When I was twenty-eight and lived in Paris, I bought a jacket for the first time. Not a coat or a leather bomber but a proper, tailored jacket. A grown-up jacket. A power jacket, if you will. It was navy blue. Not a dull, school uniform navy, but the colour of the night sky in the summer when the stars are clear and bright. It was a silk-mix, high-end high-street homage to the iconic Saint Laurent Le Smoking tuxedo and when I brought it home, I put it on a padded hanger and hung it on the outside of my wardrobe. It was love.

Prior to this moment, I’d never been a ‘serious jacket’ kind of girl. I was all about the metallic leggings and crop tops from American Apparel or the emblazoned mini skirts worn with postbox red tights a la Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl (if you know, you know) jackets, I naively believed, were for lawyers and CEOs. Not for twenty-something girls with a penchant for Pastis and boys in bands. But then I noticed something about the twenty-something (and every-age-something) women in Paris. They all wore these chic little jackets. Nipped-in waists and feminine lapels. Or mannish oversize blazers with jeans. These women, who walked down the rue Cambon like they were walking onto a yacht, knew the power of the right jacket. I was smitten. The secret? Like those other French girl style hacks; the deep red lipstick, the tousled hair, the nonchalant attitude - the jacket is more than the sum of its parts. It’s a lesson in confidence.

“A good jacket should feel like the ultimate hype woman in sartorial form,” agreed Emma Firth, Features Editor at BURO London and a writer for British Vogue. “It should pick you up when you’re feeling low and give you the confidence to show up and be present.”

Last season was full of sharp shoulders and trouser suits in a myriad of rainbow shades, girl boss tailoring for those of us who are tired of mid calf length florals for meetings. Then, we all started working from home and the power jacket became something we pulled on over a jersey top for a quick Zoom call.

“We’ve learned this year perhaps that ‘power dressing' comes in many different guises - it isn’t suits so much as key worker scrubs that spring to mind now,” explains Harriet Walker, Fashion Editor at The Times. “In your own life, perhaps a power jacket is no longer the sharply tailored, business blazer you wear for sales meetings but the smart cardi or bomber you put on ahead of a Zoom call with a client.”

Indeed, working from home has been a game-changer. Yet surprisingly, it’s the jacket that has really come into its own thanks to its versatility and, of course, the fact that in our new-world order no-one gets to see those Bottega Veneta statement shoes you just bought anymore (except on Instagram), but the whole office is treated to a flash of your white Balmain double-breasted blazer everytime you dial in. And it’s not only about who gets to see it, but crucially how it makes you feel.

“For me, putting on a blazer — even when technically my bedroom is my boardroom these days and I wouldn’t get eyeballed for wearing PJs 24/7 — punctuates the start of the working day,” says Emma. “I feel more 'together', more me, when I wear one for video calls with colleagues (I have a rotation of styles that hang off my home-office chair to grab when needed - perfect if you’re actually wearing a sports bra or, in fact, just a bra, underneath).”

The phrase ‘power jacket’ may conjure up images of Alexis Carrington in Dynasty rocking a monochrome ensemble, complete with black net veil, but 2020s power jacket manages to be confidence-inducing without feeling too dressed up. The fashion rules are also not as prescriptive as previous seasons, when it comes to finding ‘the one’ (Or two or three…). Think a neat pinstripe blazer at Isabel Marant, a figure-hugging Chanel jacket worn to the knee in lime green lambswool or a leather Chloe bomber.

If you’re unsure of where to start, then an oversized, vintage-style blazer will work with everything in your wardrobe from a silk dress to leggings. Emma agrees:

“I’m of the vintage school of thought when it comes to this wardrobe staple - preferring a slouchy, mannish silhouette and supersized shoulder pads a la Julia Roberts' Armani style at the 1990s Golden Globes. It’s polished and professional, without veering too much into try-hard territory.”

“A blazer adds panache to any outfit,” adds Natasha Bird, Executive Editor (digital) of ELLE. “A boxy style with rolled-up cuffs can turn even a slinky slip dress into something that makes you look put-together and fit for the board room. I actually especially love the interplay between deeply feminine styles and masculine tailoring. We're all multi-faceted as women and it's great when you can get your outfit to reflect that.”

Her expert styling tips? “The key to keeping things fresh and fashion-forward, is playing with proportion - a blazer-jacket with a longer hemline or a crop with oversized shoulder details. I always tend to keep my hair pulled back to keep the sharpness of the collar and lapels visible.”

Because this is a lesson in confidence as much as anything else, then don’t worry about all those ‘dressing for your body shape’ rules and instead just pick a piece you love - and feel good wearing.

“Women should never feel like certain aspects of fashion are off limits to them. Ever. If you find something which you love and it makes you feel powerful or confident, then wear it,” advises Natasha. “Horizontal stripes aren't just for stick thin models. Most of those pieces of advice came from men who didn't have to inhabit a woman's body and didn't care about how things enough made us feel.”

“Power to my mind has always gone hand in hand with confidence - something I think comes from being totally comfortable in your clothes,” agreed Harriet. “That’s why even the sleekest tailoring won’t work if it doesn’t fit - far better to go for a loose or lightly structured top layer that feels either so chic as to be completely unremarkable (perhaps a navy mannish style) or is deliberately upbeat and infectiously jolly (such as a brightly patterned bomber or pastel shade of suit jacket).”

For Alice Snape, freelance writer and author, the right jacket isn’t just about high-energy world domination vibes but also about being cocooned and safe.

“There’s no better feeling than being wrapped in faux fur,” she admits. “It makes me feel like I’m wearing a comfort blanket and really helps me feel comfortable leaving the house when I’m having a full-on anxiety attack. And, let’s be honest, that is power.” Unsurprisingly, the runways were full of our favourite chic-yet-cosy staple, the faux fur jacket, with Michael Kors offering up jackets with a hand-spun, heritage-like character and Jeremy Scott at Moschino offering the sort of outrageous luxury that he described backstage as “a moment of respite.” At Stella McCartney, models sashayed down the catwalk in the world’s first sustainable faux fur, made using plant-based ingredients. For those of us who love the feel of faux fur but worry about the admittedly problematic issues of sustainability for a fabric that is made from petroleum-based products and polyester/acrylic mixes (so essentially plastic) - Stella has created a bio-based fur by KOBA®. Ideal if you want to feel like you’re snuggling up under the softest blanket.

Perhaps then this is where the jacket’s real power lies. It looks sharp and pulled-together — whether we’re talking blazers, shoulder-padded suits, neat bombers or faux fur creations — and at the same time, you feel, well, safe. The duvet-effect, as it were, but reimagined for a seasonless fashion landscape. The perfect antidote to a year fraught with anxiety and a proper pick-me-up for those of us investing our optimism in the future.

Page 40

The Power Jacket is Back

(But With a Twist)

Tailoring is a classic power move, but this year’s must-have jacket comes in a myriad of shapes and fabrics. The common denominator? The way it makes you feel, says Contributing Editor, Isabel Dexter.

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