The Corporate Woman’s ‘Power Dressing’ Struggle

“I spent a high percentage of my salary on clothes, shoes, and hair… That was the expectation when you’re working for a luxury brand,” says Diane Ivory, former Retail Director at Mont Blanc.

“No way you’d every wear a flat shoe”. The 80s stereotype of “shoulder pads and heels” is still palpable, shared Ivory– reminiscing on her experience as a 17 year-old student on a management course “one of only two women out of twelve men”.

But, gone are the days – straight out of Dynasty– where there is such a well-defined sense of corporate conformity through fashion. I spoke to three women in the Fashion and Retail industry to find out their experiences of fashion in the workplace which reveals a potentially hidden misogyny in clothing and presentation for women in the workplace.

“I call it Situational ”

“I call it situational”. Women have to chameleonise sartorially into different working environments. Location and job play a part in outfit choices, but another factor is your seniority and confidence in the workplace.

The shoulder pads and heels aesthetic doesn’t work everywhere. Ivory recollected how she learnt her “lilac skirt jacket suit” wouldn’t cut in corporate London, turning up for a job interview in Hampstead Highstreet to find, in what she described as “absolute horror”, of a woman in “leggings, a sloppy jumper, hair scraped back and red lipstick”.

“The more senior I became the more comfortable”, reaffirmed Christie Cameron -Tillett who as worked in the corporate offices of Coca-Cola, Cadbury’s, Johnson and Johnson, Visa and now e&– a leading tech conglomerate in the UAE.

Christie kept to “neutral colours” and tried to “dress relatively conservatively” to be “respected to performance rather than an individual dress”. But she notes that, “especially amongst the younger generation”, women in the workplace are more likely to “express their individuality with confidence and feel they are measured more on the whole self, rather than how they present themselves”, she suggests. It’s a “huge comfort that they are being themselves and have the confidence to look elsewhere if they don’t fit”. Christie notes, along with Diane Ivory, that post-COVID there has been “less conformity in the workplace”. At Mont Blanc, “people aren’t going to the office every day in tie and cufflinks” anymore.

“A Bit of Eye Candy ”

This is how Diane reluctantly describes her ‘event attire’ for work. “I don’t think I dressed specifically for someone’s regard,” she says, but “they expected you to look good and greet them properly,” which potentially suggests part of the selling in that industry is done with looks. Like any job, there is always going to be a uniform, but it’s important to recognise the relevance of gender in an environment that wasn’t originally designed to cater for you. “You can be female and feminine, whatever you want to be in the man’s world, but I still feel we check ourselves; how we fit in here and I think maybe that’s born out of the struggle”.

Ivory was expected to look “polished” and describes her workwear style as “a nod to a trend, always looking like I was close to a trend. Not Trendy”. She made it clear that she had to fit in with her high-flying clients, but “you’re not trying to be them,” as she was still providing a service. This is when “I started to feel more powerful… making some more conscious decisions to dress in that way,” she says in response to the confidence correlation with dress at work.

Confidence is Key

But, as Leni Faith (a seller of fine jewellery at Notting Hill, 84 years-young) shares, “dressing is always for power”. Whether you are “wearing a grass skirt or bearskins, it’s the way you wear the clothes that matters”. “Confidence is the main thing, and you can’t do that unless you’ve got people around you that give you encouragement” she teaches me.

Power dressing continues to hold political and social weight on its padded shoulders. Women in Business need to consider their appearance very carefully to make sure that people are listening, and not just looking, at them.

Images from “PowerMode: The Force of Fashion” Exhibition at The Fashion Insitute of Technology. Cover image from Flickr.