Katherine Hepburn and the Tomboys Who Followed
It’s hard to open a fashion magazine or celebrity rag this year without reading tomboy-this or boyfriend cut-that. Twenty years ago, however, or even five, the word tomboy, both as a noun and an adjective, was—let’s face it—as outré as “girl power” is today. In fact, throughout the twentieth century, the mass marketing of gender stereotypes—Barbie being the perfect example—meant tomboys cropped up in only small numbers against the odds, trends, and ads. Not so anymore: casual menswear-infused fashions for women have positively exploded into the mainstream under the helm of designers and stylists ranging from J. Crew to Rag & Bone, creating a mass acceptance of both the word tomboy and the women associated with it.
We’re not just talking style—it’s important to understand that being a tomboy isn’t something you can accomplish by wearing a pair of your boyfriend’s Levi’s down Robertson Boulevard. It goes far beyond fashion. True tomboys are measured in equal parts wardrobe and spirit. They are adventurous, confident, independent, rebellious, and ballsy. Katherine Hepburn, perhaps the tomboy of all tomboys, famously told Barbara Walters in 1981, “I’ve just done what I’ve damn well wanted to and I’ve made enough money to support myself and I ain’t afraid of being alone.” This from the woman who wore pants at a time when it was a serious sartorial crime for women to do so. Indeed, if it weren’t for Hepburn, who also breathed life into the onscreen tomboy of all tomboys, Jo Marsh of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, those basking in the gleam of how damn cool it is to wear plaid and rock the fedora wouldn’t be doing so today.
And where Hepburn epitomized the cross-section of tomboy look and spirit, Marlene Dietrich used it to expand society’s definition of femininity. She sauntered around Paris in a man’s tuxedo some 80 years ago. Far from suggesting male or transvestite traits, she reset the bar for women while still being sought after by men. In fact, seminal macho man John Wayne called Dietrich “the most intriguing woman I’ve ever known.”
Today the gamut of true contemporary tomboys runs wide—socialites, actresses, rockers, and models all want in on the action. But only those who take their queues from the legends and simultaneously embody the look and soul of the tomboy can actually pull it off. Witness Vogue fashion icon and writer Lesley M. M. Blume, who recently wore a Dietrich-inspired tailored tux to the Frick Ball in New York City. “I’ve rarely felt as glamorous… I doubt the most elaborate Oscar de la Renta ballgown could have had the same effect. I can’t explain the calm of it, sailing around in tails amidst a sea of satin dresses. And yet, it still felt distinctly feminine—albeit a stranger, more extravagant version of femininity,” she told TomboyStyle.
Kristen Stewart, the anti-starlet of the Twilight saga is also unfussy and sexy—and just headlined the film The Runaways as iconic rocker Joan Jett, who once said “I grew up in a world that told girls they couldn’t play rock ‘n’ roll.” Ditto British model Agyness Deyn, who cut her hair short when she was only 13, then became a skinhead when she was 17.
Yes, today even the word itself—which society used to employ pejoratively—has taken on aspirational meaning. Not only are girls and women embracing the idea of the tomboy, but they’re reaching for it, even the unlikeliest of them all, Paris Hilton, has proclaimed she is one. Undoubtedly, as society ventures into deeper definitions of style and femininity, so too the tomboy will evolve.
Then again both fashion and tomboys are known for their fleeting personalities.
Photo of Lesley M. M. Blume by Katie Fischer.
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I remember seeing an old Katherine Hepburn movie in which she wore pants, and being utterly repulsed by it. It was so out of place, so unfeminine, so WRONG! Before I even knew what ideologies she stood for, the impression I received from that moment made me dislike her intensely – it was something innate, and it came from the simple fact that she was wearing PANTS during the “Golden Age” of Hollywood, when actresses in Hollywood were supposed to be “glamorous” and ladylike. What is it about our society, that is DESPERATELY trying to take things that are utterly unnatural and force people to think they are “normal”?
Carrie, I agree with your distaste for pants on females. However, I wonder how many of the same females who wear pants, even to the point of owning NO skirts and dresses, would be upset if a male wore what is seen as feminine? Some of these feminists have a two-faces set of rules for male and female.
Carrie, what you have said is music to my ears!!!! If I ever meet you, I will be so happy I’ll greet you with a hug hello(your letter is so right on you are too good a person to shake hands with).
And now the rebel wears skirts amongst a sea of jeans and shorts … You really have to be strong to go against the tide … and yet the strength of someone like Katherine Hepburn or Marlene Dietrich, is not the same type of strength that someone has to have to dress femininely in a culture that hates real womanhood.
Lisa, I couldn’t have said it better myself! Keep doing what you’re doing! As some put it, you’re alright with me!
There is something to be said for contrast. If you wear black and white the white looks brighter. Well, when a woman who is very feminine throws in a masculine cut garment it highlights the femininity of everything else.
Hepburn wore her hair down in big flattering waves that framed her face. She was also very smart with the make-up. When you looked at her you never doubted for a moment that she was female regardless of if she was wearing pants or a suit jacket.
