One of the notable features of the classic American look, often called "preppy," is that women have often had the habit of appropriating men's clothing to wear as their own. One of the best examples of this tendency are Brooks Brothers oxford cloth shirts, especially in the color pink. In August 1949, Brooks Brothers introduced their pink oxford cloth button-down collar shirt for women. The reason was, as legend has it, that women had been visiting the Madison Avenue Brooks Brothers store for years to buy men's and boys' shirts in the pink color. This was not the first time that women had come to Brooks Brothers in search of clothing. They had been buying Polo Coats since the 1920s and Shetland wool sweaters for years, especially after 1938 and the introduction of a wider range of colors. The introduction of an oxford cloth shirt designed for women was probably also a shrewd business move to bring more customers, male and female into the Brooks Brothers fold.
The news of this new shirt seems to have made quite a stir in the public press at the time, as the announcement of the shirt was taken up several times in well-known publications. The initial announcement in the public press (the earliest I have seen) was made in The New York Times on 10 August 1949 in an article titled, "Tale of the Shirt That Turned Feminine; Girls Force Brooks Brothers Into New Line." John C. Wood, Brooks Brothers' president at the time, made the initial confirmation about the new shirt line, and while enthusiastic, "made it clear that there had been no revolution at Madison and Forty-fourth Street and that it was really still a man's world."The New York Times article stated that the pink shirt for women would go on sale at Brooks Brothers from 12 August 1949 (Friday).
Brooks Brothers' pink oxford cloth was a very particular shade of pink, not too bright, and not exactly a dusty rose sort of color either. John C. Wood addressed the issue of this very particular shade of pink in a piece that appeared in The New Yorker ("For Women Only" 9/17/1949), stating, "The cloth is of Egyptian cotton, woven for us at a mill in Wauregan, Connecticut. It's yarn-dyed, not cloth dyed. In the beginning, it took our mill two or three years to develop the exact shade of pink we wanted. When the war came, we had to discontinue the shirt, and afterward it took a long time to work our way back to the proper shade. For a year or so after the war our pink shirt was just a trifle too pink. We were very much concerned." The war had brought a halt to much civilian production, and also disrupted Brooks Brothers' importation of goods from Great Britain. The redevelopment of the color pink after the war can be understood as a part of postwar economic recovery, and it is within that early postwar period that the pink oxford cloth shirt for women was developed.
After the reintroduction of the men's pink shirt after the war, Brooks Brothers took notice of the fact that many of their shirts were being purchased and worn by women. Brooks Brothers' men's shirts had been designed to be worn with a coat and tie, tucked into trousers that sat at the natural waistline, and had not been designed for women. Woods again stated, "I asked the people at Vogue if they would be interested in designing a pink shirt especially for women, and they were crazy about the idea. Vogue is entitled to all the credit for the design." The New Yorker article (9/17/1949) went on to state that "the collar on the shirt for women was unchanged, the body of the shirt is - ah - fuller , and the tail is shorter. The shirt is intended to be worn with the collar open, and the button on the points of the collar, having to tie to hold in place, must be regarded as decorative. The tail is to be kept tucked in."
In addition to the above press, there was also another 1949 article titled "Girl in the Brooks Bros. Shirt," with a photograph of a sleeping woman using a pink Brooks Brothers as a nightshirt (below). However, I'm not sure of the source of that article (whether it is from a newspaper or a magazine). The excellent blog Die Workwear has written about it here, mentioning that a framed copy of the article hangs in the London Brooks Brothers store.
Though Woods stated that the design of the shirt had been made for women by Vogue, the shirttails still contained the same gussets as the men's version at the time, as can be seen on the model in the image above.
(The New York Times 8/22/1949). In addition to articles introducing the new shirt, the first advertisement of the new shirt seems to have been in The New York Times, which plays up the design by Vogue and advertises the Vogue "College Issue." What is significant is that, though designed by Vogue, the shirt remained a firmly Brooks Brothers product, made in the same factory that produced their men's shirts. Though pink garnered all of the press, the advertisement also offers the shirt for women in other solid colors and stripes, a not insignificant thing suggesting that Brooks Brothers was further positioning itself in the women's clothing market.
The shirt also appeared on the cover of the 29 August 1949 edition of LIFE magazine, which also ran a feature on college fashions.
The shirt appeared only on the cover of the magazine, and showed the collar design at the time, which was reportedly the same as the collar on the men's shirt.
This shirt had longer and better collar points than many later women's shirts, which tended to shorten the collar points as they had no real function of holding ties in place.
