Safe or Smokin': Dressing for strength and presence

A New York Times feature on  American women's pro (WNBA) basketball players delighted me: athletes in their prime, dressed to celebrate their draft night in diverse designs from Louis Vuitton to a dress "from a mall store". When one is over six feet tall and strong as a concrete pillar, presence is wired-in.

I loved the shots of women of various ethnicities, many wearing pieces made of repurposed fabrics, and the jewellery was fantastic. They were dressed by stylists, friends and their mothers, but all had specified what they wanted, from razor-sharp trouser suits to sexily-slashed gowns. 

The vibe was fly, not flou; the rising star, Dallas Wings' Paige Bueckers wore a custom-made trouser suit studded with 200,000 tiny crystals:

Then a girlfriend came for a visit, and as we hopped around Montréal in our sensible sneakers and dined in jeans and neutral sweaters, I thought, We're still strong enough, but do we look strong—not athletes, but relatively energetic? Do we have presence or recede into the woodwork?

In the Passage, it's easy to unconsciously bend toward the practical and predictable; however, if that's a head-to-toe habit, we can end up looking like a throw pillow in an assisted-living lobby: nice, but bland. Inadvertently, we set up a feedback loop from low-energy clothes to low-energy persona.

But these young women are the operational definition of energy, bright beacons, and we can translate their firm resolve to be themselves, and their joy in finding exactly what transmits that to our stage of life. (I keep wanting to write "girls", not in a demeaning way, but as in, "these striking girls.")

An example in beige

Let's look at this strength and presence notion through the lens of several beige blouses. Beige is accepted as a quiet colour, but if you've watched Dominique Malonga gather her focus for a free throw, you've noticed that quiet is powerful too.

Safe: Nothing wrong with this shirt, but nothing to suggest an interesting woman who knows her mind, either, which is the problem with outfits of all-minimalist pieces. Sure, you could add a scarf but do you want to? It's from RW&Co.

Photo: RW&Co.

Smokin': The pieces below have presence, and convey that in different registers. 

Left: The poplin Oversized Split-Side shirt has something happening but it's not over-designed. It's by Banana Republic*, and made in regular and petite sizes. A faint, fine stripe adds texture.

Top right: Arket's Round-Collar blouse joins an ample Peter Pan collar to a straight body that ends in a tiny gathered hem, very Italian. 

Bottom right: The Sézane "Florica" blouse gracefully upgrades a classic style. The bow can simply be knotted instead, but bowed necklines are back in a big way.

The jewellery

 

Their jewellery is bold and personal, maybe more than you would wear (this is a red-carpet evening) but if there is one thing I would advise, it is the deliberate addition of a 'hero' piece to your collection. It need not be precious but it should be real; silver or brass beats plated gold. 

Standouts: The brooch on Saniya Rivers' lapel, with chunky chains and sculptural rings:

Shyanne Sellers in a stunning periwinkle suit with a diamond Van Cleef  "Alhambra" necklace, and diamond and sapphire beads:

I always thought VCA's Alhambra line was stuffy, but here she sinks it from the court shot.

My draft pick would be a chunky chain; in brass, one would not require a five-figure outlay. Michelle Ross "Ozette" chain; price, $CDN 198. Made in Toronto. The lacy links make an assertive yet airy chain.

Haley Gerrits "Dimah" necklace (detail shown) with handcut stones and vintage brass chains (up to 120 years old); price, $CDN; made in Vancouver. Made in two colourways;  price, $CDN 250.

 

It's a good thing that many of the WNBA women athletes were dressed by Coach and other brands, given the disparity between their salaries and those of their male NBA counterparts. Women's salaries are inching up, but their focus on appearance for draft night was also to attract sponsorship deals. 

Though never blessed with remarkable athletic talent, I can be coached in the art of self-expression, so will remember what Sonia Citron of the Washington Mystics observed, "...I think you get confident by looking good, and I feel like I look good." 

* I am presently not purchasing from American vendors in protest of the trade war, but, because many US-based readers stroll through the Passage, I'll occasionally show their products. Also, I wanted to at times show certain items as examples for styling what you already own.