The idea of trousers on women was first impressed on Western consciousness by the "Haute Lesbiennes" of Hollywood - Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Jean Howard, et al. These ladies had two things in common. Firstly they all had sensational figures, and secondly they all went to bed with women as well as men, and therefore wanted to look masculine. The vast majority of women do not share either of these traits, which makes it puzzling that they seem to want to imitate the 'Haute Lesbiennes'.

Trousers were given a boost during the Second World War, because many women worked in factories, where trousers were more practical. After the War, trousers remained an item in women's wardrobes - particularly in the country - but they were rarely worn in town and never at formal occasions. Nor were they accepted in good restaurants or nightclubs. I remember in 1961, at the old "Four Hundred" in London, a lady dressed in Givenchy trousers being turned away. During the miniskirt era, trousers bided their time, but in the 1970's the rising influence of Feminism persuaded woman that they should try to look as much as possible like men, and for some years now trousers have been not just an item in women's wardrobes, but a uniform to be worn every day. If one walks down a street in London or New York, the proportion of women wearing trousers to skirts is something like 10:1. In Paris the proportion is lower - perhaps 5:1, and many of the best-dressed women in Paris never wear trousers in town. In Milan the ratio is more like 3:1. But everywhere in the Western world, trousers now predominate.

The interesting thing about this phenomenon is that, because women cannot see themselves from the rear, the vast majority of women are unaware that trousers are very unflattering to them. Trousers are made for men's bodies, which are mostly straight up and down. Women's bodies on the other hand consist of curves. Women have big bottoms - they are meant to have big bottoms. They have big hips - for child bearing - and after a certain age they have tummies which lie below their waists (men put weight on above the waist). Trousers reveal and highlight every inch of a woman's lower body and women in close-fitting trousers seen from the rear seem to be almost in the nude from the waist down. Countless women who would look lovely in dresses or skirts are embarrassingly unattractive in trousers.

But there are many other reasons why women should not wear trousers. Firstly, trousers are not nearly as pretty, or as aesthetically pleasing as skirts. Secondly, and more importantly, trousers are not feminine, and it is femininity that attracts men. The more that women dress like men, the less attractive they are to men. Just as it is men's masculinity that attracts women, so it is women's femininity that attracts men. Suppose, for example, men decided tomorrow to wear skirts and stockings. Would women find that attractive? Would they find that sexy? The answer is obvious, and applies also to how most men view women in trousers (although in the Anglo-Saxon world few men have the courage to say so).

Thirdly, and just as importantly, trousers are not sexy. Skirts are. There are many women who wear trousers because they don't think their legs are very good. This is a mistake, because women's legs are essentially sexy. If a man finds a woman attractive, he will find her legs sexy even if they are not perfect, simply because they are her legs.

But the most important reason why women should not wear trousers is simply that men don't like them. If one questions women on the subject, they will invariably reply, 'Yes I know, men don't like trousers. They like skirts'. In other words, women know that men don't like trousers, yet they deliberately wear them. This is hostile behaviour - they are deliberately dressing in a way that is opposite to what men would like. It is behaviour that flies against common sense, and flies against the normal human desire to please. Most importantly it goes against one of the basic elements of civilisation, of always trying to look one's best.

Even more worrying, it makes it clear that women no longer care about pleasing men. This may be a tenet of Feminist dogma, but it is certainly not the way to attract or to charm men. In a country which has the highest divorce rate in Europe, and where the marriage rate is falling for the first time in recorded history, one wonders whether it is to women's advantage to behave in this way.

What we propose to do in this book is to try to show you just how far women have gone to make themselves unattractive to men.