SHOULDER SEASON
Bolder shoulders have returned to coats and jackets. But are they a symbol of power or just plain fashion?
The power shoulders of the ’80s return, this time minus the cultural commentary.
In 1537, German artist Hans Holbein the Younger put the finishing touches on a portrait of his employer, King Henry VIII. The king appears so imposing in the painting that one awestruck viewer said, “The spectator feels abashed, annihilated in its presence.” A masterpiece of royal portraiture, even five centuries later, Holbein’s depiction of the king’s impressive girth, exaggerated by a wide-shouldered cape that makes him appear nearly as broad as he is tall, is the one most people typically recall. Historian Derek Wilson describes the painting as a piece of “blatant propaganda” meant to flatter King Henry VIII’s vanities and mask the realities of his aging, decrepit body stricken with thrombosis. No doubt the painting’s sense of majesty can be partly attributed to the monarch’s load-bearing frame, mighty enough to shoulder the grievances of all of England.
Larger-than-life shoulders continued to be a form of propaganda long after King Henry VIII’s expiration date. In the 1940s, Joan Crawford donned an amply padded fur coat to play conniving housewife Mildred Pierce, and the 1980s ushered in an era of women who bulked up like corporate bodybuilders in order to be taken seriously in the boardroom.
Though nothing on the Fall 2019 runways quite reached the royal proportions of King Henry VIII, the substantial silhouette was a prevailing one. Anthony Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent was a Dynasty-inspired fever dream featuring linebacker shoulders and glitzy ruched tops that could have been snatched from Alexis Carrington Colby’s wardrobe. Givenchy’s interpretation of power shoulders skewed more Hollywood ingenue, contouring them into the shape of subtle arches. Nancy Pelosi led the mood board at Max Mara, which sought to explore the nexus of power and glamour through monochromatic palettes and bold outerwear. And Balenciaga showed plenty of the relaxed, boxy silhouettes that have become Demna Gvasalia’s trademark.
The last time shoulders dominated the silhouette was in the ’80s, when “power suits” ruled. But in recent years, power dressing has undergone an identity crisis. “Once upon a time, power dressing was identified with the uniform of the ruling class, whether demarcated by gender or profession or race, and those who would have access to it,” Vanessa Friedman wrote earlier this year in The New York Times. Most men went to work in suits, and so women, in a bid for equality, approximated their uniform. But as ideals of professional success have shifted, so has its uniform. Delivering a slick presentation in the boardroom has become a far less valuable skill than attracting attention on social media. The ability to generate income by selling oneself to brands (a.k.a. influencing) has become the new American dream. There’s an argument to be made that the new power dressing for women might best be represented by a sexy milkmaid blouse from Reformation, tight cropped jeans and a pair of Maryam Nassir Zadeh slide sandals.
Many millennial women—myself included—find the idea of donning anything with visible shoulder pads repellent, akin to playing dress-up in our mother’s closet. Until recently, shoulder pads have been more or less out since the ’80s, save for a brief Balmain-inspired revival in the late 2000s.
What’s notable about the current return to strong shoulders is that they’re not aggressive. This season’s shoulder pads were imbued with a certain softness and appeared to be more about improving posture than altering shape. Clare Waight Keller’s show notes at Givenchy explained her desire to marry tailoring with flou, or “fluid”—an intentional blurring of the sharp, angular silhouettes of yore. The new power shoulders telegraph an air of importance, but it’s all elegance—no attitude. There’s no need to look like Working Girl anymore when we’re all working 24/7. Gentle is the new strong. Whatever you do, don’t call it power dressing.