The Pink Office

Back in 2001, novelist Amanda Brown gave us a romcom novel that would inspire women for decades after with its vibrant main character, Elle Woods. Immortalised for the screen by a perfectly cast Reese Witherspoon, in Legally Blonde, we see a woman win at life and law, despite no one ever taking her seriously. She is simply too pretty—too pink, too fuzzy, and of course, too blonde. In a sea of grey power suits, she is an unabashed flash of fuchsia; and she makes it to the top without changing that. The character’s long-lasting appeal is all too evident. Just a week ago, Witherspoon shared the first look of Lexi Minetree as Elle Woods in Elle, a prequel series coming soon to Amazon Prime Video.

There are many reasons the character became an iconic one; the juxtaposition of beauty and empathy, the intelligence that broke with stereotypes, and that unapologetic sense of self. Through the course of the film, however, you wonder why she isn’t swapping out her cat-eye Mikli glasses for a boxier, Harvard-appropriate pair. Or why she invariably wears a candy-hued skirt-suit when an ink-blue one is sure to get a nod of approval. But as the film wears on, that inner horror-movie shouts of “No! Turn around! Don’t wear that to court!” die down; and are replaced with admiration.

The character has an unwavering stance on her femininity—one that doesn’t change for her profession. There is a vicarious pleasure in that for many women who don’t always feel like they can allow for that style sensibility at work. There are, of course, exceptions; take my industry, for example. Fashion lets you fly your feminine flag high—and so do other women-led industries like beauty or wellness. But outside of for-women by-women spaces, the going isn’t as easy.

In celebrity stylist Isha Bhansali’s view, it’s why ‘power-dressing’ exists. “Boxy shoulders, shoulder pads, dark colours—all rooted in menswear. The sharp, tailored silhouettes, the structured collars… they’re all off-shoots of male corporate wear. And in certain industries, that matters. You wouldn’t ordinarily wear frills and flowers in finance.”

Lavanya Aneja, founder and CEO of Lea Clothing Co, agrees. “There’s definitely a pressure to dress in a particular manner in the corporate world. When I worked briefly at one of the biggest MNCs in India, we were given a long presentation on ‘acceptable office attire’, most of which was about policing women’s bodies.” She believes it can be daunting to fully lean into your femininity in a work environment. “It can be used to undermine your ability and ‘professionalism’. Masculine characteristics are seen as suited to leadership roles, so to be truly considered for promotions and responsibility, there can often be a pressure to alienate yourself from your femininity.”

I can attest to that. Right after college, I took a gap year and stuffed it to the gills with internships. In 10 internships across one calendar year, I got a taste of myriad industries—and found myself struggling to ‘dress appropriately’ for the more straitlaced environments; marketing, newspaper journalism, NGO work. Each required a different kind of dressing—sharp shirts and trousers for A, unremarkable shirts and kurtas for B, jeans and jholas for C. But the running theme was androgyny; dressing to evoke ‘seriousness’, with nary a pretty sundress or peplum top in sight.

The clamp on femininity in the workplace has multiple origins. There is the individual expression that invariably comes with it; not always kosher in a no-nonsense office, premised on the idea of the ‘team’. There is the misplaced idea of femininity equalling frivolity—how can a woman in a sundress possibly be good at her job? And then, there is the battle against the woman’s body and its ability to ‘distract’, because it is not so much about the woman in the delicate, chiffon blouse as much as it is about her male co-workers and the perceived impact it may have on them.

A study in The Journal of Social Psychology some years ago, called ‘Power and Provocativeness: The Effects of Subtle Changes in Clothing on Perceptions of Working Women,’ highlights this well. It found that “women in provocative clothing are rated as less competent”, particularly in higher-status occupations. It also found that “women dressed in more traditionally feminine styles were judged as less competent in professional settings”, that “senior managers and male colleagues viewed revealing clothing as a sign of lower credibility,” and that “women who wore slightly softer, less structured outfits were perceived as more approachable, but less authoritative.”

Bhansali finds, invariably, that women will choose ‘modest’ clothing, depending on the primness of the office, but she has found one exception for these spaces that allows for femininity within that construct. “The sari is the juxtaposition of those two ideas. It’s workplace appropriate—approved of, even—and about as feminine as a garment can get.” The other exception can be in colours and accessories. “Silhouettes can be tricky to experiment with. But, romantic colours, pastel hues, block heels (pretty and comfortable), playing with jewellery,” she says.

Aneja is of the opposing point of view—taking the traditional prints, textures and colours of corporate wear and giving the silhouettes a feminine spin. “At Lea, we mix typical suiting fabrics like pinstripes and plaids with silhouettes that accentuate women’s curves. We also play with embellishments to give it a little extra something, while balancing necklines, hemlines, and fit between feminine and workplace appropriate.”

While an Elle Woodsian utopia seems a pipe dream for the Indian corporate climate, subtler changes are being made to incorporate femininity in workplace dressing—within these professional constraints, of course. Look through the women’s workwear sections of Van Heusen or Allen Solly, and you’ll find pop-hued trousers, mint-green and dusky rose dresses (albeit a touch shapeless, with conservative hems and necks) and structured bags with floral motifs and gold embellishments. It isn’t as much a rebellion as it is a soft cry into the night—but it is an improvement on the corporate wardrobe of a decade ago.

The heart of the issue is society’s associations with femininity itself. The ‘feminine’—anything that revels in traditionally ‘female’ interests, aesthetics or pursuits, is equated with softness—a counter to the authority and crispness a professional atmosphere demands. But it is worth questioning whether that association is valid for a changing world, and if empathy and approachability are actually more desirable than a no-nonsense demeanour and ruling with an iron fist. Femininity may, in fact, mirror some aspects of what corporate culture, rife with back-breaking work environments and rising burnout, desperately calls for; a degree of sensitivity. And evoking it through fashion might well be the start of that.

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