If the suit fits: England manager has her own ‘waistcoat moment’
As England face Sweden in the Euro semi-final, Sarina Wiegman’s touchline outfit has echoes of Southgate
GARETH had his waistcoat; Sarina has her powersuit. As the Lionesses prepare for their European Championship football semi-final tonight, they will thank their smartly dressed Dutch coach for her authority from the touchline.
Sarina Wiegman, 52, has risen to prominence after taking England’s women to the tournament’s last four and she has done so while wearing a £67 navy blue suit from Marks & Spencer that is becoming every bit as talismanic as Gareth Southgate’s waistcoat, made famous during the men’s run to the World Cup semi-finals in Russia in 2018.
As Southgate transformed England from overpaid underachievers to Euro 2020 finalists, sales of his waistcoat doubled overnight and then it sold out.
Marks & Spencer, which has a tie-in with England’s football teams, has said the “Sarina effect” is doing the same for women’s suits, with salesof the polyester blazer up 140 per cent in a week and her slim-fit trousers up by a quarter.
Fashion experts said Ms Wiegman’s outfit was sending a “let’s get down to business” message to her players.
Lou Rogers, a brand owner and fashion lecturer at Northumbria University, said: “Sarina’s reviving this businesscasual style and it’s setting her aside from a more athletic look.
The fact that she’s a woman in a trouser suit – not in a bold colour or a fitted one or 80s-inspired power suit, but just your average M&S suit which you’d see estate agents wearing ... that’s a statement.
“She’s not leaning in too much of a feminine take on the trouser suit, nor is she going overtly masculine. It’s quite a gender-neutral sort of feel, which is contemporary and modern.”
While Southgate rose through the England ranks, Wiegman, a year older and a 100-cap Holland international who worked as a PE teacher during her playing career, was a trophy recruit.
She guided the Dutch to victory in the last Euros and then to the World Cup final. In her 18 matches in charge of England, she has won 16 and drawn two.
The highest TV audience for women’s football in the UK is 11.7 million for England’s 2019 World Cup semi-final defeat by the US. Tonight’s game, at Bramall Lane, Sheffield, against the higher ranked Swedes, could beat that.
Lisa Illis, head of womenswear at M&S, said: “Tailoring in womenswear is having quite a moment and, styled in a more casual way with fresh white trainers, it can create a modern, stylish take on traditional power dressing.
“A navy colourway (rather than the expected black) feels more contemporary too.”
Naomi Austin, a senior lecturer in fashion at Sunderland University, said: “The dark suit and white shirt gives an element of self-esteem and confidence. Wearing a suit can change your whole demeanour and it gives a very clear message about what that person is out there to do.”