Editor’s Note: Featuring the good, the bad and the ugly, ‘Look of the Week’ is a regular series dedicated to unpacking the most talked about outfit of the last seven days.
CNN
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Dress for the job you want? If that’s the case, one might wonder what the stars are trying to tell us with their embrace of big shoulders and skirt-suits that seem more fitting for the boardroom than an off-duty afternoon.
Miley Cyrus is the latest in a slew of celebs opting for power dressing outfits, defined by exaggerated shoulders and sharp tailored cuts. Among her several statement-making outfits in Paris this week, the singer was photographed wearing a Saint Laurent look that some took to be a nod to the maximalist style of the 1980s. Referencing the shoulder pads and oversized jackets embraced by the office-dwelling men and women of the era, Dazed called the outfit “Reagan realness,” while one Instagram user asked: “Are the trading room floors from Reagan-era America in the room with us (?)”
Embrace of the power dressing style can be seen as a way of asserting confidence and coping in a turbulent world. The trend also carries a sense of nostalgia, particularly for its heyday in the 1980s, when shoulder pads and clothing with strong silhouettes became a way for women to project authority and success in the workplace.
The head-to-toe Saint Laurent outfit was a far cry from Cyrus’ usual aesthetic, which tends to favor lower necklines and cut-out designs. Cinched below the waist with an orange leather belt, her oversized, wide-shouldered leather jacket was the centerpiece. She completed her color-blocked ensemble with a red lambskin pencil skirt and green leather gloves, styled with sheer tights and spindly stiletto heels.
Also spotted in Paris and embracing an oversized silhouette was Kendall Jenner, who — wearing a white scoop neck tunic and billowing black trousers — looked like a walking lookbook for The Row, the brand by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, whose minimalistic designs are frequently worn by the model. (In Jenner’s hand was the label’s $5,600 Marlo bag, which she has been toting around since the roomy style debuted last month.)
“In another universe she runs an art gallery where you trust everything she says,” was one social media user’s take on the look, which was enhanced by Jenner’s summer-friendly bob. The short hair has itself become a mainstay in power-dressing. It is perhaps best epitomized by Leslie Bibb’s iconic cut, made famous by the latest season of “The White Lotus”. Bibb’s bob has lent itself well to power suiting, leaving her shoulders on full display to model boxy blazers and dramatic overcoats.
Another advocate of the office-friendly style is Daisy Edgar-Jones who sported smart, minimalist styles during her “On Swift Horses” press tour in April. That included a gray wool skirt-suit gray pumps and rectangular sunglasses. The monochrome look came straight off Calvin Klein’s fall-winter 2025 runway, which marked creative director’s Veronica Leoni debut for the label. Although gray-on-gray sounds like it ought to belong to the depths of uninspired office fashion, Edgar-Jones looked fresh and fuss-free.
The actress also wore a more daring take on the trend in an ensemble from Shanghai-based label Shushu/Tong’s spring-summer 2025 collection. Despite being conservative in length, the pencil skirt appeared to have its zip intentionally undone at the waist, revealing another layer of fabric underneath. It was paired with a cropped navy V-neck bustier top with a white collar.
It takes a lot of confidence to show up to work in a cropped sweater and with your zipper seemingly undone. But if Cyrus, Jenner and Edgar-Jones are anything to go by in this new age of power dressing, perhaps these daring styles hold the key to getting what you want.
