Acting Like a Woman (and Dressing Like One Too)

In a time when women are more empowered than ever and standing suited-shoulder-to-suited-shoulder with men in industry, business and entrepreneurship, why not promote this revolution by looking like the powerful women that we are?
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A fashion trend with some apparent staying power has emerged in the past few years, seeping into our collective fashion lexicon. This highly popular fashion movement is defined by appending "boyfriend" to it, and reflects a major influence on feminine dressing from the opposite side of the sartorial tracks -- boyfriendwear. Boyfriend shirts, boyfriend jeans, boyfriend fit.

While I love and often wear these trends myself (I founded a company that allows women to wear beautifully tailored button-downs), I can't help but pose the question: In a time when women are more empowered than ever and standing suited-shoulder-to-suited-shoulder with men in industry, business and entrepreneurship, why not promote this revolution by looking like the powerful women that we are? More to the point, lately I'm feeling like wearing things that exclusively make me look like the woman that I am, and not a boyish, oversized and belted version of that.

I personally hope there is a resurgence of dressing for the female form as pop culture draws references from women of times past. Peggy from AMC's Mad Men fights to join the "boys club" and looks unabashedly like a woman in the process of it. Frankly, I'm hard-pressed to think of another example of a woman in the public eye (who's not in fashion) that perfectly exemplifies feminine dressing as her raison d'être. And yet, some of the most influential high designers of our time, Armani, Valentino, Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera, have made their entire careers dressing women decidedly as women. So, may the runways which formulate what is attractive and "modern" for women of the 21st century be full of peplums, luscious silks, body-conscious silhouettes and all things vastly feminine; we can only hope it may trickle down to the masses, enabling women to wear feminine style tastefully and still be on-trend.

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