Women have made great strides in American orchestras in recent decades, especially since the advent of blind auditions, in which musicians try out from behind screens (often with rugs put down to muzzle the clicking of heels). A little over half a century ago, the Philharmonic had no full-time women on its roster; it now has 44 women and 50 men. But while its peers now let women play formal concerts in a variety of pants and slacks, the Philharmonic allows pants only at matinees, Young People’s Concerts, parks concerts, or when playing in contemporary music ensembles. Not at evening subscription concerts, the core of its season.

Deborah Borda, the Philharmonic’s president and chief executive officer, said that some players approached her last fall to discuss updating the dress code. “It’s been a really good dialogue,” she said.

But she noted that it could be difficult to find a broadly acceptable solution, agreeing on clothes that are comfortable but still dressy enough to give a sense of occasion; pleasing longtime patrons, who tend to be conservative in their tastes and have indicated in research surveys that they like things as they are; and finding new outfits that can stand the test of time. Ms. Borda remembered one orchestra in the 1970s that switched to velveteen jackets with wide lapels and bell bottoms: “For a year or two they looked totally cool, and then they were a joke.”

“A lot of orchestras have tried different takes on men’s and women’s formal wear,” she said. “It hasn’t been entirely successful.”

In 1958, when Leonard Bernstein was the Philharmonic’s music director, he tried to get the orchestra to wear more modern Nehru jackets for some concerts. They were not popular, and within months he dropped them, suggesting that they “pass into history as ‘Bernstein’s folly.’” In 2016, the Vienna Philharmonic unveiled new suits designed by Vivienne Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler, but the orchestra has not fully adopted them.