Did you know that if you are a woman and if you wore trousers in Paris up to January 31st you were actually breaking the law?
If you’ve ever been lucky enough to visit the city of romance, you can check off “Being a rebel” on your bucket list…
The 214-year-old law, which formally prohibited women from wearing trousers in the French capital has only been revoked since January 31st.
The centuries-old ban dates back to November 1799 and it demanded women to ask police for special permission to “dress as men” in Paris. The other option? It was to risk being arrested.
But us ladies were allowed a little leeway in 1892 with a slight change to the law. It was amended to allow women to wear trousers if “the woman is holding a bicycle handlebar or the reins of a horse.”
Delightful!
The law was kept in place until now despite repeated attempts to repeal it.
In July, one man made the move and, in a public request, Alain Houpert, a senator and member of the conservative UMP party asked the minister to repeal it.
Trés bien Alain, we can now wear pants in Paris…
Somebody tell that woman she can wear pants…
