Power Dressing Awaits a Makeover

The Indian career woman wants smart business wear and homegrown brands are taking note—but not soon enough

- Mahalakshmi Prabhakaran

A few months back, an assignment to interview the CEO of a multinational company sent me spiralling with the question of what to wear. The outfit had to look sharp but also be comfortable enough to see me through the day. I scoured through the "seemingly formal" shirts and trousers I owned and did some last-minute mixing and matching. All that effort ended with me falling back on an extremely safe combination of a semi-formal black top with fitted jeggings. That tiny exercise, however, got me thinking about how shopping for smart corporate wear is not as easy as it seems.

Career women in their 30s and 40s who I spoke to had the same refrain: find me good formal western wear that fits and doesn't cost a bomb.

For Nidhi Agarwal, founder and CEO of Ebony & Ivory PR, Bengaluru, finding stylish workwear has been a problem since the pandemic years when she gained some weight. A size M through most of her adult life, the 40-year-old now wears XL. This change, she reveals, has translated into "not finding clothes my size when I walk into a store to shop."

Being in a job that entails organising events and brand launches and meeting a range of people from C-Suite executives to content creators, Agarwal needs to power-dress for the most part but based on the choices available off the rack, she bluntly states, "Power dressing is not inclusive in India."

To be clear, there is good formal wear available in India but whether it's Allen Solly, Van Heusen or Zara, there are fewer good designs available in bigger sizes compared to casual or desi wear. The only alternative is to spend big bucks on plus-size international labels like Never Fully Dressed.

Size is a major pain point for Anjali Pathak, 41, an economics professor at Delhi University, as well. A size 9, Pathak often has to settle for a size 8 or 10 when it comes to formal western wear. "Never mind that this means that the fit rarely sits right," she shrugs.