Before Pantsuits, There Was Mary Tyler Moore and Her Capris

Updated on Jan 28, 2017 at 3:30 PM

Before pantsuits became synonymous with Hillary Clinton and before celebs wore them on the red carpet, Mary Tyler Moore shocked everyone by being the first woman to wear pants on television. It was Mary who merged the distance between pants and feminity on The Dick Van Dyke Show, showing both genders that trousers were no more shocking to wear than a skirt. The actress revealed in early interviews that she insisted her character on the show wear something other than dresses despite the sponsors' worries that they would accentuate her figure.

"I think we broke new ground, and that was helped by my insistence on wearing pants, you know, jeans and capri pants at the time," she said to NPR. "I've seen all the other actresses and they're always running the vacuum in these little flowered frocks with high heels on, and I don't do that. I don't know any of my friends who do that. So why don't we try to make this real? And I'll dress on the show the way I do in real life."

Staying true to her word, Mary started wearing pants in every episode and shared that it was well received off screen. The actress, who just passed away at 80, not only left a lasting legacy in film but also in fashion. She broke the traditional mold of how a woman was supposed to look and for that, we thank her. Scroll on to see Mary rocking pants onscreen and IRL. You'll soon call yourself a pants aficionado and fun fact: Yves Saint Laurent created the first tuxedo for women, called le smoking, in 1966. For that, we are also thankful.