SPECIAL: What TV gets right about executive dressing
...and what it gets spectacularly wrong.
This article is a one-off because it took me much longer than normal to research as I had to actually watch the TV shows. Before you get out the world’s smallest violin, in the case of All’s Fair this means I have irreparably destroyed my Disney+ algorithm regardless of how many Wes Anderson movies I watch to try and offset the horror…
But it’s also a one-off article because there’s a sad lack of TV shows depicting modern executive women. Although every year we’re seeing more women at the top of the tree, you’re still more likely to see a woman on TV running away from a murderer than running a company.
Or, more accurately, running a country, as it turns out there are only really two corporate roles for women on TV: lawyer or politician / bureaucrat. Luckily, I happen to know quite a bit about the outfit codes for both these sectors, so let’s dive in…
WithPockets x
The Diplomat (Netflix)
Image credit: Netflix
“How is this a $1,600 piece of clothing? It does not even have pockets.” (Keri Russell in The Diplomat)
Preach, Keri. Probably more than any other TV show of recent times, The Diplomat, gets it. Ostensibly The Diplomat is the tale of a Middle East policy expert who thrives on danger and bad decision-making duped into being a symbolic figurehead (Ambassador to the Court of St James) by her Machiavellian husband. However, I prefer to think of it as one woman’s personal battle to wear the dark pant suits she prefers in a demanding public-facing role where she is often too busy to take a shower.
Particularly good is the scene in Season 2 where the US Vice President, played by Alison Janney (if only), delivers a withering analysis of Keri Russell’s wardrobe faux pas.
Alison Janney has a point (Alison Janney always has a point). I also second her advice (different scene) about the usefulness of hair grips. If you have baby hairs, or hair that, in the words of my hairdresser, “really does its own thing”, hair grips and hairspray stop you looking like you walked through a hedge to get to the meeting.
What The Diplomat gets wrong
For the love of God why so many satin shirts? In practice, unless you carry anti-static spray they cling to you like a toddler and hot flush sweat stains become an actual water mark on a satin shirt if you wear deodorant. Hard no.
All’s Fair (Hulu/Disney+)
Image credit Disney+ / Ser Baffo
Glenn Close, Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts and… Kim Kardashian, playing successful divorce lawyers in Los Angeles… The show is a more scripted version of Selling Sunset but with lawyers instead of estate agents. It’s Legally Blonde without the one-liners.
Still, solidarity. I once used an all-female law firm to sell my house and they wore leopard print in every single photo on their website. They did a fine job.
So, would any of the clothes featured on All’s Fair pass muster for WithPockets? I gamely sat through the whole of the pilot episode to find out… (this was the limit of both my research and my sanity).
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What All’s Fair gets wrong
It’s hard to know where to start. I’m not sure what the rules are in courts in L.A., but I’m pretty sure you’d be in contempt for a skirt like the one in the picture above anywhere in the world. And this is probably KK’s most conservative outfit of the season. At one point, she wears a John Galliano ‘thong suit’ (Google it, I’m not wrecking the integrity of the WithPockets website by posting it for the SEO…).
What All’s Fair gets right
The show starts with a ‘backstory’ scene of the characters working in a male-run law firm before they leave to run a firm whose expense accounts must be the equivalent of a small European nation. The outfits in this backstory scene are credible. It’s all downhill from there, with one notable exception: for some reason, the character of ‘Liberty Ronson’ (Naomi Watts) continues to dress like someone who might actually have a job. I think this is supposed to be an extended metaphor for her character being British and, ergo, deeply uptight.
Much of her wardrobe appears to be the A/W collection by Max Mara.
Hostage (Netflix)
Image credit: Netflix
UK prime minister Abigail Dalton (played by Suranne Jones) discovers her husband has been abducted. Meanwhile, French president Vivienne Toussaint (played by Julie Delpy), is being blackmailed. She is also, suspiciously, on an official visit to the UK at the time of the abduction. It really does seem that the path to seniority for women on TV never does run smooth. Luckily for us, it does involve some terrific (and wearable) pant suits.
What Hostage gets right
Hostage is pretty much bang on when it comes to powerful female tailoring. The navy suit above, from Episode One, comes from The Fold, one of WithPockets favourite brands, not least because they are one of the few brands with tailored, structural suits that can be machine washed on cold. While the jacket shown in Hostage has now sold out, this similar one is available.
Navy is the professional colour of choice for Suranne Jones in this series. Netflix gets this right too. In all recent engagements I’ve had with senior politicians and bureaucrats, navy has been the colour of choice. In fact, in the same way that in medieval times purple could only be worn by royalty, in politics and the civil service only the top tier wear navy, while the level below them favour grey (this is true for both women and men). I strongly suspect there has been a whole-of-government memo…
What Hostage gets wrong
Julie Delpy plays the French president, equally impeccably dressed in purple, red and white. Presumably because Suranne Jones had already called dibs on the navy – which is just as well as then Julie would have been a walking French flag. Hilarious, Netflix.
House of Cards (Netflix)
Image credit: Netflix
I know this series is… ahem… a little tarnished now but, seriously, let’s take a moment to gaze in awe upon Robin Penn-Wright. God that wardrobe. Just… all of it, please. Hair too.
Disappointingly, quite a few of the outfits were apparently custom-made for the show, which explains why everything fits so immaculately. The items that weren’t made especially are mostly from American designers (fitting the narrative perfectly) such as Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Zac Posen, including the dress above (by Zac Posen, bag by YSL). Zac Posen is now sadly defunct as a brand, however, his recent collection for Gap Studio is worth a browse (although sadly lacking in pencil dresses like the one above…).
Rumour has it some of Robin Penn-Wright’s shirts for House of Cards were bought from Banana Republic and then tailored, so if you want to copy the look and you know a good alterations specialist, now you can…
What House of Cards gets wrong
Very little. Even in the later episodes where the narrative descends into fascism, the outfits are still wearable. A troubling reminder for us all.
Image credit: Netflix
Are there are any other recent shows (or shows set in recent times, not period dramas) featuring executive women you’d like me to review? Let me know – if there are enough, I may do a follow-up to this article…