POWER PLAY
Lessons in dressing like an influential leader.
IF YOU GO BACK 20 YEARS – five, even – the images that sprung to mind when we thought about people in positions of power tended to look the same: white, middle-aged men in dull, black suits taking up the bulk of parliament… and courts… and the corporate world… It was all remarkably one-note. There has been gradual change over the decades, but now we’re really seeing it. Hillary Clinton in her multi-coloured suits, Julie Bishop in her Saint Laurent heels and Jacinda Ardern in a head scarf – the appearance of power has had a metamorphosis.
No surprise, then, that AW19 presented variations on the theme of power dressing. There were literal interpretations – the power shoulder at Givenchy and Saint Laurent, and power suit at Balenciaga and Alexander Mcqueen. But there were less literal offerings, too, with the return of a neo-bourgeois sensibility, replete with pussy-bow blouses, checked blazers and thigh-high slouchy boots (seen at Celine, Chanel and Prada). The runway’s multiple iterations of what power looks like in 2019 is refreshing – with more scope for women than ever.
Traditionally, we rested heavily on repurposing masculine dress codes in a feminine way (suiting, shirting, neutrals). But this is no longer the limit, especially when you consider that few of the women we consider powerful adhere to this. Prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, for example, opts for a wardrobe full of floral prints, soft colours and fluid silhouettes. It’s a look that reflects a leadership style rooted in compassion, empathy and integrity. In a story for The New York Times, the formidable editor Tina Brown argued that female leaders are more successful when they carve their own leadership paths, rather than trying to emulate those carved out by their male predecessors – and fashion must reflect this. “In drawing on women’s wisdom without apology and pushing that wisdom forward into positions of power, we can soothe our world and, maybe, even save it,” wrote Brown. Naturally, she illustrated the story with a photo of Ardern.
Another female figure name-checked by Brown is member of the US House of Representatives and poster girl for the new generation of millennial politicians, Alexandria Ocasio-cortez. The 29-yearold has borne the lose-lose conundrum that comes with being a woman in the public eye, getting slammed for being a “glossy socialist” (broadcaster Piers Morgan’s words, not ours), after she was styled in a Gabriela Hearst woollen suit and Manolo Blahnik shoes – total retail cost, around $4,900 – for a profile in Interview magazine. In response, Ocasio-cortez noted that she was simply styled in the clothes and does not own them, while The New York Times highlighted that Uruguayan designer Hearst, with her focus on sustainability, isn’t too far removed from Ocasio-cortez’s political leanings.
Perhaps, on its own, #Suitgate might have been relegated to quite a small-scale controversy, but just two months earlier, conservative Washington-based journalist Eddie Scarry tweeted a picture of Ocasio-cortez, taken from behind, on her way into Congress with the caption: “I’ll tell you something, that jacket and coat don’t look like a girl who struggles.” Ocasio-cortez, a former waitress who supports increased taxes on high-net worth individuals, was wearing a fairly standard black jacket in the picture. She responded by writing: “If I walked into Congress wearing a sack, they would laugh and take a picture of my backside. If I walk in with my best sale-rack clothes, they laugh and take pictures of my backside.” The whole escapade had an inescapable whiff of misogyny about it – after all, when is the last time you read a tweet questioning the cost of a male politician’s blazer? – and also proved how implicitly linked style
AS WOMEN CONTINUE TO EXCEL, OUR DEFINITION OF WHAT LEADERS LOOK LIKE HAS BECOME LESS RIGID. SO, HOW HAS POWER DRESSING CHANGED TO REFLECT THE TIMES?
and power are, especially when you’re a woman. Case in point, when Ocasio-cortez entered the State of the Union Address with activist Ana Maria Archila by her side, both in suffragette white.
Nancy Pelosi, the 79-year-old speaker of the US House of Representatives, had her own striking fashion moment in December. After a heated meeting with Donald Trump about a potential government shutdown, Pelosi left the White House in a red Max Mara cocoon coat. The coat became an instant sensation – touted as the physical embodiment of Pelosi’s grace, elegance and, yes, power in the face of a US President behaving like a petulant child. “Along with her dark glasses, sharp heels and smile of post-combat exhilaration, the coat whispered ‘burn’ with a wink and a swish,” wrote The New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman. “It also helped to transform her from a seemingly tired symbol of the establishment to one of well-dressed revolt.” It didn’t take long for the coat to get its own Twitter handle.
“The coat became a hook on which everyone hung their feelings about the moment,” is how Ian Griffiths, the longstanding creative director of Max Mara, explains it. “I believe Ms Pelosi masterfully orchestrated every aspect of that meeting, right down to what she wore. She expected to set the White House on fire – metaphorically, of course – and she stage-managed the moment when she would emerge, victorious and totally in control, wearing her flame-red coat.”
Griffiths says that, for him, the notion of power dressing is less linked to silhouettes and tailoring, and more to do with the symbiotic relationship between clothing and its wearer. “The coat clearly had meaning for her,” he explains. “She bought it back in 2012 and has worn it for other occasions, including President Obama’s second inauguration. It’s the emotional relationship you develop with your clothes that makes them empowering. Power dressing, to me, is about clothes you feel completely at home in. You’re not going to shine if you have to check your look in the mirror every five minutes.”
The red coat echoed another political fashion moment closer to home. In August 2018, when Julie Bishop publicly resigned from her cabinet position following a tumultuous leadership spill, the bejewelled red satin heels she wore to the press conference went viral. “When in doubt, wear red,” she later quipped – telling Fairfax she loves the colour because it evokes both power and style. “I always noted that many nations have red in their flags, and that’s because it symbolises courage and freedom,” she said. “And [in] fashion – that’s why they call it a red carpet – and red lipstick, red nail polish, red shoes.”
So what can we desk jockeys preparing our winter wardrobes for boardroom battle take away from the sartorial manoeuvres of political heavyweights? There are many practical style lessons. There’s nothing like a statement coat, for one. Head-to-toe white is striking, especially with a red lip. The right shoe can make a hell of a statement – and you should never underestimate the transformative power of a good suit (extra points if you colour-block). Above all, always keep in mind the simple maxim: Clothing is only as powerful as the woman who’s wearing it.