, from about 1870.
Though they are still worn occasionally into the twenty-first century as an artistic fashion statement or chic sportswear, knickers disappeared from everyday fashion during the 1930s. From the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries, knee breeches or pants were common daily wear for men.
The zipper came into common use for children's clothing and men's trousers in the 1920s and 1930s, but it was not until World War II that the zipper was widely used in North America and Europe.
May 20, 1873 marked an historic day: the birth of the blue jean. It was on that day that Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis obtained a U.S. patent on the process of putting rivets in men's work pants for the very first time.