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.

Molloy's manuals addressed a new kind of female workers entering in a typical masculine environment recommending the skirted suit as a "uniform" that would help them to acquire authority, respect and power at work.

[2] 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.

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.

[5] 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 World War I, were slowly entering previously all-male environments.

According to the costume historian Harold Koda[6] 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.

The notion of career woman stepped into contemporary society as women reached high powered job positions, which previously were intended to men.

[citation needed] Margaret Thatcher's style sets the rules on how female politicians should dress, which is a conservative, powerful but simultaneously feminine way.

[19] She was able to pave the way for all those careers-motivated women who were trying to succeed in a male dominated world and like her, they could find support in clothes and accessories to communicate authority and power.

This TV show contributed to the return of strong colors, like fuchsia pinks, sea greens, purples, royal blue and red in a women's wardrobe.

For instance during a business cocktail meeting, Tess wears a long black sparkly dress and a dark brown fur coat, attracting people's attention.

They appear as young and energetic girls and their clothes are the example of some quite bad taste outfits, including leopard skin print jackets, black stripe tights and copious baggy leather outerwear, often worn with gaudy hoop earrings or all gold accessories.