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April 3, 2015

Thank You for Le Smoking: The 20 Chicest Women in Tuxedos

By Véronique Hyland

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Photo: Archive Photos/Getty Images

There’s a mysterious allure about a woman in the most masculine piece of clothing: a tuxedo. Marlene Dietrich, with her love of on- and offscreen cross-dressing, knew it. Yves Saint Laurent knew it when he popularized the term le smoking to describe his take on black-tie eveningwear in 1966 to great fanfare. Women’s Wear Daily had a typical reaction: “Standing on the barricades he sows terror inside its institutions,” they said of the designer at the time. And fellow enfant terrible Hedi Slimane, who recently shot Abbey Lee Kershaw in one of his Saint Laurent suits, knows it. Here, our collection of women in the boundary-pushing classic. 

This story was originally posted on May 15, 2014.

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1 / 20 Photos
Marlene Dietrich, Circa 1930  Photo: Archive Photos/Getty Images
Angelina Jolie, 2014  Photo: Dave J Hogan/2014 Dave J Hogan
Kate Moss, 2012  Photo: Miquel Benitez/Getty Images
Charlotte Rampling, 1974  Photo: Alain Dejean/Corbis
Emma Watson, 2014  Photo: Ray Tamarra/2014 Ray Tamarra
Bianca Jagger, 1974  Photo: Corbis
Gia Coppola, 2013  Photo: Stefania D’Alessandro/2013 Stefania D’Alessandro
Janelle Monae,  2012  Photo: Michael Buckner/Getty Images
Carey Mulligan,  2013  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Ashley Olsen, 2008  Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images
Ellen DeGeneres, 2013  Photo: Adam Taylor/2014 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Amy Poehler  Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images
Alexa Chung, 2010  Photo: Rabbani and Solimene Photography/WireImage
Naomi Campbell, 2014  Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Jennifer Connelly,  2014  Photo: Mike Pont/2014 Mike Pont
Marion Cotillard, 2004  Photo: Tony Barson/Getty Images
Claudia Schiffer, 2002  Photo: unknown/AFP/Getty Images
Isabella Rossellini,  2011  Photo: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
Kirsten Dunst, 2006  Photo: John Sciulli/Getty Images
Abbey Lee Kershaw in Saint Laurent  Photo: Courtesy of Saint Laurent
1 / 20

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  • angelina jolie
  • marlene dietrich
  • ysl
  • yves saint laurent
  • saint laurent paris
  • hedi slimane
  • abbey lee kershaw
  • its vintage
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