Yves Saint Laurent designed in 1966

People's clothes have a huge effect on their image and communicate a lot of detail to members of society. Designers also launch one-of-a-kind clothing models in order to inspire their customers and increase sales. Le Smoking Suit, an outfit modeled by Yves Saint Laurent for women in 1966, is a well-known outfit that has received a lot of popularity in the field of fashion and popular culture.
The ubiquity of 'Le Smoking Suit'
According to analysts, Laurent's smoking suit became iconic due to the materials he used to create it. Notably, the attire above often constituted of a classic dinner jacket in a black grain ‘de Poudre’ or satin with trousers that had side-stripes and a bow tie thus giving the clothing a perfect appearance. Yves' Le Smoking Suit was also females' favorite clothing because it had a unisex structure and allowed women to dress like the males thus making the females feel a sense of empowerment. The unisexual nature of the attire above was due to the combination of a pair of trousers and a jacket, which were prevalently the clothes for the males.

Role of women in 60s

‘Le smoking suit’ also developed and became popular because of the changing role of women in the society. Scholars argue that after the World War II, the world's economy improved and the women began engaging in the production activities thereby dissociating from their initial domestic roles. Also, the women in the society started participating in political activities and wanted to become leaders in the community, which significantly contradicted their initial roles as housekeepers and child bearers. The involvement of women in politics resulted from the formation of various civil rights groups which aimed at the improvement of the welfare of the females.

Yves' influences

Yves was influenced by his mother, who significantly encouraged him in his quest to develop classic attires for the females, to develop the interest of emancipation of the women. Notably, Yves' mother introduced him to fashion, and he developed various sets of clothes as a way of honoring her. The numerous travels Yves made to the countries such as Japan, Morocco, and Russia among others critically influenced him to develop a fashion for the improvement of the welfare of the women in the society. Also, Paris, which is one of the prominent fashion centers in the world, hugely influenced Yves to develop effective and beautiful clothes for the women. Finally, he acquired the interest in the production of unique dresses for the females as a way of helping the women curb the sexual abuses that people directed towards the women.



Conclusion

As discussed in this essay, "Le Smoking Suit" is an attire whose popularity developed due to the nature of the materials and style that Yves utilized to make it. The suit was inspired by both men’s and women’s clothing, which gave it more popularity. Also, the change in the role of women such as the engagement in economic activities and active politics influenced the women to adopt the suit that suddenly became the talk of the town. The concept of the suit is the result of Yves’s in-depth understanding of the women in the popular culture. He was motivated to change the look of the women to empower them for better. His mother and people he meets during his travel to many countries inspired him to come up with such attire that became the epitome of the fashion world.



















Bibliography

Duquette, Suzanne. “Star power – Yves Saint-Laurent.” Mixtemagazine, September 15, 2017.

Fury, Alex. “Style’s strong suit: Women's wear classic.” The Independent, June 19, 2011.

Johnson, Casey Mackenzie. "Yves Saint Laurent." In Fashion Photography Archive. London: Bloomsbury, 2015.

Polan, Brenda. “Yves Saint Laurent: the man who showed women how to dress.” The Telegraph, March 9, 2014.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10684831/Yves-Saint Laurent-the-man-who- showed-women-how-to-dress.html

Tavaana. “The 1960s-70s American Feminist Movement: Breaking down Barriers for Women”, n.d.

https://tavaana.org/en/content/1960s-70s-american-feminist-movement-breaking-down- barriers-women

Weatherford, Doris. 2012. Women in American politics: history and milestones. Los Angeles: SAGE.