newsletter issue 220

I spent the weekend binging on two very different kinds of workplace dramas—Ryan Murphy’s pulpy legal show All’s Fair and the new season of Netflix’s The Diplomat. The two raised a similar question—how do women want to dress for work?

All’s Fair is all about ‘girl power’. It’s set in a world where Kim Kardashian has finally passed the bar, Glenn Close is back on screen, and the men are merely there to be cowered by their snappy one-liners and high-powered legal prowess. As they stride through their glossy offices, the power suit is put through the shredder and then reassembled for a more playful, polished approach to boardroom dressing. Kimmy’s wardrobe, in particular, is rich in archival fashion—sourced with the help of stylist Soki Mak—think a Chinoiserie-printed dress from John Galliano’s time at Dior, a lemon-yellow Valentino gown, a quilted Chanel briefcase, and multiple Jean Paul Gaultier looks, including a daring, thong-revealing skirt suit from Gaultier’s 1997 runway show that’s got Redditers in a twist.

It’s almost entirely a 180 from the workwear in The Diplomat. As costume designer Jenny Gering told NYT, the women in the show want to appear like “one of the boys”, so she dressed them in a series of dark-coloured suits peppered with button-ups from Saint Laurent or Akris.

While the latter might seem more practical, the former offers something more fantastical. And if television is where we go to see our dreams come true, then maybe a workplace where you can wear your most fabulous fashion is a dream worth having—butt-revealing pants included.