Trousers still a no-no for women in Paris - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

A law that banned women from wearing trousers in Paris is still in effect, it has emerged. The rule forbidding women from dressing like men-by wearing trousers- was first introduced in 1800 by the city's police chief and has survived repeated attempts to repeal it. The 1800 rule stipulated than any Parisienne wishing to dress like a man "must present herself to Paris' main police station to obtain authorisation". In 1892 it was slightly relaxed thanks to an amendment, which said trousers were permitted "as long as the woman is holding the reins of a horse". Later in 1909, the decree was further mellowed when an extra clause was added to allow women in trousers on condition they were "on a bicycle or holding it by the handlebars". In 1969, amid a global movement towards gender equality, the Paris council asked the city's police chief to bin the decree, reports the Telegraph. He said: "It is unwise to change texts which foreseen or unforeseen variations in fashion can return to the fore." The latest attempt to remove the outmoded rule came in 2003, when a Right-wing MP from French President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party wrote to the minister in charge of gender equality. The minister's response was: "Disuse is sometimes more efficient than (state) intervention in adapting the law to changing morays."