The New Power Dressing

What went through your mind when you opened your wardrobe this morning? Did you pick your outfit for an important meeting, lunch with friends, the gym, maybe a date? What you chose almost certainly affected how you approached and interacted with the world today. What if what you wore could even affect the outcome of an interview, exam result or an important business decision? Researchers at Northwestern University studying the phenomenon of enclothed cognition found that people show heightened attention to tasks when attired accordingly (participants in white lab coats that they believed belonged to a doctor made half as many errors in tests as their peers). “The clothes we wear have power not only over others, but also over ourselves,” notes researcher Dr. Adam Galinsky, “there seems to be something special about the physical experience of wearing a piece of clothing.” This means that our clothes are not simply a visual expression of how we want to present ourselves to the world that day - our social armour - but a way of enhancing our cognitive processes. Our clothes have power. 

If clothes can affect body and brain, altering our psychological states, as well as the opinions of those whom we encounter, traditional power dressing takes on a whole new meaning. “Let's not forget why people spend time thinking about what they're going to wear,” said Business of Fashion founder Imran Amed in a debate with AFR Magazine’s Marion Hume, “it's because clothes are the most democratic form of self-expression, one that almost every human being has. We can't lose that.” How we perceive what we wear is crucially important and therefore allows us to do away with outdated notions of power dressing – matching suits, dark colours and concealing silhouettes, in short, dressing like men - in favour of a modern approach that makes us feel a whole lot more authentic, and without a shoulder pad in sight. “I think power dressing is feeling comfort, both physical and mental, and also self-expression,” says Yara Flinn, self-confessed utilitarian tomboy and designer of minimalist New York label Nomia. “I have always been fascinated with clothing as a visual and sociological form of communication, I think women should wear clothing that represents their personality and not worry about how it might come across to others. I think the more genuine you feel, the more confidence you exude.”

Women in the public eye are particularly astute when it comes to picking the right outfit for the occasion, whether the red carpet, a talk show or press tour. Michelle Obama’s eye-catching jewel tones, feminine dresses and statement accessories help her identify with her audience, from a graphic floral dress courtesy of South American designer Carolina Herrera on the first family’s seminal trip to Cuba, to the marigold Narciso Rodriguez shift she wore to President Obama’s final State of the Union address, which not only shone like a ray of sunlight in a sea of dark suits but sold out before the end of the speech. It’s a move that speaks volumes about Obama’s confidence, purpose and style, and in that moment a yellow dress wielded the strength of a dozen clichéd pinstriped suits. She’s helped generations of women reject the notion that the clothes we wear in serious settings should hide womanly curves or minimise individuality. “I think I struggled a lot when I worked in an office to feel ‘office appropriate’ and still maintain a sense of personal style, which is what I strive to balance with Nomia,” says Flinn. “I am aware of the office atmosphere, but I aim to create clothing that can live both inside and outside an office.” A wardrobe without arbitrary divisions might just be the true barometer of personal style.  

And when the subtle messages our clothes exude need a little more punch, we can always turn to the slogan. Actress Lena Dunham has made no secret of her support for Hillary Clinton in the current Presidential race, publishing an interview with Clinton in Lenny Letter, and joining the Clinton campaign trail in Iowa to address voters directly. All while wearing a series of red-white-and-blue dresses, denim jackets and sweaters emblazoned with Clinton’s name, which wouldn’t look out of place in the Marc Jacobs Americana-inspired spring/summer 2016 collection. Curated by Dunham’s stylist Shirley Kurata, the custom-made pieces have the effect of visually aligning Dunham with Clinton in the minds of a demographic more likely to scroll Instagram for their politics, as well as maintaining Dunham’s quirky-cool feminist influence on current affairs. "I was never going to see the change I wanted to if I were half-hearted about showing up to the polls and half-hearted about saying what I believed in," said Dunham.  The truth is that Dunham’s fans, including her 2.5million Instagram followers, may not recall her exact words in support of Clinton that day, but they will certainly remember her outfit.

