The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 24 July 2019 *** 21
B
ye bye, boulder necklaces!
Kick off those kitten heels! As
Theresa May exits Downing
Street today, will she do so trundling
a jangling suitcase full of signature
hefty necklaces behind her?
The Prime Minister’s legacy will
not be defined by her clothes. But in
her three years and 11 days in office,May has given fashion editors plenty
of fodder and, on many occasions,
her political wranglings have been
inseparable from her image.
In the final year of her premiership,
May has toned it down considerably,
aiming to banish chatter about her
dress sense by wearing the same red,
black and blue suits. She might havehoped that this would prove boring
to write about, however delivering
a groundhog day approach to her
clothing only served as a parallel
plotline to her Brexit negotiations.
If May’s personality and her
style have been worn down
lately, we can remember that
once, a little “fashion fun”was something that she was quite into.
This is a woman who famously chose a
Vogue subscription as her luxury item
on Desert Island Discs. Now will she
be able to freely enjoy shopping at her
favourite Henley boutique
Fluidity again?
The leopard-print
heels, graphicjewellery and wacky print coats
that punctuated her early tenure
have become to May’s caricature
what pussy-bow blouses, royal blue
skirt suits and outre pearls were for
Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher’s style
has now become museum-worthy.
The power suit she wore to accept
leadership of the Conservative Partyin 1975 was sold for £25,000 at
Christies in 2012. How favourably
we will document Mrs May’s work
in Downing Street will of course be
much pored over. But for the fashion
history books? These are the looks
which defined May’s take on Prime
Ministerial power dressing – and said
everything even when she did not...Farewell to the prime
ministerial power dresser
Allison Pearson
The police’s treatment
of Lord Bramall is
a national disgrace
Page 25How strapping!
This summer’s eight
best sandal styles
Page 22A novel approach
This is the year
the Booker Prize
gets political
FA SH ION Page 27
FEATURES
Theresa May was never one to show her feelings, but as she hands over the
keys of No 10 to Boris Johnson, Caroline Leaper looks back at
what she was trying to say with her wardrobe
THE LEATHER
TROUSERSOh trousergate. In December
2016, Mrs May sparked headlines
by wearing a pair of £995
Amanda Wakeley “bitter
chocolate” leather trousers for a
photo shoot and interview. Her
political rivals swarmed. “I don’t
think I’ve ever spent that much
on anything apart from my
wedding dress,” Nicky Morgan
quipped. Nadine Dorries then
called Morgan sexist, stating that
she never made such comments
about David Cameron’s
expensive suits.THE TWOFER COATFrom Strasbourg to Brussels,
Westminster to Maidenhead, Mrs
May’s favourite blue coat by Italian
label Herno has certainly put in the
miles. In March this year, May wore
this ‘“comfort” coat almost every
day. With a wool felt outer and
puffa-style lining, it is designed to
look like two jackets and is named
the “twofer”. As in “twofer the price
of one”? At £825, the PM has
certainly made sure she’s got
her money’s worth.THE POWER SUITSWhen her Brexit negotiations
began, May was having fun
with suiting. From the
“lucky” Vivienne Westwood
tartan suit that she wore to
deliver her initial Brexit
plans in January 2017, to the
modern pinstripe skirt suit
by Daniel Blake which she
chose to announce the
snap general election that
April, she was out to play
around with the notion of power
dressing. It all got more sober but
then she resigned in a tangerine
two-piece by Blake. Could
optimism be back on
the agenda?THE BOLD NECKLACESMay’s jewellery statements have
provided plenty of material for
Twitter memes and broadsheet
sketches; did that “strong and
stable” Amanda Wakeley silver
necklace look a bit like a ball and
chain? Does she keep her huge
collection of Mirta Bijoux’s
wonderfully named “BallsMania”
styles in a colourful sweetie jar?
May used her necklaces to add
punch to otherwise safe outfits,
allowing the faintest flicker of her
taste to shine through.THE ‘I QUIT’
SHOPPING SPREESince stepping down, the
PM’s fashion mojo has been
refreshed. She’s debuted a powder
blue trouser suit and a zingy
yellow blouse. Mirta Bijoux has
made her an electric blue necklace
that looks more like a children’s
game of Kerplunk than a shackle.
Just as she’s quickly pushed
through a few legacy policies, so
too is she scrambling for some last
minute entries to her PM style file.
Better late than never, right?her money s worth.n
ers
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e.AFP/ GETTY IMAGES/ IAN JONESTHE £26 NEXT DRESSTheresa May has tended to favour
expensive suits and designer
classics. But, on holiday in July
2017, the PM revealed a secret
passion for the high street store
Next when she wore a £26 linen
shirt-dress with a sandal-version
of her favourite leopard-print
shoes. May’s love for Next
had been first rumbled
that January after items
she had bought online
were left at the wrong
address, prompting the
recipient to post on
social media asking
if anyone knew a
“Mrs T. May”.THE FRIDA KAHLO
BRACELETIn November 2018, it was all
about a cuff that the PM was
wearing, bearing the
image of Mexican
artist Frida
Kahlo. In the
wake of cabinet
resignations and
a letter of no
confidence from
Jacob Rees-Mogg,
the press viewed
it as a symbol of
feminism, strength
and a steely
determination
to carry on.rp
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to carryTHE ARRIVAL
JACKETTheresa May entered
Downing Street on July
13 2016 with optimism.
How do we know? Her
jacket told us; a lime-
bordered navy coat by British
designer Amanda Wakeley,
costing £695. It was
symbolic of a fresh start,
with Twitter fans
reacting positively to
the fluro choice and
praising the new PM
for wearing British
on her first big day
on the global
stage.THE LEOPARD-PRINT
KITTEN HEELSMay’s obsession with leopard-
print shoes throws back to the
Tory party conference in 2002;
her “kinky” kitten heels made
headlines and, thus, a not-that-
new narrative about liking
fashion and having political
brains was forever attached to
her. Understanding the potential
of having a recognisable style
signature, May stuck with them
all the way to the top, wearing a
pair of LK Bennett heels as she
took office, and debuting styles
by Beverly Feldman, Charlotte
Olympia and Russell &
Bromley thereafter.TWW
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