I think there is a big difference between completely rejecting ones femininity and throwing in bits and pieces of the masculine for the sake of contrast and visual appeal.
As a male born in1975, I, for lack of a better term, “think old” when it comes to pants on women. I even find leggings, which are pants passing(at least in some people’s minds) as not(and often not even then). Oddly, some of the very females who like wearing pants, even to the point of owning ZERO skirts and dresses are quick to have a problem with males so much as dressing up for Halloween in drag. I live in California, where, in 1994, our governor at the time, Pete Wilson, passed a bill REQUIRING employers to allow female to wear pants to work. I hope nowhere else is this the case; if, however, other states are like that, I want to know, and let’s work at reversing this nonsense.
It may be rebellious, in the eyes of people who like to do what’s immoral, to do the right thing, but I find it refeshing to know a woman has the good sense to wear a skirt or dress every day. In fact, she who ends up Mrs. Dwayne has to wear skirts and dresses every day(no pants, shorts, “skorts”, leggings, “split skirts”, or cullotes). No butch or frumpy women for me.
Despite all the sand some females raise when confronted with proof that females have no business wearing pants and shorts, I have good news; I’ve met an increased number of gals who ONLY, or at least mostly, wear skirts and dresses. Even better, they hate it when other females wear pants and shorts.
Lizzie, you wrote such a great article that, if I ever get to meet you in person, I have to give you a hug(you are too good a person to shake hands with). However, even when being called a tomboy was less than flattering, some gals were NOT offended when called that. It’s nice to see an increased number of females only, or at least mostly, wear skirts and dresses. Needless to say, however, we still have a long way to go.
It’s disgusting that we’re at a point where we confuse femininity and feminism, especially since, as G.K. Chesterton put it, there is nothing as unfeminine as feminism.
What I read about Marlene Dietrich brought to mind what the late Gloria Swanson said; she said “Marlene Dietrich’s legs may be longer, but I have seven grandchildren”, which means Gloria Swanson didn’t spend her time during Hollywood’s Golden Age doing drag, while Hepburn and Dietrich did.
If Marlene Dietrich was John Wayne’s idea of intriguing, I would hate to think about his idea of repulsive! Not only that, as much as John Wayne is treated like a poster boy for much of what is, or at least can be, decent and proper, he was divorced at least twice/thrice, back when divorce had the social stigma it has lacked since the 1970′s.
Someone needs to remind Lesley M.M. Blume that her wearing tuxedos is the same as a man wearing a skirt or dress. If she’s so glamorous in a tuxedo, I’d hate to see the flipside. Also, how would she feel if a male wore feminine garb?! It is the same for females to wear masculine attire as vice versa(both of which are morally wrong). However, it seems to be socially wrong only when MALES are the ones doing drag! We need to re-stigmatize masculine dress on females.
Yesterday, I read the review of a movie titled “Tomboy”, and while the people behind it may say otherwise, this movie, about a boyish-looking girl, all but glorifies this nonsense. Needless to say, I will not be seeing it!
If what I read in “Dressing with Dignity” means anything, Katharine was not the only Hepburn whose wardrobe was wanting, to say the least. I read Coco Chanel’s poor excuse for attire was a big hit with Audrey. What I read about Chanel’s designs ought to motivate females to not wear them.
One recent “icon” of tomboyishness is actress/comic Jeneane Garafalo. She takes her distaste for high fashion to the extreme! She is also a hardcore lefty(so much so that I’m surprised people don’t lean to the right because of her). She’s also a bit on the anti-male side at times, and it’s highly ironic how many gals who try to dress like guys the most also hate us the most.
About 9 years ago, not too long before she expired, I read that, back in 1933, Katharine Hepburn starred in a movie where her character wore pants(its name alludes me, though I do recall “Strong” being in the title). A few years earlier, I heard on TV she, at one point in the earlier part of her career was seen as “box office poison”; why people later embraced this, for lack of a better term, icon of crass is beyond me.
I recently found out Marlene Dietrich, decades ago, got kicked out of either the Beverly Hills Hotel or the Beverly Hilton for wearing pants. This is going to get me in a lot of trouble with a lot of females(or should I say “womyn”), but I have no sympathy for those who do wrong, and have to face up to their actions, especially since we have a different(if unwritten) set of rules for the sexes; while it is morally wrong for either sex to do drag, we only have a problem with MALES stepping out of line. Females, however, can do as they please, and anyone who tries to do the right thing when a gal does wrong is labeled a sexist(if male) or, in the eyes of feminists, “setting progress for women back decades”.
Many television shows and movies portray tomboys as heroes and/or victims, and anyone who has a problem with these gals’ mannishness as villains. They also portray more feminine gals in a negative light. I’ve mentioned this before, but it can’t be emphasized enough, the irony is many of the tomboyish gals see males as inferior to females(needless to say, many who say they want to be treated as equal to males are not only lying, but proof they are lying is their utter, and obvious, contempt for males, while females lacking in so much as pretense of contempt for males avoid masculine dress like the plague).