Of course Dunham isn’t the first to use her outfits to quite literally spell out her message. Vivienne Westwood has been doing it for years, campaigning on everything from climate change to anti-fracking, the preservation of rainforests and austerity measures, and most recently participating in Greenpeace’s Save the Arctic photo-campaign, shot by famed photographer Andy Gotts MBE and enlisting 60 celebrities wearing Westwood designed t-shirts. In a similar vein the Fawcett Society’s campaign ‘This is What a Feminist Looks Like’, challenging prejudices around feminism in collaboration with Whistles and Elle, and Otherwild’s The Future is Female t-shirts, recreating the original shirt worn by folk singer Alix Dobkin in 1975, have tapped into the trend for wearing our hearts on our sleeves (or handbags, chests or backs for that matter).

Westwood in particular has a passion for political activism, using her clothing, shows and public platform to raise awareness of the issues important to her. Her s/s16 red label show ended with a placard-wielding model protest in the name of the Politicians ‘r Criminals campaign, addressing climate change and in opposition of the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. For her, power dressing goes beyond slogan t-shirts, it’s in practicing what she preaches (she says she is currently streamlining her business to make it more efficient and self-sustaining), using her voice, and in quality over quantity (one well-made dress rather than ten sweatshop produced t-shirts). “What I want people to be able to do is buy well, by first choosing well and then making it last,” she said at the time of the Arctic project’s launch, “And I also believe that if everyone wore just a few beautiful things, there would not be such a climate change problem.” 

Style, as an expression of our opinions, decision-making and sophistication is seen by a post-feminist generation as an asset, not a liability. “Style helps distinguish you,” Michelle Obama told Kate Betts for the American fashion journalist’s book, Everyday Icon: Michelle Obama and the Power of Style. “It’s a great potential opportunity that people tend to leave by the wayside.” For anyone following Obama’s advice, the current collections offer plenty to demonstrate that style and gravitas are not mutually exclusive. Dior’s a/w16 collection proved a master class in work wear with a twist, even in the absence of Raf Simons at the helm, proposing high-waisted pencil skirts, softly tailored jackets, vintage gems and dresses with just the right amount of flounce. Where there was volume, there was a calming lighthandedness with colour and print and where shapes were simple, brocade, print and metallics stepped forth. Pieces that reveal a little surprise in design, a nod to a certain aesthetic intelligence are the essence of the new power outfit. 

The collections of Miuccia Prada, Phoebe Philo and Consuelo Castiglioni at Marni are linked in our minds with free-thinking, intellectual women: attributes that affect our perception of ourselves the moment we don that slick Prada raincoat or Céline shift dress. “Our slit back blazer (which we reinvent in modified silhouettes every season) is a very important piece for us as it has a signature architectural detail, but it is in the back of the jacket, so it is subtle and easy to wear,” says Flinn. “It looks great over a pair of skinny trousers or even a jumpsuit.” If there is a lesson for power dressing in today’s age it’s as much in what isn’t there (Coco Chanel’s advice to remove one accessory before leaving the house) as what is. “The juxtaposition of masculine/feminine is one of my most important design inspirations so I think it's nice to mix the two together,” notes Flinn. “I think wearing separates is much more modern and easy and allows one to dress up more casual pieces with a refined layer on top.”

Esteban Cortazar also channeled a well-edited collection of graphic shapes, eye popping tones and laser cut python and leather for a/w16. The vibe was youthful and tough but in such luxurious fabrics as cashmere knit and metallic jersey, elegance prevailed. “The past two seasons I was building her universe,” said the designer backstage, “this season I just wanted her to be brave.” Being brave, comfortable and conscious about what we are wearing sounds like a failsafe formula for creating the perfect power outfit. The old notion of power dressing can languish in the past with the flip phone and dial up. What we wear is no longer a rhetorical question about what we might achieve but a statement of who we are now. Whether it’s written out loud for the world to see our political leanings, or quietly stated in our Miuccia-inspired confidence, our clothes are the new power play.