Top Tory in the hands of top designers
EVERYONE is always critical of the way women in the public eye dress.
The Royal Family are faced with endless comment on their clothes. And Mrs Thatcher, as leader of the Opposition, is certain to suffer in exactly the same way.
Where equality seems to be proven — should it really matter what she wears? Especially when Prime Minister Harold Wilson, not the snappiest of dressers, has escaped comparatively lightly.
But the fact remains that for a woman to dress well and attractively will always give her a fair advantage, is always expected, and should not be dismissed merely as frivolous femininity.
Influence
Cabinet Minister Shirley Williams’s attitude that the job is of sole importance and that dress is totally irrelevant seems to me to ignore that appearances do influence personal opinions.
Mrs Thatcher obviously feels that, although clothes do not make the lady, they can certainly help.
Just like any working woman, she has to dress to suit the different situations that can occur during a day.
Her favourites are dresses with matching jackets and patterned shirts which, though not the height of fashion, look smart.
But perhaps she shouldn’t play it quite so safe and should get away from her stiff gabardine outfits.
When I asked Jorn Langberg, designer for Christian Dior in London, how he would dress Mrs Thatcher he stressed that she should ‘ soften’ the line of her clothes.
‘ They should be looser, more feminine,’ he said. ‘She tends to wear what I call function outfits.
‘She doesn’t have to look like she’s about to open a fete.
‘She has a very good figure and could afford to follow fashion a little more.’
Softer-style clothes was Jean Muir’s opinion, too. ‘Mrs Thatcher shouldn’t look like a businesswoman — they’re an out-of-date breed.
‘She needs fluid, feminine dresses that move well.’
Trimmings
‘More panache and less pattern,’ said John Bates, who designs under the name Jean Varon.
‘ I think her clothes need to be simpler. She should forget about braids and trimmings that clutter and stick to one colour for everything she’s wearing.’
‘I think she should follow fashion a lot more,’ said Katharine Hamnett, ‘to show she’s in touch with what is going on.
‘This year’s looser shapes are ideal for her, instead of the suits which tend to cut her in two and they must make her unbelievably hot!’
The final word came from John Bates. ‘Fashion is one of this country’s biggest industries; by wearing British fashion well Mrs Thatcher could do a marvellous promotion job,’ he said.