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Today, we discuss a hotly requested topic: classic style for women, how it’s different than classic style from men, and why we have not started the Lady’s Gazette.

First of all, one of the reasons we love classic men’s style is that it’s just that — classic. Now, classic, when refers to clothes, typically means a garment or design of an elegant style that is not greatly subject to changes in fashion.

About three times a week we get asked if there is a Lady’s Gazette, why we are not having one, and if we can point people in the right direction, and why we are not covering women’s topic in the first place.

Unfortunately, we can’t and won’t venture to oblige to you. There’s one main reason we don’t cover classic women’s style and five other reasons why you probably will never hear us talk about classic women’s style on this channel or any other.

Let’s start with the main reason: we simply don’t cover women’s style or women’s classic style because it’s simply not our realm of expertise. As a regular follower of the Gentleman’s Gazette, it probably won’t come as a surprise to you that we consider ourselves to be experts in classic style.

However, that just means classic men’s style because we’re clueless about classic women’s style. No, that doesn’t sound quite right. Let’s do that again. Women’s style — in terms of how it evolved, what materials are used, and how it fit is just an entirely different ball game compared to classic men’s style.

Also, the further you go back in time, the last overlap there is between classic men’s and classic women’s garments. On top of that, the Gentleman’s Gazette was born because classic men’s clothing and style was my hobby, and it became my passion.

In my spare time, I would travel to see craftsmen such as tailors and shoemakers, simply to learn more about the garments and the items as well as the craft. We believe there are far more qualified women and men out there who can speak on the subject of women’s clothing and style, and I urge you to seek them out.

That being said, do we know the equivalent channel for women of the Gentleman’s Gazette? Sadly, we don’t, and we’ve never encountered one, but we have a list of YouTubers that can point you in that direction towards the end of the video.

Now that we’ve stated the main reason why we don’t cover classic style for women, let’s dig a little deeper. Frankly, my wife and business partner Teresa and I have gone over this question for years. Together, we’ve come to the conclusion that classic style simply doesn’t work for women in the way that it is for men and there are a few reasons why.

Of course, Teresa and I collaborated on this video because we felt it was important to have the input of a woman who wears women’s attire and who wishes there were more classic items for women. To illustrate what I just said, let’s take a closer look at these two images of the fashion couple powerhouse from the 80s and 90s.

Charles could wear the exact same ensembles today and not look dated in the slightest. It’s a double-breasted suit, by the way, note the long lapel buttonhole and a striped shirt with a larger striped tie and a pocket square that picks up the color of the shirt.

On the other hand, the same cannot be said for Diana who was a fashion icon in her own right in her day. In no way do I mean this to reflect personally on either Charles or Diana, it’s just a really good point to show how differently women’s fashion and men’s fashion has evolved over the course of 30 years.

So why is it that most people from today’s point of view would describe Charles’ outfit as “timeless” and Diana’s as “dated?” First of all, we believe it is because there is no foundational garment in a women’s wardrobe today unlike in menswear where the suit has been a foundational garment for the better of a century, you do not have this clothing piece in women’s wardrobe today.

You may argue that that’s not really true but if you look at, for example, a pair of jeans or khakis or a suit, they’re all very similar for men. It typically is comprised of a pair of pants and a shirt and maybe a jacket.

Most garments that men wear are just a variation on those three things. Now, you might say, what about that dress? Yes, in the 1950s, the dress could have been considered as a foundational garment in a mainstream women’s wardrobe but that is no longer true because there are many women who would never think about wearing a dress or a skirt, for example.

So, aren’t pants a foundational garment for women today? Actually, pants for women weren’t even really acknowledged until the 1930s. Of course, women have lots of choices. They can wear pants, rompers, skirts, dresses, shorts, jumpsuits, and many other things but none of those is foundational.

Because of that, it’s difficult to say what is classic and what isn’t when there’s so much variety and certain fashion periods favor one over the other. The second reason there is no classic style for women is because there was no true golden era of women’s fashion — at least, in my mind.

Unlike in classic men’s fashion where maybe the 1920s and 1930s are considered by many to be the golden era and they build a foundation for the suit the way it looks today you don’t really have a comparably strong decade in women’s wear.

Though just like in menswear, the modern era also started for women in the 1930s. As a result, women’s fashion today is often a mix of styles that appeared in the last 70 to 100 years. To be fair, men’s fashion and trends are likewise often a composition or a mix of what has been around in about the same time frame.

If you want to learn more about the history of the suit and how it evolved through the decades, please check out this in-depth video. That being said, if you stay clear of the extremes in menswear, meaning you avoid five-button jackets with super wide or super skinny lapels, and you go with a medium-wide lapel and maybe two buttons, you’ll have something that won’t look dated throughout the decades which brings us to the next point.

Number three: women’s trends are always much more extreme than men’s trends. Because of that, women’s fashion that is more than 20 years old often looks more vintage or costume because they just went all in into one direction and that, in turn makes it much harder to come to the middle to find a classic look that can be worn throughout the decades.

For example, if Teresa and I go to a vintage store, we can shop for clothes from the same era and hers will always look much more costume, vintage, and very specific to a time period than the stuff that I can find.

So why exactly is that the case? Well, first of all, I think women often wear patterns or certain colors on much larger surface areas. If maybe a floral print is popular in menswear, you can just find it on the tie, not in a suit whereas for women, they would have the pattern printed all over.

