So, two strong women, Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom, were in the running for the big political prize – leadership of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister. Now just Theresa May is left after Mrs Leadsom withdrew.
Whatever your political views – and SoSensational is most definitely not getting into politics – as a fashion website for women over 50, we were really excited that two women aged over 50, Mrs May, 59, and Mrs Leadsom, 53, were both in the race, even if one has now decided she doesn’t want the job.
So, forget politics; which of them, Theresa May or Andrea Leadsom was the winner in the fashion stakes?
We feel we should preface any and all comments about their fashion, hair, etc, with this disclaimer: as women of a certain age and feminists, Jan and Cyndy recognise the irony of commenting on the clothes and appearance of two politicians. They also acknowledge that if the last Tory candidates standing had been Boris Johnson and Michael Gove they wouldn’t be discussing their clothing, though Boris Johnson’s unruly blonde hair might have warranted comment!
Jan and Cyndy further acknowledge that, like every other woman on the planet, Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom have good fashion and hair days and bad fashion and hair days. Getting photographed in the wrong light, or when we are slouching or when our hair looks a bit rubbish, can happen to all of us – but politicians (like celebs) are under greater scrutiny, so need to be extra careful about wardrobe and grooming (and not slouching) – which is probably why so many ultimately surrender to the tried-and-tested, default formula of a tailored suit and court shoes.
However, as the final two Tory candidates were women and as SoSensational is a fashion website for women over 50, we really could not resist telling you what we think of the styles of Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom.
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, and now Prime Minister, is 1.68m tall (that’s 5’7” in old money), making the Oxford graduate quite tall . As we saw way back in 2007 when she rocked those leopard-print kitten-heels at the Tory Party Conference, and again when she wore a boldly patterned coat to meet a foreign dignitary, Mrs May is a woman who is prepared to take risks with her wardrobe.
She usually looks polished and pulled together but she clearly rejects the female politician’s usual uniform of tailored suit and court shoes. SoSensational particularly admires Mrs May’s willingness to wear colour and print and to push the fashion boundaries at least a little (actually for a Cabinet Minister she pushes them a lot – we’ve seen her in Vivienne Westwood, as well as jewelled animal-print shoes). She also likes a statement necklace which suits her well. We particularly liked the black-and-acid-yello dress-and-coat outfit she wore to accept the Queen’s invitation to form a government. Indeed, that outfit from Amanda Wakeley’s S/S16 collection was available to buy from SoSensational earlier this year.
Warwick-University graduate Andrea Leadsom, has not, of course, held a Cabinet post (until today when she accepted the post of Environment Secretary) so has been under the fashion microscope a lot less than Mrs May, having entered the Commons only in 2010, and appointed Minister of State at Department of Energy and Climate Change in May 2015.
Fashionwise, Mrs Leadsom seems to be a conservative (with a small “C”), and wears a lot of tailored jackets with scoop-neck tops underneath. The scoop-neck vests and tops work well for her. She does wear colour, rocking tailored blazers in a rainbow of shades, which flatter her. In some early pictures, she wears a shirt under a tailored jacket, which is too angular for her but either she took advice or the penny dropped and she swapped shirts for those tops.
Where Mrs Leadsom loses out to Mrs May big-time is in the hair-fashion stakes: here is a woman of 53 with a wash-and-go hair-do, and with that bit of backcombing for a bit of height, making it a bit helmet-hair and a bit wash-and-go.
Andrea, it’s time to get a new haircut! Believe us, we know how much you think you need height on top. And you possibly worship at the shrine of Lady Thatcher, the Queen of Helmet Hair. But it’s 2016, you are just 53, so get that haircut!
Tell us, who’s fashion style do you prefer? Or is there any other female UK politician who you would nominate as top of the fashion stakes? Let us know below…
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