Dressed for power: She who wear the pants

09 June 2016 - 10:15 By Emily Cronin

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is still officially the most powerful woman in the world. That's according to Forbes, which just released its 13th annual Most Powerful Women List. Merkel tops the list for the sixth year running, followed by Hillary Clinton, US Federal Reserve chairman Janet Yellen, philanthropist Melinda Gates and International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde.And, like it or not, image counts when you're in power. Run an image search on each of the top 30 entrants, and a cohesive picture of her public style emerges. Most fall into one of the following categories:TROUSER SUIT TEAM:Politicians' sartorial heartland. Merkel, Clinton, Yellen and many more swear by the co-ordinated jacket-and-trouser combo. Clinton is so identified as a trouser-suit queen that she put it into her Twitter bio, in which she says she is: ''Wife, mom, grandma, women + kids advocate, FLOTUS, senator, SecState, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, 2016 presidential candidate."BLAZER BRIGADEFor female CEOs who never met a silk blouse they didn't like to hide under a boxy jacket.JEWEL-TONED CREWLeading this category are Oprah, Sheryl Sandberg and Melinda Gates, who know that jewel-toned, waist-conscious dresses are the patrician way to do dressy.EXPRESSIVE SCARF UNITLagarde, Yellen and Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi use a draped silk scarf as a more striking adornment than jewels.MONOCHROME MANIACSApple exec (and ex Burberry chief) Angela Ahrendts, EU Commission VP Federica Mogherini and UN Development Administrator Helen Clark are rarely photographed in anything other than black and white. Maybe cream. Navy if they're feeling wild. Because restraint equals power.SYMBOLIC SQUADNods to heritage in dress can resonate with the public. President of Chile Michelle Bachelet dresses almost exclusively in the colours of her country's flag (red, white and blue). Aung San Suu Kyi always wears a traditional longyi.MICHELLE OBAMAA category unto herself for her aplomb and total fashion wizardry.What's remarkable is the consistency with which each power-mover hews to her preferred look. The women of the power list have come around to the view their male counterparts have held for decades - that when it comes to wardrobe, the biggest power move is adopting a uniform.Steve Jobs had his black polo necks. Mark Zuckerberg the grey T-shirt.Think of the fashion editor who always wears Commes des Garcons. A uniform doesn't just save time: it serves as a visual reminder that you, the dresser, are in charge, and free to think about bigger things.- ©The Daily Telegraph..

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