And that photograph of the newly appointed top heavy female cabinet that has got everyone talking.
Yesterday the world was introduced to Marie France the UK’s new First Lady, wife of PM Andy Burnham and as he appoints a top heavy female cabinet for the first time in history (even though the big jobs all went to men apart from straight talking veteran Yvette Cooper who leaves the foreign office to become the new health secretary) all eyes are on the girls.
The dress everyone is talking about, The Edith cost £850. Victoria Beckham is across every global news outlet except for all the wrong reasons. And the creases, the dishevelled thrown together looks, the no make up and no tights are also out and proud for all to see. So is that really great for British fashion and British Business? They say any press is good press, which is probably true for the Beckhams and Victoria’s in the red fashion empire but perhaps not so for the new PM.
Is this the new and updated remake of the Hans Christian Anderson classic tale The Emperors New Clothes? As the Daily Telegraph ignore the glaringly obvious and sing the praises of the tribute to British Fashion for the middle classes including the High St, Marks and Spencer’s, Boden and Office Shoes.
As a stylist I hate to say the first thing I noticed when Marie France walked out alongside her husband proudly supporting him was the creases about her midriff. I thought why choose the light lavender Victoria Beckham dress that looked a little bit too small?
The point of investing in expensive beautiful well fitting well cut designer clothing is to make you look and feel amazing. Every fashion designer will tell you that’s why they go to work. And why the drape, the cut, the magic, the illusion a couture dress delivers warrants the high price tag.
I would describe myself as a supporter of women and when the furore exploded online, some pointing out the glaringly obvious, the dress and others jumping to her defence accusing in the most part other women, me included of being nasty, spiteful, mean girls it made us debate in my inner circle is it important how you present yourself to the world in top jobs, high profile public positions. I know Marie France isn’t employed as a civil servant, and she should by rights be able to wear what she likes and to hell with what anyone thinks but could all this unnecessary noise be avoided simply by putting on a different more flattering dress.
Men don’t have these issues, a suit and tie is pretty standard and doesn’t leave room for debate. Women on the other hand have a lot more choice, are more widely critiqued and criticised for their appearance and how they might present themselves and we do tend to love and appreciate fashion and style more on the whole.
Although I appreciate it is not important to everyone, some men do take a greater pride in their own appearance, so the lines are by no means fixed.
When I looked at the array of newly appointed women to the cabinet, whilst the clothes shouldn’t matter, they are all highly educated and if you are clean and tidy surely your ability to do the job in question is the most important thing, however that is not the reality in today’s world.
I think every woman and man on TV in positions of power could gain more respect by making better choices when it comes to their wardrobes and how they present.
I am probably going to get killed for saying it, call me shallow but how we present ourselves affects how people see us, we make sub conscious judgements about people within the first 5 secs, we cannot help it, it’s the way we are wired so running a country requires people who are impressive in every way not just their university credentials.
The ability to win arguments and get people on side to make change for good requires more than smarts and the way you dress and present yourself to my mind is all part of that.
I saw a landscape picture in one of the daily’s of the newly appointed cabinet ministers and all I could think of was “Middle Aged Spread”
It immediately made me think not that these people needed to look like they’re just stepped off a catwalk in Paris but that a pair of tights on old legs or running an iron over the crumpled clothes wouldn’t have gone a miss.
Margaret Thatcher wasn’t the most fashionable woman on the planet, and not that I was especially a fan but she wouldn’t have been seen dead without a pair of tights on at a press call or photo shoot.
TV cameras are very unforgiving and whilst you might not want to wear make up in your day to day life, lots of women find it a frivolous and an unnecessary waste of money and time, if you don’t want to look like you’ve just stepped out of your coffin it’s a necessary part of being in front of a camera, that is if you don’t want to scare the audience you are winning over and getting on side, the objective of a political soldier. You have to be voted in after all to get the job in the first place.
Neither a rant nor a rave I wish all the women in the cabinet congratulations on their new roles and good luck to Marie France as she moves into No. 10 Downing Street with her family.
As a fashion stylist my job is to help women represent themselves on the outside, my passion and sometimes an extra pair of eyes can avert a fashion disaster and what can become a political PR nightmare right out of the gate. Right or wrong, the last thing the new PM wants is everyone talking about his wife’s normal sized tummy.
Tatler and Elle did a pretty good cover up on the fashion policing I witnessed at the cabinet unveiling. I’ve attached a link to one article introducing the 14 women now running the country, although not really in the top posts, housing, culture, education and health. The treasury, defence, and business all posts retained by the boys.
Fashion disasters can linger long after public policy blunders yet with a tweak here and there these media storms could be so easily avoided by the important people that run our country.
Just saying.