New Evidence that East Germany Invented the Partner Look

These days, the partner look is all the rage on the streets of Beijing, as the newly fashion conscious Wall Street Journal reported a couple weeks ago.

Just to set the record straight, I felt it important to point out that the forward thinking folks at the Leipzig Encyclopedia Publishing House were highly conscious of the partner look, BACK IN 1963. That’s right, it was a priority of the state-run publishing industry to have their citizen sweethearts match. Nothing says thriving socialist society like his and her outfits. In the illustration above, taken from the endlessly informative encyclopedia volume Die Frau, (The Woman), which I got for free at a yard sale, readers of the gentler sex are given priceless do’s and don’ts on the subject. My English translation of the page’s tips (the right-hand panel) is below.

Coordinating Clothes with Your Partner

It is self-evident that a woman will compose an outfit in keeping with the colors and styles, not only of her age and type, but also with the occasion; and this should be just as much of a given among men. This would result in a comfortable, unforced, but unfortunately all too rare coordination in the clothing styles of married couples, friends, engaged pairs, etc. At any rate, it is blatantly unattractive when the partner of an elegantly dressed woman shows up in casual, sporty attire (see b and d).

A misunderstanding also emerges with a and c, whereas the arrangement of pairs a-b and c-d, create no awkward or confusing impressions, since each partner has coordinated their style with one another. Aside from style, the question of color coordination – an art form in its own right – also emerges. You will generally be more glowing and fresh in sporty clothes; and more subdued in elegant attire.

This also holds true for mothers when they go out with their children. One does not dress the little ones in sturdy Lederhosen and plaid shirts when the mother is dressed in an elegant cocktail dress with a little hat and long gloves. The woman with good taste will always strive to carefully coordinate the outfits of her younger family members with the given occasion and with her own clothing.

From Die Frau. Verlag Enzyklopädie Leipzig, 1963.