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4.6.21

The Wonder Woman Syndrome : The benefits of a Power Outfit

The power of a good outfit is striking.


I’ve never felt more powerful than when wearing a blazer. I put one on and "tada" I look like this girl who knows what she wants. I’m like a superwoman, minus the whole saving the world thing. Okay more like a businesswoman who doesn’t have time to look up to make sure she’s not running into a moving vehicle. 


No, forget about that, I’m a French woman. The authentic, the original, the unbelievable French woman. And people are looking at me like « damn who is that girl ». And I feel so good. That is... until I walk into dog poo. 




Well, that's actually just storytelling. Don't get me wrong, I do feel powerful in a blazer, but for the whole 'walking into dog poo' part, that actually never happened to me. Yet. But it is funny, isn't it? The way a simple clothing item can give you the confidence and the power you never knew you needed to start the day. 


The fun fact is I've never really liked a blazer until I reached a certain age where wearing a blazer was the other way to show how professional I was, that is, the day I started interning. Even at that stage, wearing a blazer was an image of working, I couldn't wear a blazer outside of work, it felt uncanny, strange, deeply uncomfortable. The reality was far from it, I simply hadn't found the right jacket! 



So here I was, a couple of years later, wearing a blazer and heading out to work. As I was walking, I realized how good I felt. The lines I wrote to start this article, I actually wrote two years ago. To this day, the feeling hasn't changed. The only thing that did change is my habit of wearing a blazer. 


What has changed? You may ask. I found the right jacket, the right fit, the right feeling. 


   

I may be a fashion addict, but believe it or not, my collection of workwear jackets was quite limited. Not being a fan of blazers for many years, I had maybe one grey checked print blazer, fitted, bad quality, and uncomfortable. The funniest thing? I only wore it when I had a job interview, or when I graduated from college. 


I put blazers aside, keeping my small collections for special occasions. But on a sunny day in Paris, walking through the Marais with a good friend, trying to find the entrance for the Vintage fair we were attending, something unusual happened. On the crowded alley of second-hand clothes, between tons of Levis 501, and flowery dresses, there it was, the vintage blazer I never knew I'll fell in love with. But the deal wasn't set from the get-go. If the brown checked pattern was screaming for my attention, the man fit, added to the XL size, was intriguing. As my friend was trying to convince me to try it on, I slipped the large jacket on my shoulder over my badly chosen dress of the day. Though my snake printed dress is a statement piece on its own, the no-name blazer couldn't care less. It was there to stay and make a statement on its own. 


It didn't take long for me to decide if I would take this good looking guy home. Swiping my card on the machine, I didn't think twice. And to this day, I still feel lucky I came across this second-hand item. 


 
 

As my love for blazers grew, my collection expanded, and my desire to wear them outside of a work environment changed. Slipping a blazer on my shoulder is now a synonym f empowerment for me. Maybe it's the large padded shoulders or the whole meaning behind this workwear piece, blazers give me the confidence, the power, the desire for greater things. They turn me into a Wonder Woman on my own. 


So that's my power outfit, what's yours? 


Love,


Elsa. 



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