Putter & Tweed

Hole 16 · Since 1933

Women's golf outfits with pants: from a 1933 stir to cropped capris

1933 to now: from a stir to an everyday choice

Pants (trousers) and shorts are now what women golfers wear below the waist more than anything else. Nobody on record had seen a woman play golf in trousers before 1933. Here is how women's golf outfits with pants got from there to slim, stretchy and cropped cuts.

Tania Elosegui at the 2009 Solheim Cup in white golf trousers, a white team jacket and a white cap
Tania Elosegui at the 2009 Solheim Cup in white golf trousers, a white team jacket and a white cap. Wojciech Migda / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. CC BY-SA. Source.

What it solved on the course

Pants cover the legs on cold, windy or wet days, and there is no hem to check before you bend over a putt. Pick a pair with some give and they walk the course and turn through the swing as easily as a skort.

History

Until 1933 no woman on record had played golf in trousers. Skirts had crept up, to around the ankle in the 1920s, but trousers stayed off the course.

Off the course, women's trousers had been spreading since the 1920s. Coco Chanel, who liked to borrow her boyfriend's suits, designed trousers for women's sport, riding among it. On screen, Marlene Dietrich and Katharine Hepburn wore them often enough to fascinate and horrify audiences.

Gloria Minoprio changed the golf part in 1933, playing a women's championship in slacks. Most accounts name the British Ladies Championship; The Golf Business says the English Women's Amateur. Scottish Golf History says it caused far more than a stir, but that it did shift attitudes. When Helen Holm won the 1934 Ladies Championship at Porthcawl, her outfit was close to a copy of Minoprio's.

By the mid-1930s a few women dared to play in pants or shorts, though pants were still rare on the course, and they were more common and accepted in France than in Britain or America. By 1939 many women wore pants for golf and tennis, riding and cycling. That was also the year Vogue first pictured women in trousers. Capri pants were the fashion by the late 1950s, and by the late 1960s women's pants were accepted in the office as well as at leisure. In the 1970s women golfers took up pantsuits and fitted pants as a sign that they stood equal with men.

Now pants and shorts are the most common golf bottoms for women and men alike. Galvin Green's advice is a tailored cut with some stretch, slim or relaxed as you like, and cropped capri lengths if you want a little personality.

Mika Miyazato driving at the 2011 Women's British Open in navy pants, a white belt and an orange top
Mika Miyazato driving at the 2011 Women's British Open in navy pants, a white belt and an orange top. Wojciech Migda / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. CC BY-SA. Source.

Who wore it best

  • Gloria Minoprio

    Played a 1933 women's championship in slacks, the first woman on record to play golf in trousers.[6, 5]

  • Helen Holm

    Won the 1934 Ladies Championship at Porthcawl in an outfit almost identical to Minoprio's, though with a beret rather than a cloche hat.[6]

How to wear it now

  1. Look for a tailored pair with some stretch. It has to walk the course and let your hips turn, so try a practice swing in the fitting room.
  2. Cropped and capri lengths are good in warm weather. Ankle length looks sharpest with a low-profile spikeless shoe.
  3. Tuck the polo in and wear a belt. Pants with nothing at the waist look like travel clothes rather than golf clothes.
  4. Keep one color quiet. Patterned pants go with a plain polo, and a bright top goes with navy, gray or stone pants.
  5. In cold weather, lined pants beat leggings under a skort, and some club codes do not allow leggings on their own.

Where to buy

New

Vintage

Links open the shop's own site. Some may earn us a commission.

Sources

  1. The history of golf attire in the UK, The Golf Business. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
  2. Trousers for Women, Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
  3. Trousers as women's clothing, Wikipedia. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
  4. A Retrospective: The evolution of women's Golf fashion, Aphrodite Hills. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
  5. A Stylish Look at the History of Golf Fashion, 18 Birdies. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
  6. History of Women's Golf Dress or Fashion, Scottish Golf History. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
  7. Golf Dress Code for Women: Female Golf Course Dress Rules, Galvin Green. Retrieved 2026-09-30.

Updated .