(The New Yorker 10/15/1949). Two months after its initial introduction, Brooks Brothers returned to their advertising of the pink shirt for women in an advertisement in The New Yorker. According to the advertisement, the introduction of a pink oxford cloth shirt for women had spawned imitations. Brooks Brothers' assertion of the superiority of their shirt was based upon its history as a shirtmaker. Brooks Brothers knew how to make a men's dress shirt and that same craftsmanship was extended to women's shirts.
(The New Yorker 11/28/1953). In 1953, Brooks Brothers introduced their easy-care Dacron and cotton oxford cloth blend called "Brooksweave," a forward looking step into a new market for easy-care clothing. Easy-care women's oxford cloth shirts were also offered in the Brooksweave blend in white, pink, yellow and blue.
(The New Yorker 11/30/1957). Brooks Brothers continued to offer their 'own make' button-down collar shirts for women in both oxford and broadcloth in a variety of all-cotton colors and stripes.
When Brooks Brothers introduced the shirt for women in 1949 there was some question about whether this might not have been a move to begin offering more garments for women. The New Yorker reported that Brooks Brothers, "finally bowing to force majeure, consented to turn out a line for women only." However, John C. Wood was emphatic that Brooks Brothers was not changing, stating, "To be perfectly frank, whenever we contemplate changing anything around here, a perceptible shudder goes through the store. In the end, after months of soul-searching, we resolved to risk a restyled pink shirt for women but never to restyle anything else for women. We are definitely not in the women's-clothing business. Thus far shall we go, and no farther" (TNY 9/17/1949).
Of course, Brooks Brothers continued to go further by restyling and offering clothing for women, so much so that it became a significant aspect of the clothier's offerings. In the fall of 1951, the company restyled their men's raglan-sleeved poplin raincoat to fit women, and in the spring of 1952 introduced a line of Bermuda shorts for women. About this trend, The New York Times reported, "Even when clothes are not scaled for them, the women are undeterred. Men's shirts of beach toweling and of Indian madras don't seem to stay in stock in small sizes. Neither do flannel robes or knee socks. The scarf buyer has brought in Liberty silk squares as a special concession. Even the windbreakers are not safe. As usual, the ladies are having the last words" (The New York Times 8/30/1956). Of course, all of this culminated in the creation of a women's department in 1976.
The 17 September 1949 New Yorker article ended with the following paragraph, "Quitting Mr. Wood, we paid a call on the women's-pink-shirt counter, which is on the ground floor, right along side women's sweaters. One of the salesmen on duty, a kind faced patriarch, assured us that the pink shirt for women is the biggest thing that has hit Brooks in the present century. There have been no complaints from male customers to date, he told us, and no apparent increase in the number of women in the store. 'The men have been doing the buying for the ladies', he said. 'Some men come in and buy male and female shirts. That way, everybody's kept happy'." This, of course, also suggested that the introduction of the pink oxford cloth shirt for women was helping increase the sale of shirts for men. It also suggests that the pink shirt for women may have had a lot to do with the craze for pink that swept menswear in the following decade.
Of course, over the years Brooks Brothers continued to offer solid pink oxford cloth shirts for men, as well as in a variety of stripes.
An old 'Makers' pink bold stripe oxford cloth button-down with a medium grey Shetland wool sweater. Some color combinations just hit it off.
As the decades moved on, Brooks Brothers continued to offer shirts for men and women in pink and a variety of pink stripes (shown here in all-cotton with a Brooksweave blend on the very bottom). If the 17 September 1949 New Yorker article is to be believed, in addition to women arriving at Brooks Brothers, more men also seemed to have arrived at Brooks Brothers to buy shirts for both themselves, as well as for women. What started as a trend by women to purchase men's shirts at Brooks Brothers perhaps led to more men than ever purchasing the coveted pink shirt. Though women were having the last word by continuing to appropriate men's clothing, perhaps men owe women a word of thanks for making Brooks Brothers oxford cloth shirts more popular than ever. To borrow the words of that kind faced patrician Brooks Brothers' salesman, "That way, everybody's kept happy."
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In 1949 Brooks Brothers introduced the pink oxford cloth button down shirt for women. Legend has it that women had been invading the Madison Avenue Brooks Brothers store for years to buy men's and boys' shirts in the pink color. The introduction of the shirt seems to have made quite a stir in the public press as the introduction of the shirt was taken up in several well-known publications.
Clik here to view.
In 1949 Brooks Brothers introduced the pink oxford cloth button down shirt for women. Legend has it that women had been invading the Madison Avenue Brooks Brothers store for years to buy men's and boys' shirts in the pink color. The introduction of the shirt seems to have made quite a stir in the public press as the introduction of the shirt was taken up in several well-known publications. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.![]()
Clik here to view.