There’s no shortage of shocking fashion garments — Rudi Gernreich’s bosom-baring monokini, Yves Saint Laurent’s feathered see-through frock, Lady Gaga’s meat dress. But back in 1921, knee-grazing knickers proved to be the controversy du jour. “The adoption of this much discussed article of apparel for the general feminine wardrobe is frowned on by women’s apparel retailers,” wrote WWD on Sept. 1. “They regard the proposal as an absurdity.” William de Lignemac of Hickson’s told the paper, “If Marshall Field won’t let women bob their hair — what are they going to say when their girls come in to work wearing riding breeches? Can you imagine women parading down Fifth Avenue with knickerbockers on? Why don’t they let women wear women’s clothes?” Someone else sniped to WWD, in a telegram no less, “Knickerbockers for the women? Yes, if they care to live on a farm.”
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But not everyone was up in arms. Another page-one article that day noted the growing appeal of those baggy breeches. “The fact is,” said one unnamed manufacturer, “that a number of women who are immediately attracted to the style are prevented from adopting it by their husbands.…Now that knickerbocker suits are especially designed for women, they appear here as less of a radical change.”
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Coverage continued for the rest of the month. On Sept. 6, for instance, the paper reported on the launch of the Chicago Knickerbocker Girls’ Club. “The chief object of the club is to encourage the wearing of these knickers in shops and offices and even at social affairs,” wrote WWD. “[Temporary president] Sally Waldman made the comment that…the girl who wore knickers could ‘become the man’s real pal.’”