fashion design Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...

, "boyfriend" is a style of women's

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

that draws heavily from corresponding men's garments. Boyfriend-style clothes are designed to be looser or boxier and tend to be oversized — giving the appearance that one is wearing their boyfriend's clothing. The style can be traced back to the 1960s, when

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

wore her boyfriend's loosely-fitting

jeans Jeans are a type of pants or trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with copper-riveted pockets which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and paten ...

that highly contrasted with her feminine looks in favor of a masculine aesthetic. Modern boyfriend-style clothes are often designed to look

unisex Unisex is an adjective indicating something is not sex-specific, i.e. is suitable for any type of sex. The term can also mean gender-blindness or gender neutrality. The term 'unisex' was coined as a neologism in the 1960s and was used fairly inf ...

and fit most women. As the trend continues to grow, many brands such as Gap,

Forever 21 Forever 21 is a multinational fast fashion retailer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. Originally founded as the store Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984,Forever 21History & Facts, n.d. Retrieved 27 April 2014 ...

, H&M, and

Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland the United Arab Emirates, Kuw ...

, have created boyfriend or men's-inspired fashion targeted at female consumers.

Background of women in menswear

In the

19th century The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolis ...

, women's fashion within

Western society Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...

typically consisted of dresses, skirts, and corsets. Amelia Bloomer, a women's rights activist in the 1850s, was one of the first to change mainstream womenswear when she introduced the bloomer. In the 1930s, movie stars such as

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...

and

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

sometimes wore menswear-style fashion. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, masculine attire became more acceptable as womenswear, especially as more women took on jobs that require physical labor. After the end of the war, many women returned to more feminine forms of dressing. It was not until the 1960s and early 1970s that menswear-inspired fashion was no longer considered a rebellious political statement.

In current fashion

Currently, the boyfriend style is gaining popularity, with many online retailers selling various garments in the style. Urban Outfitters, a popular clothing store for women, has many boyfriend-style clothing options that are becoming increasingly popular.

References

{{Reflist 2000s fashion 2010s fashion 2020s fashion Fashion aesthetics