How Elsie Fisher, Zendaya, And Young Hollywood Are Reclaiming The Pantsuit

By Sara Radin


Though in Bo Burnham's Eighth Grade her character was awarded the school superlative for “most quiet,” if Golden Globe-nominated teen actor Elsie Fisher were given an award in real life, she could be high on today’s list for Hollywood’s best dressed. Wearing a spectrum of suits while in this past awards season, the teenager has donned everything from an all-pink suit by A.L.C. To the Gotham Awards — where she took house the honor for Breakthrough Actor — to a custom maroon velvet Kenzo suit to the Globes, plus a black, three-piece set with piping by Thom Browne with a white button down shirt to the Academy Awards. Then there was the time that her and her IRL BFF Burnham both showed up to the Governor’s Awards wearing modified black suits. She shared a picture of the occasion on her Instagram with the caption, "I’m still just so in love with these outfits…"


Elsie Fisher's awards season looks


Tailoring has been having a major moment from the runways to street fashion, according to Melissa Moylan, creative director at trend forecasting organization Fashion Snoops, however Fisher’s choice is, “a big deal not only because she's one of young Hollywood's most promising stars, nevertheless because she's 15 and showed up at the Oscars in a suit.” Moylan considers it surprising that the actor has already made pantsuits her signature red carpet look at such a young age. While the look has previously been done by actresses like Diane Keaton and Susan Sarandon, there’s something refreshing about a younger person donning such a classic look.


"In today’s day and age, wearing a suit isn't as much about identity as it is about building a statement, especially with the #MeToo movement, ladies are attempting to take the power back," says celebrity stylist Jennifer Moore. According to her, wearing a suit on the red carpet is a strong statement to create for a young woman because it defies expectation.


Traditionally, young female stars have worn puffy or frilly, youthful and feminine dresses to awards shows, subscribing to gendered red carpet customs that have been in place several years. As an example, as soon as we think of past outfits of ingénues, Gwyneth Paltrow’s light pink Ralph Lauren gown in 1999 comes to mind, and also because the blush pink Marchesa gown Hailee Steinfeld wore to the Academy Awards in 2011 if she was 15.


Gwyneth Paltrow in pink Ralph Lauren at the 1999 Oscars; Hailee Steinfeld in a blush-colored Marchesa gown at the 2011 Oscars


Moore says the idea that outfit must be age suitable is no longer relevant to today’s younger generation. "In the past there were stigmas attached to being a young girl nevertheless right now with social media these kids are growing up fast and forming strong suggestions at a younger age." Due to this, there’s no common 15 year old girl. "It's crucial to get the actor's advice and viewpoint [through fashion] as its sets them apart from people who aren’t comfortable expressing themselves however she affirms. Accordingly, the suit doesn’t necessarily signify maturity or an older perspective, it’s right now more about building a statement than it has anything to do with age.


Fisher’s series of suits appears to define something deeper, whether it was intentional or not. Case in point, Ben Barry, Chair of the Style program and a Co-worker Professor of equity, diversity and inclusion at Ryerson University in Toronto, claims that while young girls like Fisher and Awkwafina both wore suited looks to the Oscars, this performative act is actually nothing new.


According to him, while the suit originates from prosperous white European males in the 17th century, "in its most idealized form, it has habitually represented a manifestation of white middle- or upper-class masculinity." Yet, during history, different marginalized groups, particularly girls, have appropriated the look to claim space and embody power. The Smithsonian’s website claims that ladies who participated in a 1913 suffrage parade used clothing, like suit blazers, as one of the equipment to get their message across. Though the initial suits for females did not include pants, the look was deeply embedded with the women’s rights movement, giving way to a new world group in which modern girls could work, and be more outspoken and socially active.


And while Coco Chanel is credited with designing the initial suit for ladies in 1914, it wasn't up until 1932 that designer Marcel Rochas paired a suit jacket with a set of gray wool trousers — sparking the birth of the pantsuit, a term specifically used to denote a suit worn by a woman.


As pantsuits have recently become regarding girls in politics — in 2016 Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s set of eye catching suits sparked an entire cultural movement called the Pantsuit Country, while Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wore a white suit while being sworn into office in January 2019 — in these ways, wearing a suit on the red carpet was not only a bold statement about Fisher’s identity as a woman, yet also an act of defiance against ageist ideas that often plague young female stars like her.


It’s also worth considering the ways in which Fisher might be using the power of the suit to separate herself from the fictional character she portrayed in Eighth Grade by putting forth a message of self-confidence in her own identity through her fashion choices.


As actors can often typecasted in similar roles, wearing a suit sends a message about her as individual — that despite her age and the youthful roles she's previously played, she is an actor who requires to be taken seriously on the merit of her work. By wearing a suit on the red carpet, Fisher, like other young female stars who have worn suits, including Saoirse Ronan, Yara Shahidi, Millie Bobby Brown, Zendaya, and Lorde, all have nodded to the legacy of the powerful ladies that came before them, who also used dress to promote specific messages, while bringing their own refreshing flare to these more mature looks.


In 2017, Shahidi wore a gunmetal silver suit by Camilla and Marc on Larry King Live to talk about the challenges of being a Black actor in Hollywood, including typecasting for POC, and why she doesn’t feel those roles mirror who she is or wants to symbolize. While in the interview, she said the pressure she feels in which everything she does has some kind of message — and her outfit undoubtedly sent one of tenacity and outspokenness.


Lorde, on the other hand, has been praised for her "offbeat" fashion by not after the antiquated style rule book, donning a number of pantsuits and often wearing her hair certainly curly. Which begs the question: as a woman wears a suit, why is it believed unusual or revolutionary?


By taking on a form of dress that has traditionally been thought more masculine, these girls seem to be promoting a message of confidence in who they are and reclaiming the look as a way to challenge outdated gender norms. Barry says that, once younger ladies wear suits, it's a means to push back on the way Hollywood has historically limited the ways ladies are represented in film and the very narrow notions of femininity." In this way, wearing a suit permits ladies to expand cultural ideas of how they’re seen, not just for the general public although for writers, directors and producers, which could ultimately push Hollywood to reimagine how girls do gender in film and in everyday life.


While wearing a suit doesn't mean that a woman is totally abandoning femininity, Barry claims that once ladies pick to wear something different like a pantsuit on the red carpet, it might have a real effect on their careers. As an example, he made the point that maybe Fisher won’t get casted for a more traditionally feminine role. Although, Barry also acknowledges that actors generally recognize the implications of crossing orthodox gender boundaries with their fashion, and make intentional choices about their wardrobe.


Yet Moore believes Fisher would be initial herself up to even more possibilities by donning slacks on the red carpet. "It’s critical for actors to set themselves apart from their roles," she mentioned. Style can open doors for them and show that they’re capable of taking on different things.”


So the next time you visualize a young starlet rocking a pantsuit at an elegant Hollywood event, know that they're making more than a statement — they're making potential career moves.