Yesterday, I conducted an email interview with retired Pittsburgh fashion editor Barbara Cloud. She provided some great perspective on fashion reporting. I asked her about the slow acceptance of women wearing pants. This is what she said:
“I had seen them at shows in NY and when I came home I was asked to be on a local TV show to talk about the new season…I wasn’t trying to shock anyone but I wore a pantsuit.(borrowed from Saks, not my own wardrobe as I didn’t own one yet)

The station received calls and letters…couldn’t believe I would dare wear pants or consider they replaced a dress or skirt. They were upset! Hard to believe.

I remember interviewing Nancy Reagan when her husband was still governor. She said she would never wear pants, “except at the ranch”…one of the editors at our paper saw me in the newsroom wearing a pantsuit and greeted me with “Hi, guy.”

Pants weren’t accepted immediately..and when they were it was specified tops and bottoms had to match, as an outfit, if worn in an office. Employers didn’t give in readily.”

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Yesterday, I conducted an email interview with retired Pittsburgh fashion editor Barbara Cloud. She provided some great perspective on fashion reporting. I asked her about the slow acceptance of women wearing pants. This is what she said:
“I had seen them at shows in NY and when I came home I was asked to be on a local TV show to talk about the new season…I wasn’t trying to shock anyone but I wore a pantsuit.(borrowed from Saks, not my own wardrobe as I didn’t own one yet)

The station received calls and letters…couldn’t believe I would dare wear pants or consider they replaced a dress or skirt. They were upset! Hard to believe.

I remember interviewing Nancy Reagan when her husband was still governor. She said she would never wear pants, “except at the ranch”…one of the editors at our paper saw me in the newsroom wearing a pantsuit and greeted me with “Hi, guy.”

Pants weren’t accepted immediately..and when they were it was specified tops and bottoms had to match, as an outfit, if worn in an office. Employers didn’t give in readily.”

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