On top of that, concepts of fit for women have been much more extreme. Just think about the oversized look for women that you maybe sometimes saw in the 90s or maybe the 80s and that is really absent for men, except maybe looking at the zoot suit but to learn more about that, check out the suit history video.

Now yes, men’s clothing has absolutely also undergone a certain transformation if you compare the Armani blazer from the 80s with the padded shoulders and the wider lapels and the low gorge with a jacket that was slightly longer to for example something in 2020 that is much shorter, cut trimmer, and with no shoulder padding.

There’s certainly a variation that’s visible but comparing it to women’s clothing where you go from super oversized pants to super skinny pants, it’s just a wider spectrum and because of that, it’s less timeless and therefore, not classic.

Furthermore, women’s clothing has mostly been designed to be less practical but more ornamental and it lends itself to just being more extreme. Just think about the corset, for example, or the bustle, or 1950s flounced skirt.

The fourth reason why there’s no classic style for women is that ladies today have a much broader and more varied wardrobe than they used to in 1950s. Men would wear suits to the office and women would wear dresses or skirt sets.

Today, anyone can wear anything but unlike men, women’s clothing options have expanded dramatically in the sense of what garments women can wear and combine according to mainstream culture. Many of those garments originally stem from the menswear realm, just think about the biker or motorcycle jacket, work boots, or a blazer, however, the crossover in the direction from the women’s world to the men’s world is very limited now.

This means that in conventional terms, women have a much broader spectrum to pick from which makes it much harder to pick a classic because trends are generally more short-lived. Last but not least, the average quality in women’s wear is much lower than menswear which makes it much more difficult to find a garment that will actually be able to physically stand the test of time.

No matter if you look at a cashmere sweater, a pair of socks or jeans, generally, the quality level in women’s wear is much lower. So, what does it mean? Well, first of all, it starts with the fabrics.

Oftentimes, women’s fabrics are all polyester or nylon and if you find wool or cotton or cashmere which is something that you typically find more in menswear, then they’re heavily blended. These two materials simply peel more easily, and they attract stains to remain more permanent in the garment and just age more poorly which is a reason why you simply don’t want to wear them for that long.

So that begs the question why is the quality in women’s wear so much lower than in menswear on average? Well, I think it has to do with the expectations and how long it will be worn. Traditionally, there was a fall winter season and the spring-summer season.

Well now, we also have resort season and pre-fall season, and things turn around much more quickly and with the advance of fast fashion there is an interest to produce less expensive garments that can be worn once or twice and then thrown away or donated.

With consumers being happy that they have to pay less for garments than they had to 40 years ago and the ever-changing seasons, there’s simply no reason for manufacturers to invest in quality. Now, at the Gentleman’s Gazette, we’ve always been very focused on high quality items because classic style in itself requires you to have a high-quality garment because what good is a blazer or a suit with a really nice silhouette that peels and is not colorfast? Well, you wouldn’t wear it.

So, in our opinion, these are the reasons why classic style for women doesn’t really work for better or for worse. Now, that’s also the reason why we have zero intentions to create a lady’s gazette. We stay in our lane and focus on classic gentlemen’s style and lifestyle.

Finally, I want to acknowledge that we are not experts in the realm of women’s style or classic women’s style and they’re better channels to look for in that regard. For example, if you’re interested in vintage women’s fashion and fashion history, check out the channel of Karolina Zebrowska.

On the other hand, if you’re more interested in foundational topics such as styling, combining, recognizing quality or fashion history, check out the channel of the French fashion designer Justine Leconte.

To my knowledge, French fashion is often considered to be more effortless and therefore classic and so, Justine’s take is particularly valuable if you’re more interested in quality and the classic side of things.

Last but not least, if you want to be inspired as a woman and how you can incorporate classic men’s clothes into your wardrobe, I suggest you check out Sonya Glyn from Sartorial Talks. She does a fantastic job of wearing classic men’s suits but with a very feminine note that really suits her style.

There is also a book about classic style for women called Ladies and it’s authored by Claudia Piras and Bernhard Roetzel who himself is well known for writing the book The Gentleman. If you look at the original editions, they very much look alike.

The content is very similar, but the Gentleman’s version has been translated into many languages and has been republished in many different editions, whereas the Ladies’ version is still from 2003. You can check it out, some things may look a bit more dated than what you would expect from a classic women’s style, at the same time, there may be one thing or the other that works for you and that you would enjoy.

In today’s video, I’m wearing a very classic men’s style outfit. It consists of a navy-blue suit with a medium white lapel, two buttons and flap pockets in a fabric that is neither too thin nor too thick.

I could have easily worn it 30 or 40 years ago and it doesn’t look dated today. My shirt is a Winchester shirt with a club collar that is rounded and blue and white stripes. I’m combining it with a vintage tie that is orange, and it has small micropatterns on it.

Just like Prince Charles, I added a pocket square that picks up the white color of my shirt. My pants match the jacket which is why it is a suit. My cufflinks are gold with amber, they’re probably 50 or 60 years old but I don’t look dated and I’m pairing it with a yellow citrine ring in yellow gold.

Likewise vintage but doesn’t look really dated at all. For my shoes, I chose a black pair of leather half brogue oxfords which work with the suit and to provide a bit of contrast between the pants and the shoes, I wore a pair of two-tone solid socks from Fort Belvedere which have a kind of whitish and navy-blue tone to them.

They have a nice sheen, they provide contrast, you have to tie everything together without standing out too much.