I never looked into why. The theory of dressed by another fails me because both men and women of money had help. Valets? I can't imagine Gwendolyn the washer girl had someone to dress her.

Gwendolyn wouldn't have, but she also wouldn't have been setting the fashion of the day. Smithsonian Magazine says we really don't know; it could be servants, riding side-saddle or swords. www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/m...

This is perfect neurotypical-ness: "Hey, does anyone know why we have the machines calibrated to make women's shirts differently from men's??" [ everyone looks at each other blanky ] We just always done it like that ...