Women did not always wear pants
January 30, 2012 in Latest News by Intl Team Leader
Harriet Quimby flight suit (photo courtesy of G.B. Koontz)
In today’s Western World, if you look around, you will probably notice that a vast majority of women wear pants. Well, in fact, the odds are that you don’t even notice anymore as women wearing pants has become the norm.
It wasn’t always that way. In the early 1900s, women’s fashion seemed to be designed to inhibit movement. Long shirts dragged down to the floor while corsets limited mid-body movements. Piloting airplanes in these outfits was obviously a challenge.
Harriet Quimby was a fashionable lady who, as ladies did, wore dresses and skirts in her everyday life. The pilot in her needed practical clothing when she flew so she designed her famous and iconic purple flight suit herself. Did you know that the intricate design allows a switch from skirt to pants?
She was not the only early aviatrix to face the challenge. Hélène Dutrieu, the first woman seaplane pilot, opted to simply wear pants. Pioneer women pilots had a substantial impact on women fashion.
Barbara Ganson
Barbara Ganson, an aviation history professor at Florida Atlantic University, a museum trustee of the International Women’s Air and Space Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, and a pilot, will present “Fashions of Pioneer Women Aviators in the United States” in the morning of March 10, 2012, at the Headcorn Aerodrome, U.K.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to understand the far reaching impact that the pioneer Women Of Aviation had on society at large. Make sure to arrive at the Headcorn Aerodrome before 10 AM, local time, to enjoy this great presentation.
What’s more? Barbara will have an actual replica of Harriet Quimby flight suit on hand.
