Annie Hall, or *gasp* Women in Pants!

We grew up in a very traditional household with steadfast rules and regulations about how we could and could not dress. The result was, all five of us girls were required to look like "ladies" when we went to school and we, therefore, had to wear dresses every single day. We also had to stay in our Sunday Best all day long on Sunday's. For me, being the fifth child (and somewhat of a favorite), I took this as a personal challenge to break my Mother of these stringent rules. And by fifth or sixth grade, I was pretty much wearing whatever I wanted to school. (Though the Sunday rule still held fast.)

It is possible I owned this exact same dress. This is exactly how my Mother liked to dress us.

I am pretty sure that as a result of this, I have always been a great lover of pants. And, being a child of the late 70's, I was exposed to some really great fashion trends: corduroy bell-bottoms, stirrup pants, tight Guess jeans with the side zippers on the legs, parachute pants. By the time I really started to make my own fashion choices, I was stuck in a private school with a uniform. And my only recourse was to experiment with accessories. So, I became the girl who wore ties and hats. And since pants with pleats were in style, and so were vests, I comfortably adopted the Annie Hall look as my own.

Now, I know that women wearing mens clothing started much earlier than 1977. I have some really wonderful examples here:

Lauren Bacall, Katherine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich.

More Lauren Bacall. So lovely! This style suits her perfectly!

I love this earlier version on Ginger Rogers, another one of my favorites!

But for some reason, the Annie Hall look remains my favorite. There was something so timeless about Dianne Keaton in that movie! She was quirky, she was her own person, you loved her and hated her at the same time, she was human. And I believe that her wardrobe helped her character express itself better than almost any other costuming choice ever has. Her clothes were perfect and people, designers and starlets have continually tried to copy her ever since. 

Of course, I think it also helped that the movie in and of itself was brilliant. It was Woody Allen's first attempt at trying something with a more serious tone and he himself called it a "major turning point" for him and his career. It went on to win four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Director, Actress and Screenplay. In short, it has become a "classic," and may very well be Woody Allen's best film and most remembered as time goes on. And for that reason, Dianne Keaton's classic androgynous ensemble will always be remembered and imitated.

Ummmmmm, where do I sign up for these?

It doesn't get any better than being copied by the muppets!

The truth is, I haven't donned the baggy pants, vest, tie and floppy hat for quite some time. But after bringing this movie back to mind, I feel the need to rethink my wardrobe. Wearing men's inspired clothes is the most fun a girl could have with two legs and a button up shirt. I really believe that!

While these ladies are all lovely, they are still pale imitations.