Yes it is back in style and then some, the staple of 80s attire the power suit is back in fashion for womens workwear, as well as for men, twenty-three years after Vogue magazine announced that the age of power-dressing was finished. Many of the major designers feature it in the collections to hit the runways this autumn, including Christian Dior, Gucci and Giorgio Armani, who was one of the first to launch the concept first time around.

High street fashion is sure to follow suit (no pun intended), this will mean big changes in some workwear wardrobes. The power look still consists of a jacket and tailored trousers, or skirt, but has been described as being narrower than in the 1980s, with “slimmer sleeves, with trimmer and more feminine shoulders” rather than the look originally when women seemed to be ready to take on all comers in an American Football game, like the leading ladies in classic soaps such as Dallas and Dynasty.

One thing hasn’t changed and that is the colour schemes being offered, being muted and not as bright and breezy, so black, grey and beige come to the fore, with modern paler almost metallic neutrals being available. This can clearly be seen in the new ‘Elysium’ film with actress Jodie Foster wearing a suit specially designed by Armani.

The trend began a couple of years ago as young men and women began to buy suits as fashion statements, and this saw an increase in sales of around 12% in just twelve months. Back in the 1980s the Armani suit became a de rigour uniform for women who wanted to show their business success. Variations on the theme were such that by 1988 when the corporate comedy drama “Working Girl” film was released, this style was simply seen as work wear for successful business women. In the film, Melanie Griffith’s lead character is only ready to succeed in her chosen profession when she “borrows” and wears her absent female boss’s suit changing from your normal workwear. It isn’t until she makes this change that she is able to make her way.

Then Vogue made their announcement in 1990 that the style was done, but suits lingered in the office and business environments for another ten years until the rise of the more “casual approach” to workwear began to be seen. However, we are now seeing a return to the suit for womens workwear but even Armani himself says “Power once and power now, are very different. Now power can be feminine”.