Power dressing

Born in the second half of the 1970s and developed in the 1980s, power dressing is a fashion style that enables women to establish their authority in a professional and political environment traditionally dominated by men.

The term power dressing relates to a fashion style typical of the business and politics environment of the 1970s and 1980s. Today the expression power dressing is no more commonly used, but the style is still very popular. Power dressing arose in the United States in the second half of the 1970s. Power dressing could be analyzed through visual sociology which studies how fashion operates in the relationship between social system and the negotiation of power. The concept of power dressing was brought to popularity by John T. Molloy’s manuals Dress for success (1975) and Women: dress for success (1980), which suggest a gender specific professional dress code. Molloy’s manuals addressed a new kind of female workers entering in a typical masculine environment recommending them a "uniform" that would have helped them to acquire authority, respect and power at work.

Initially power dressing consisted in a conservative style recalling directly the male wardrobe including tailored suits, jackets with padded shoulders, roll-neck sweaters and knee length skirts. With the power dressing uniform, the female body was divided in two parts: The upper part covered by a jacket to de-emphasize breasts, the bottom covered with a skirt that was a reminder of femininity. These outfits were usually matched with feminine accessories, discreet pieces of jewelry like pearls, diamonds, gold necklaces, earrings, scarves and ruffs. Elaborate patterns such as floral prints were usually substituted by polka, pinstripes and hound-tooth ones. As far as colors were concerned, more sober ones such as blue, black, navy and grey were commonly preferred to feminine ones like salmon pink and red.

The roots of power dressing can be found in the Chanel suit of the 1920s. The Chanel suit was composed by a tight skirt and by a wool, collarless button-up jacket, usually with braid trim, metallic buttons and fitted sleeves. This suit represented a turning point in the way women dressed. In fact, it was the very first professional suit specifically thought for women, which enabled them to look modern and feminine while feeling comfortable. It included traditionally masculine elements which gave women a very authoritative appearance, but at the same time it left space for a refined and sophisticated look. The most important innovation of the Chanel suit was that it was deliberately designed to adapt to the changing lifestyle of women that, during and after the World War I, were slowly entering previously all-men environments. This suit encouraged women to try to reach their professional goals giving them comfort and mobility to fit with their independent and active lifestyles. According to the costume historian Harold Koda the Chanel suit allowed women of the time to de-sex their feminine look and to have a more masculine appearance in order to be accepted as equals in the professional sphere.

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