‘Don’t Erase Yourself.’ What Power Dressing Means for Women in 2023

OVER THE COURSE of her career, Martha Stewart, the self-made mogul and pop-culture phenomenon, has seldom considered the concept of power dressing. “It has never fit into my lifestyle,” said Stewart, 82, who worked on Wall Street before founding her Martha Stewart Living empire. “I’m probably more casually dressed than most women executives. I never felt I had to dress to show off for men. I just want to look good. So I’ve never thought of it as ‘power dressing.’” Even so, she knows what she likes—and what boosts her bravado, namely natural fibers, leather pants (like the gold ones above), anything from Hermès and, recently, a slouchy, monochrome Brunello Cucinelli suit that she wore over an Eres swimsuit—yes, swimsuit—to an event in New York. “It looked good, I felt great. There was nothing wrong with it.”