THE DIRECTORY: Professional style around the world
Different ways of professional dressing...
When friends of mine are visiting Sydney on business, they often ask me what they should wear. This is because there’s an assumption that Australia is a more ‘casual’ country which might have a different style of business dressing to Europe or the US. No one wants to be the person at the party who got the dress code wrong.
Obviously, women are individuals and there is no ‘one look’ for a country or region, but what professional women wear does vary generally from country to country. Sometimes for religious or climate reasons, sometimes it’s something indefinably cultural. Ill advisedly, I’ve tried to distil some of this below…
I’ve kept things at country-level – but there are obviously differences within countries too. For example, in Melbourne women wear black far more often than they do in Sydney (Melbourne, you know it’s true…). I also haven’t included France and Italy because I feel like they’ve been studied to death lately.
Regardless of whether you agree with my characterisation of the general ‘look’ in different countries, one thing is undeniable: there are terrific brands for executive women all over the world that we should all know about.
If you have any favourite executive fashion brands I’ve missed - particularly in South America, Africa and South-East Asia - do let us know…
And, yes, I’ve included Hillary Clinton’s pantsuit supplier in the US section, because it would be rude not to.
WithPockets x
AUSTRALIA
Karen Gee - Provence Dress (buy it here) WITHPOCKETS!
Perri Cutten - Statement Skirt (buy it here) WITHPOCKETS!
When I first arrived in Australia, the first thing I noticed was that women wore outfits to the office that would be deemed suitable for a wedding or a day at the races in the UK. Over time I came to realise that Australian women weren’t ‘overdressing’, men were underdressing. Ten years ago in Sydney, many men wore the kind of ill-fitting, shiny suits beloved by estate agents (sometimes I feared my male counterparts might catch fire if they moved around on the conference room chairs too vigorously).
Professional women in Australia do tend to dress more overtly ‘feminine’ and less heavily than is common in other Western countries, particularly the UK. As a general rule, pant suits are less common in the boardroom than flowing skirts. The style is at least partly due to the climate, the ‘car culture’ (less walking…), and the national obsession with exercising at 6am (for good shoulders).
Brands:
Bianca Spender (who is, believe it or not, Carla Zampatti’s daughter!)
UK
The Fold – Clever Crepe Knighton Jacket (buy it here) WITHPOCKETS!
ME + EM - Soft Sculpt Jacket (buy it here) WITHPOCKETS!
Executive dressing in the UK is the polar opposite of Australia: pant suits that are ‘masculine’, heavily tailored and structural. The fabrics are often heavier too, which works about 75% of the time and absolutely sucks in the UK summer (which is a lot warmer than people imagine).
Shoes are often flats, brogues or sneakers (although you do still see high heels in law firms and in the City of London, even post-Covid). Whatever you may think of the style, it’s more forgiving if you like walking as much as I do.
Brands:
JAPAN
S.S. Stein – Extra Fine Wool double breasted blazer (buy it here) WITHPOCKETS!
Japanese executive female clothing is not so much tailored as precision engineered. Every pleat is intentional and purposeful (and sometimes requires significant effort to upkeep after you’ve bought it, although this is evolving). Japanese tailors are not afraid to use excessive amounts of fabric, shaping it into longer, ingenious, billowing or angular shapes.
The fabric of Japanese suiting is often higher quality than we see in the West – meaning that although the prices sometimes seem extraordinary, you certainly do get what you pay for. I know women who have clothes from Yohji Yamamoto that they bought in the 1990’s and are still going strong now (the jackets, not the women).
Brands:
Margaret Howell (yes I know Margaret Howell is a UK brand - but they are absolutely massive in Japan)
DUBAI
Bougessa - Siena Dress Burnt Red (buy it here)
Abadia - Sadu tapered pants (buy it here)
Like everything in Dubai, many executive fashion labels are imported from overseas – but there are a number of homegrown fashion designers catering for Dubai’s new female bosses (if you’re in Dubai, most of them deliver within 2 hours, which is standard service for everything in Dubai now).
You can’t really tell from the pictures above, but executive clothing in Dubai tends to be more fluid than structural and is often made of lighter fabrics. It is in the middle of a desert after all. The clothes are very elegant, however, the downside of the light fabrics is a distinct lack of pockets…
Brands:
SWEDEN
Tiger of Sweden - Umaas wide mid-waist trousers (buy it here) WITHPOCKETS!
Malene Birger - Carlien Wool Trousers (buy it here) WITHPOCKETS!
Sweden is one of my all-time favourite shopping countries. Frequently described as “effortless” and “minimalist”, Swedish professional dressing can be a little more casual than other countries (denim is not unheard of in the boardroom). It’s also a lot more accessible, fitting most sizes and body shapes – and it’s not unusual for clothes to be unisex. Snaps to Sweden for diversity.
For practicality and functionalism, twinned with cool, Swedish executive dressing is hard to beat – and frequently comes with pockets (hooray!).
Brands:
USA
M.M. LaFleur - Mela Midi-Skirt Confetti Slub (buy it here)
Ann Taylor - The One-Button Blazer in Luxe Twill (buy it here)
US professional women’s wear is often considered conservative (which may come as a shock to the Americans reading this). It also has, overall, fewer pockets than other countries I’ve featured (other than Dubai). I’m not sure if this is a patriarchy thing (comedian Michelle Woolf does a great piece on this in The Well) or brands being stingy with fabric, but do better USA!
However, the States is leading the way in other areas: for example, executive clothing that can be machine washed. This is an absolute godsend if, like me, you have a habit of spilling your coffee all over yourself on the way to check in for your flight.
Brands:
Nina McLemore (Hillary Clinton pant suits)
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