Mind you, no Labour female politician in my opinion, has ever topped Barbara Castle in the style stakes. Have female politicians become more slovenly in the intervening six decades? Unlikely. In 1961, in parts of the UK, 50 per cent of homes didn’t have a bathroom.
However, a combination of inverted snobbery, distorted readings of feminism and “wash and go” hair made it increasingly difficult for any woman to dress for the job. Too tailored and you risked looking like an Eighties relic. Too glossy and you could be called out on social media for being frivolous or, if you’re a Labour MP, a class traitor (never mind that the “working class’’ traditionally really care about putting on the best possible face). Too high street and you could get cancelled for supporting sweatshops.
Fashion must also take responsibility for the dearth of choices in working women’s clothes. Alexander McQueen might have been a genius and an artist. But bumsters and Izzy Blow, out-to-there shoulder pads do not a convincing House of Commons go-to make. Fashion loves tailoring but it tends to push exaggerated forms: oversized, overlong, overpowering. It’s making a point, and it’s not one that relates particularly well to the average mp’s daily schedule
Like it or not, female politicians, often stretched in all directions, short of me-time and almost certainly focussed on matters not pertaining to what’s new in on Net-a-Porter or Me+Em, end up being a reference for millions of other equally frazzled women.
That’s one of many reasons Angela Rayner is a fascinating style watch. Determined not to compromise her love of punchy colours, “loud” patterns and pencil skirts in the House of Commons, or be cowed by what she sees as snobbery on the opposite benches, she’s nonetheless tweaking her flamboyance so that it looks more polished. Red is still in – obviously. But since her Vogue shoot last November, she’s been wearing it, and other colours, as one solid piece – a dress or a jumpsuit – to ensure a clean line and flattering silhouette in photographs.