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17 Pantsuit Outfits You’ll Absolutely Love

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The pantsuit is versatile, stylish, classy, and powerful. They’re an office must and a great option for formal occasions like weddings and even proms when you don’t want to wear a dress. If you’re looking to maximize your comfort in the office, consider these athleisure options you can get away with wearing to work.

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A short history of pantsuits. 

While they didn't become commonly worn until the 1960s, these matching outfits have a long history. The first mention of them was found back in 1865 in advertisements for clothing for boys, but they didn't make the leap to being marketed to femmes until the 1950s. 

It wasn't social acceptable for women to wear pants for a large portion of our recent history and in many cases, it was illegal for them to do so. They experimented with bloomers for a time, but those were to be worn with skirts or dresses. It sounds wild but it took until 1993 for women to be allowed to wear pants on the floor of the US Senate. 

So what changed that the fifties became a time for women to break away from the skirt? World War II. With the men overseas, women were tapped to take over the jobs they left behind and some of these jobs were too dangerous to do while wearing skirts. Femmes began wearing pants and when the men returned from the war, many weren't keen on giving up pants or their chance to work outside the home.

As more and more women fought their way into the workforce, there became more of a demand for feminine clothing that could elicit the same kind of power as a business suit. 

Pantsuits vs suits.

If these outfits are simply a jacket and matching slacks like men's business suits, why isn't it just called a suit? Good question and there isn't a good answer besides: misogyny. 

The only difference is that they're tailored to a more feminine frame but that's it. It comes down to gender politics and the fact that as a society we gender clothing and people traditionally get uncomfortable when men and women wear the same thing. 

When a man wears a suit, it's a suit. When a woman wears the same thing, they need to call it something other than a suit to denote that it's for a lady. It's right there in the terms we use for those two genders: man and woman.

Is this right? Well, no, it's a little silly at best in my opinion. But searching this term is how you're going to find these types of clothes. 

Is all this worth writing about? Try calling a man's suit a "pant suit for men" and see how offended he gets--then you tell me.

Pant suits vs jumpsuits vs rompers vs business suits for women.

Jumpsuits and rompers are generally one-piece outfits, rompers being shorter than jumpsuits. 

Business suits for women are exactly what pant suits are.

Clothing doesn't have a gender.

There's a lot of stuff in here about certain garments being "for" certain genders to give a historical perspective but clothing isn't gendered. Wear what you like and makes you feel confident and my gender-expansive self will be cheering you on.

These are the 17 hottest pantsuit buys to help you feel confident and powerful whether you need pantsuits for business or pleasure.