Why Are Powerful Women Icons Always Wearing High Heels?

You needn’t look beyond Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign to understand this paradox: the more powerful a woman is, the more we pay attention to her outfits. In January, The New York Times wrote that Clinton “ended the clothing conversation” by opting for practical, inoffensive looks: black slacks, thigh-length blazers, scoop-necked blouses, and nearly flat shoes. The fact that the piece was considered newsworthy at all indicates that the conversation had not ended, and indeed it hasn’t; pantsuit digs and pantsuit think pieces are slung in equal measure. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders’s unremarkable sartorial decisions remain, well, un-remarked upon. Read More…