By Monisha Shivaraj
Over the past century, the dressing style followed by women to hold a powerful first impression to establish their rightful authority in the competent, political, and professional fields, hasn't transformed much. The first half of the 20th century witnessed a great number of strong women rally against the modest portraits expected of them.
Coco Chanel designed the first modern suit for women in the 1920s. She was a progressive woman who preserved the glamour of femininity by introducing the first suit for women in the year 1925. The menswear that was worn by her beau at that time, the Duke of Westminster was fancied by her ,and his comfortable clothing inspired and adopted the design. Unstructured jackets and body-hugging knee-length skirts replaced the uncomfortable corsets and ankle-length skirts. A tight constructed suit skirt, collarless button-up jacket of wool, usually with braid trim, metallic buttons, and fitted sleeves.
The concept of suits for women with pants only came out in the 1930s. Merlene Dietrich was the First Lady ever who wore trousers to an official function at the opening of the sign of the cross in 1932. She was the first female to have worn a masculine tuxedo. The next year Eleanor Roosevelt was also seen wearing trousers at an official function in 1933, although her clothing was accidental, she still embraced it.
MERLENE DIETRIC IN A TUXEDO, 1932
In the 1940s, they commonly made women's suits with wool-weight rayon’s although they did not have a wide range of colors. The short length of the jackets was extended till the upper thigh and this was set the style for the remaining decade. The jackets have 1-7 buttons with sleeves either a full-sleeved or half-sleeved, even ¾th sleeves were a style during summer and spring. The same style was pursued even in the 1950s.
By the 1960s the skirts got shorter and pants or trousers were more commonly used. It was the decade of experimentation. Dazzling swirling colors were used. In 1966, the first tuxedo (le smoking) for women was designed by Yves Saint Laurent.
Although the first suit was designed earlier in the century, the concept of power dressing took a serious turn in the second half of the 1970s. Power dressing was the fashion style followed by women to establish a strong authority in various fields of the society. The 1970s witnessed numerous women entering the workforce which was formally monopolized by men.
Pantsuits were worn as a self-representation of empowerment. Replicating their look was the only way businesswomen could persuade a boardroom populated by men. The aggressive clothing in suits of the '80s was a symbol of power. Despite the very authoritative appearance these pants and big-shouldered, bow ties, shirts, and blazer sets provided, their masculine element took the spotlight off the gender as it imitated a male presence.
The power suits and the bow ties of the '80s were replaced by power skirts and pussy-bows of the '90s. The hemlines of both the skirt and the blazer were shortened. These were accessorized by high heels.
Today the expression of power dressing has almost declined, nevertheless, the style is still very popular. Now power dressing ain't just a style but its a language worn in the form of confidence.
Power dressing is now rather abstract and simple.
Power dressing, at the moment, is just the outfit of confidence, courage, and empowerment. Though the workplace outfits are professional-looking suits, dresses, or jumpsuits, any outfit of comfort can be worn to illustrate empowerment. At the end of the day, You are what You wear.
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