The return of the feminine business attire uniform

[Anonymous]

God’s honest truth is if Nancy Pelosi weren’t the 80 year old Speaker of the House but instead my 25 year old daughter, I would recommend against wearing the type of dress she wears to work. If she were shaped more like AOC, I wouldn’t. This isn’t because of how I feel about what is appropriate but rather based on the perceptions of (thankfully a smaller and smaller group as time goes on) many older people that essentially demands that women with curves not wear anything fitted but don’t bat an eye when women without them wear the same thing.

[Anonymous]

My issue with Pelosi's style has nothing to do with the sheath dresses. Those are perfectly appropriate and acceptable for any body. However, her dresses often have these deep slits on the side which I don't think are particularly work appropriate. This is a better example of something Pelosi can only get away with because she's older.

[Anonymous]

Damn, I hope my thighs look like that when I’m 80!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My issue with Pelosi's style has nothing to do with the sheath dresses. Those are perfectly appropriate and acceptable for any body. However, her dresses often have these deep slits on the side which I don't think are particularly work appropriate. This is a better example of something Pelosi can only get away with because she's older.

Okay, I'm one of the pro-sheath people above, and I agree this is not work appropriate. I imagine if she saw this picture, she would get specific dresses made for when she's standing/ walking all day versus sitting.

[Anonymous]

Whew that’s a lot of thigh!

Also, she’s definitely wearing pantyhose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disliked Hillary for so many reasons, but her sticking to the black pantsuit with different blouses gets an A+ from me. Pelosi is older, and they have different expectations of workwear. She probably also buys and affords the every expensive pantyhose that don't run as much. If you don't mind putting on the pantyhose, it's a very simple thing -- two items.

At a certain point in your life you figure out what works for you and you just go buy it in every color.

Pelosi (80) isn’t that much older than Clinton (72).

Generationally and culturally, they’re miles apart. Pelosi had five kids by the time she was thirty and spent twenty years as a housewife. She has said she would have loved to go to law school and have a career as an attorney (and even took the LSAT) but that was not an opportunity afforded to most women like her at the time. Eight years later, Hillary did have that opportunity. The cultural space between silent gen women and boomer women is huge and can be seen in many manifestations (style expectations is one).

Great post -- thanks for bringing it up a notch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this eye candy thing is about white women and the beauty ideal. As the fat black woman who posted earlier, again, I — and many women like me — am not being sexualized in the workplace but instead have to fight off perceptions of being angry and/or militant and/or an affirmative action hire.

Also women with curves ie Pelosi should not be penalized because of the way their “fat” falls on their bodies anymore than I should be penalized for wearing my hair as it grows out of my scalp.

"Fat black woman"--I'll bet you are one of the women I admire in the office for wearing clothes that are flattering for their bodies and their coloring, whatever it is! I'd rather see a "fat" woman wearing quality clothes than fit her well than a skinny woman in ill-fitting clothing any day. Same for the hair!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The dress Pelosi wears in a multitude of colors is fine for a woman her age, but I think would be too revealing for anyone younger. I don't need my work attire to show my curves in that way, even if they're flattering. My attractiveness should be out of the picture altogether in the workplace. That's why I believe in a 10 or 12 outfits wardrobe of pantsuits, skirtsuits, or matching jacket+dress suit. I'll take off my jacket for the quarterly happy hour, or we we have to move around tables for an event, but otherwise, I just make slight adaptations to men's dress code.
I do this out of feminism.

Do you want women with hips and boobs to wear a sack? There’s nothing revealing about Pelosi’s or Ocasio-Cortez’s dresses. Nothing. Your weird take is on you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Damn, I hope my thighs look like that when I’m 80!

+1
Holy Toledo. My thighs dont look that good now.

Does anyone have an ID on that necklace? That is stunning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t see Pelosi or AOC’s clothing as at all sexual. They are tailored sheath dresses. They look like professional women to me and I’ll admit, this is exactly what I and many women in my office wear.

Are Warren and Clinton supposed to be the standard here?

I think Clinton in the early 2000s (less so now) and Warren today are the best examples of the uniform that intends to simplify fashion into a non-factor for female leaders. Pelosi is an interesting topic because she also wears the same cut daily but it isn't really a simplification because of all the thought that goes into her appearance as well as high fashion sensibility of her wardrobe so I don't think it serves the purpose of making clothes a non-factor.

PP. Great points. The challenge is that I read Warren and Clinton as women who don’t like clothes very much in the first place. They don’t see clothes as an expression of personality, but as functional items to cover their bodies. I could never be happy like that - I like my work clothes to convey competence, authority, and femininity. The Black Halo Jackie O (fitted appropriately) is the perfect embodiment of this to me. (Im a lawyer and it was a staple of female lawyers at my old firm.)

I'm a lawyer too and I hate uniforms of all sorts, whether in the Warren/Clinton mode or any other style. Your clothes should be practical and comfortable, yes, but they should also make you happy. I like to look in the mirror and smile. I like to play with color, silhouette and proportion. Competence, authority, and wisdom are demonstrated in the quality of your work and the results you get for your clients. As for "feminity" -- that's in the eye of the beholder and the beholden. You can look pretty and feminine and chic in a LBD or in a smoking jacket and silk trousers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think both Nancy and AOC's dresses are fine. They are classic dresses.

Hillary Clinton's pantsuits just seemed frumpy and K Mart shopper to me.

Hillary has terrible legs, so no sheath dresses for her. But, yes, she could do so much better in terms of the fit and style of her pantsuits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Damn, I hope my thighs look like that when I’m 80!

+1
Holy Toledo. My thighs dont look that good now.

Does anyone have an ID on that necklace? That is stunning.

Most of her jewelry comes from Meriwether Fine Jewelry in SF so that would be my guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whew that’s a lot of thigh!

Also, she’s definitely wearing pantyhose.

+1 on both counts. I doubt Pelosi meant to show that much leg. She looks good though...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The dress Pelosi wears in a multitude of colors is fine for a woman her age, but I think would be too revealing for anyone younger. I don't need my work attire to show my curves in that way, even if they're flattering. My attractiveness should be out of the picture altogether in the workplace. That's why I believe in a 10 or 12 outfits wardrobe of pantsuits, skirtsuits, or matching jacket+dress suit. I'll take off my jacket for the quarterly happy hour, or we we have to move around tables for an event, but otherwise, I just make slight adaptations to men's dress code.
I do this out of feminism.

Do you want women with hips and boobs to wear a sack? There’s nothing revealing about Pelosi’s or Ocasio-Cortez’s dresses. Nothing. Your weird take is on you.

It’s practically the same dress! Except one of them has a larger chest. In fact, AOC dress is showing more arm (the scandal!). They’re both fine.

[Anonymous]

I think that part of why this thread spiraled (aside from DCUMness) is that the concept of a work uniform is inherently part of conforming to a male dominated workplace. Most women in the public eye who do this make a noted point of doing it to keep their clothes from being a topic of discussion. Now we have this notion that talking about a woman’s clothes is sexist (which is untrue) so fashion as a media focus is less of an issue. Women should feel free to dress however they want but we shouldn’t criticize women who want to look attractive when they go into the world, work being a part of the world.