science

Le Smoking

Le Smoking is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Le Smoking rather than just read about it. In short: Le Smoking is a women's tuxedo suit created in 1966 by couturier Yves Saint Laurent. The first suit of its kind to earn attention in the fashion world and in popular culture, it was influenced by the androgynous personal style of Saint Laurent model and muse Danielle Luquet de Saint Germain, as well as the evening dress of artist Niki de Saint-Phalle.

Key takeaways

Le Smoking belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Le Smoking to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Le Smoking from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Le Smoking is a women's tuxedo suit created in 1966 by couturier Yves Saint Laurent. The first suit of its kind to earn attention in the fashion world and in popular culture, it was influenced by the androgynous personal style of Saint Laurent model and muse Danielle Luquet de Saint Germain, as well as the evening dress of artist Niki de Saint-Phalle. The designer took bits and pieces from both men's suits and women's clothing, and combined it with new ideas. As the tuxedo was designed for females, it was different from the normal male tuxedo. The collar was more feminine, as the shape and curve were more subtle. The waistline of the blouse was narrowed to show the body shape, and the pants were adjusted to help elongate the leg. It pioneered long, minimalist, androgynous styles for women, as well as the use of power suits and the pantsuit in modern-day society. Fashion photography echoes the influence of this suit in shoots that feature androgynous models with slicked-back hair in a "masculine" three-piece suit, a style that was first popularised in photographs by Helmut Newton. It was notably modelled by singer Françoise Hardy, who was a muse to the designer. Saint Laurent was seen by many as having empowered women by giving them the option to wear clothes that were normally worn by men with influence and power. This suit has continued to influence fashion designers' collections through the 2000s. In French and many other languages, the pseudo-anglicism smoking refers to tuxedo/black tie clothing. It is a false friend deriving from the Victorian fashion of the smoking jacket.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Le Smoking

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Le Smoking claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Le Smoking before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Le Smoking ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Le Smoking

In research: Le Smoking appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Le Smoking in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Le Smoking is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1960s fashion, 1970s fashion, False friends, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Le Smoking outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Le Smoking in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Le Smoking means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Le Smoking out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Le Smoking in simple terms?

Why does Le Smoking matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Le Smoking?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Le Smoking.