Before the 1940s, women simply did not wear pants as a normal part of their wardrobe. 1930s women’s loungewear included Beach Pyjamas, overalls, culottes and sailor pants, but these were ere only acceptable for at home, sports or holiday activities. Going into the 1940s, loungewear and workwear blended together to create the first decade of women’s trousers (AKA slacks), styled after menswear but with a definite women’s silhouette. In the 1920s, the French fashion designer, Coco Chanel, created trousers for herself, helping her climb into the rocking gondolas in Venice. The forerunner of her legendary yachting pants was born; She used the straight, wide cuts of sailor’s trousers for her yachting pants and introduced accessories like ties for women. Chanel succeeded in what many designers have failed before: To liberate the broad masses of women from strict patriarchal fashion rules.