Power, the energy generated using fossil fuels, is not the same kind of power that influences how you look and feel when you put on a power suit. Although scientists have found ways to generate electricity, using natural or synthetic substances, to generate electricity from clothing, the fashion industry has found ways to influence society’s creativity and focus to convey power or bravado.
Power, the ability to do something, act in a particular way, or influence the behaviour of others, does not exclusively refer to how one dresses. Yet, what one wears can convey the expression of power and authority. The interpretation and observation of power have long been an interest in society, from Gangsters to Politicians, Lawyers to businesspeople. The ability to use fashion as a secret weapon to shed light on one’s personal views, political context, or unspoken rules of law and order is interspersed between a person’s contemporary or traditional ideas.
The pinstripe, perhaps the epitome of style and elegance, or associated with the fabric of the New York Yankees baseball team’s uniform, where the patterns are of skinny stripes of any colour, running in parallel, suggesting a connection or balance between concepts and designs.
The balance of power has experienced ideological changes characterized by our particular culture. The conscious or unconscious ideas, beliefs, and attitudes shape our understanding or misconceptions of the world. Take, for example, feminism. With International Women’s Day just around the corner (March 8, 2023) perhaps we need to be talking about ‘Why equal opportunities are not enough’, or ‘how innovation can play a key role in introducing novelty, leading to personal and professional satisfaction and success’, depending on the circumstance, or ‘How power can influence the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women’ and why ‘Every Woman Counts’ should be a daily theme, not just a tag line once a year.
Like the pinstripe, traditionally a sartorial byword for power, feminism is making a statement. A statement about equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities for all genders – women, men, trans, and gender-diverse people, children, and families. Equality for disabled people, income and employment equality, religious, reproductive healthcare, and access to mental healthcare equality. Equal access to education so a student won’t be saddled with years of high-interest loans, the ability to address the roots of homelessness, creating effective rehabilitation programs by eliminating systemic bias and prioritizing effective crime prevention, and ensuring that we have the right to vote in free and fair elections.
Power is a statement all unto itself. A clear and definitive expression of fact or fiction. Lost in an instant, as the New York Yankees’ longest losing streak, power can also be regained. Utilize your confidence, persistence, and power of positive influence like the pinstriped loop pile carpet that is not only an excellent choice for high traffic areas but is durable, to grab hold of the potential that lays deep within your subconscious and come out swinging with poise, purpose, and positivity.
The power of conviction, self or otherwise, does not only help the people around you see you as a person of power and influence, but it also improves your inner sense of competence and strength. Align your words, actions, and beliefs, and be authentic. The rest will fall into place as it should. A pinstriped suit is not required.
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Jacqueline Biollo has been carving out her path to empower others by being an example of confidence, strategic thinking, and optimism while instilling the power of possibility and potential in everything she does. Jacqueline has more than one power suit in her closet, but none that mimics the pinstriped design of any Gangster, Politician, Lawyer, or Baseball team.
