Fashion in Film: Woman of the Year

Once, when I was having a really terrible day at work, an old coworker lent me a copy of the film Woman of the Year, and advised me to watch it immediately. The would assuage my sorry mood, he assured me, and make me feel better about my future. This was a wise (also very fashionable) friend, and of course he was right. The film stars Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as rival reporters/a married couple, whose relationship struggles due to Hepburn's enormous success. (As per the title of the movie, she's named "Woman of the Year" at one point.) In addition to dealing with such issues as inter-romance career competition -- which is obviously always a good movie premise, hello -- the film contemplates the tension inherent in being a successful, ambitious, career-oriented woman. Obviously, these are some fairly progressive concepts for the year 1942, which is when the movie was made. But what's even more awesome about this film is that Katharine Hepburn is not portrayed as some dowdy shrew: she is Katharine Hepburn, the glamorous style icon (and, in the film, a brassy, ambitious, charming career woman), and so she is dressed as such. Instead of lacey, uber-feminine frocks, she's outfitted in her trademark trousers and perfectly-tailored top. The result is simultaneously sexy, classic, and classic -- feminine but not girly, and professional without being the loathsome unflattering business casual.  AKA, signature Katharine Hepburn. Should serve as a lesson to us all.