Victoria Starmer wore a cream blazer to accompany Prime Minister Starmer for a key vote, continuing the trend of women using power blazers in significant moments. The blazer resembles an expensive Alexander McQueen design.
Key points
Victoria Starmer wore a cream blazer to vote with the Prime Minister.
The blazer resembles a £1,690 Alexander McQueen design.
Power blazers are used by women in significant political moments.
Stylist Lauren Rothman describes the blazer's professional aesthetic.
The Princess of Wales also wore a similar style recently.
Mentioned in this story
Victoria StarmerPrime Minister StarmerAlexander McQueenLauren RothmanPrincess of Wales
Not a white flag but a cream blazer was what Victoria Starmer chose to wear to accompany her husband, the prime minister, to vote on Thursday morning. She follows in a long line of women who have mobilised the power blazer at high-stakes moments.
Starmer’s, which looks much like a £1,690 ivory Alexander McQueen crepe design, comes hot on the lapels of another. In episode one of the new series of Amandaland, Amanda wears a beige double-breasted iteration in a high-stakes fictional moment: to give a toe-curling talk about her (not shallow) lifestyle brand Senuous as part of careers week at her kid’s school. Earlier in the week, the Princess of Wales launched the Foundations for Life report wearing a creamy beige high-waisted Roland Mouret suit.
Punch stood wearing beige blazer
High-stakes fictional moment: Lucy Punch as Amanda in Amandaland. Photograph: BBC/Merman
The cream blazer has, according to the stylist and DC-based fashion consultant Lauren Rothman, who styles politicians and business people, “a professional, creative aesthetic to it that says: ‘I’m in my own lane of power dressing, and that requires standing out while still signalling competence.’”
Rothman refers to the blazer in general as “the third piece”: “the layer that turns clothing into presence”. Blazers, she says, “create visual structure, and structure is psychologically associated with authority, preparedness, competence”. Physically, she says, blazers change “how they carry themselves by the sharpening of framing the body in a powerful way”.
Princess of Wales in beige suit walking
The Princess Of Wales arrives for the Foundations for Life report launch earlier this week in London wearing a Roland Mouret suit. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Q&A
What does Victoria Starmer's cream blazer symbolize?
Victoria Starmer's cream blazer symbolizes a blend of professionalism and individuality in power dressing.
How much does Victoria Starmer's blazer cost?
The blazer is similar to a £1,690 ivory Alexander McQueen crepe design.
Who else has worn a similar blazer recently?
The Princess of Wales recently wore a creamy beige high-waisted Roland Mouret suit, showcasing a similar style.
What is the significance of power blazers in politics?
Power blazers in politics signify competence and individuality, allowing women to stand out in high-stakes situations.
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A blazer in a cream, or close-to-cream, colour has an added layer. “It’s a high-visibility neutral,” she says. “Psychologically that behaves very differently than black … It attracts attention. Where dark colours recede, white and cream advance. And so it really changes the power dynamic of how a woman occupies a room or a space.”
The oversized, off-white Marc Jacobs blazer Harry Styles wears in his new video for Dance No More is certainly a case in point, particularly in tandem with his bright red short-shorts.
In the case of Starmer, next to the dark tailoring of her husband, it denotes “the modern evolution of power dressing”. The same could be said for Melania Trump, appearing next to her husband to welcome the British king and queen to the White House last week wearing an off-white Ralph Lauren blazer and matching skirt. Perhaps there’s something in the contrast that Hillary Clinton was hoping to weaponise in 2016 when she wore a Ralph Lauren cream wool crepe blazer to take on Donald Trump in the third presidential debate during which sexual assault allegations against him were raised.
Also, there’s a status inherent in it. “Not anybody can wear white,” states Rothman. “It gets dirty.” Of course, anyone needing to get the tube, rather than get in a car driven for them, may be more hesitant.
Styles in off-white, oversize blazer and red shorts surrounded by video production crew
Harry Styles in Marc Jacobs separates for a music video. Photograph: Courtesy of Stella Blackmon
Then there are historical implications owing to its close proximity to suffragette white – in photos, some of these power blazers appear more white than cream. “Using white during major symbolic moments in the political leadership world can become shorthand for female authority, solidarity, institutional breakthrough,” says Rothman.
Small wonder Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has in the past mobilised the power of a caped white blazer, wearing what is believed to be a Zara design to the 2019 State of the Union address.
Rothman often advises her clients to wear a white blazer. The only time she wouldn’t? “If it doesn’t make sense seasonally … and I do have some chronic spillers.”
