Society today revolves around how we look. How our clothes show our personality, our character and mood. We can be analysed by our clothing choice. It's all about how 'good’ we look, how aesthetically pleasing we look to the eye. This has been consumed by society and ingrained into our culture.
How we look is now a commodification, it can be bought and sold, through modelling and other areas that focus on the body. We use materialistic things such as clothing, makeup and styling products to give us status and power over others. This is something that has crept into politics, slowly and then all at once, as we can see from the general election in 2015.
Politicians are watched with beady eyes. Their every move documented. But now we are seeing articles on what they wear, like celebrities. This was apparent in the 2015 general election where the three female leaders Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Leanne Wood (Plaid Cymru) and Natalie Bennett (The Green Party) were focused on, predominantly because of what they wore and how this contributed to what they said.
What they wore and what they looked like was the main focus. Increasing their power and status in the political arena was the competition that ultimately everyone could see.
Females are no stranger to being pre-judged on their fashion choices. There isn’t a stoic attitude about it, however politicians still laugh it off when asked about how they are dressed.
Women have only been prevalent in the public eye of politics since being allowed the vote in 1918. It was only in 1919, that women were able to stand for elections and gain their seat in Parliament.
From then, there was a steady influx of women appearing the House of Commons representing women's rights and the objectification of women and what they wore to represent themselves in politics arose.
In the 2015 general election, Natalie Bennett and the other women political leaders were followed, not only because of the policies they were presenting, but also because of their outfits of choice, particularly during the two leadership debates.
Derogatory terms were used to describe Leanne Wood, leader of Plaid Cymru and her voice. Twitter had been left swooning, whilst she was talking in her Welsh accent. People paid attention to what she sounded like and this transpired into what she looked like.
Her voice made her aesthetically pleasing, influencing people to concentrate on what she wore. During the election, Wood dressed in suit jackets, which was indefinitely seen as a status symbol and an outfit that connotes power. She maintained her femininity by wearing dresses. This confusion of connotations is perhaps why what women wear in politics is often talked about.
Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party was no exception to this rule; also being chastised for what she wore. Dressing like a female in a male orientated world got female politicians noticed.
She was portrayed as dressing like a male to show her status within the political arena. Throughout the general election of 2015, Nicola wore a lot of suits, this time opting for a skirt. She is now looked upon as wearing the 'power suit'. Although the skirt may be viewed as a feminine item, many men wore skirts in the Victorian era.
This could be viewed as a step forward for women being viewed on equal terms with male politician's, however Sturgeon and her female counterparts were still mentioned in the media because of what they wore.
In society today, the message is strictly that you must look the part, that you must compete. It seems that fashion in politics creates more readership that what is actually said by politicians, these days.
Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party was deemed to be dressing mainstream. She was dressing to please herself. After an arduous search on the internet, we couldn’t find anything on Bennett and her fashion. It seems that Bennett was immune to aesthetics. Her look did not seem to be commented on by the media during the election.
Margaret Thatcher, the first British female prime minister was also commented on. Her fashion has been discussed in recent years, most notably by fashion historian, Amber Jane Butchart, showing that this obsession with female politicians and aesthetics has been filtering through politics for a while.
Mrs Thatcher was renowned for wearing pearls. In many of the articles and videos that we researched, she wore pearls or a scarf. She covered up her femininity. After winning the Conservative Party leadership contest, she was advised to change and soften up her image. In an archived programme from the BBC, Thatcher talks about the pressures placed upon her to keep her makeup looking fresh.The media indefinitely has an influence on what women wear, more so now within the run up to general elections. The most recent general election is inevitably evidence of this. The women in this article are viewed as powerful, not only because they are leaders, but the way they dress upkeeps this opinion of them. It is well-validated that political fashion has become somewhat of a competition, being propped up by the media hype of looming elections.
As a society, we constantly ask questions about celebrities. What are they wearing? Which designer are they wearing? What makeup do they use? This pre-occupation has crept into politics, putting it on the same footing as celebrity culture. It can be agreed that aesthetics has become an integral part of today’s political landscape. We care indefinitely about what a politician looks like and how we ascribe this to their personality.
Can we ever go back to traditional politics, where people were judged on what they say?
