Brushed square, fitted blazer: at first glance, Anne Hidalgo's uniform is a stereotype of the female politician.
A look chosen so as not to stand out, a form of erasing the form to leave room for the "substance" of his speeches.
In the countryside as at the town hall of Paris, his essentials are as follows: straight pants, a navy, black or greige jacket over a white top, paired with a pair of ankle boots or low-heeled pumps that raise his sixty-meter height. three.
“She knows all the codes that prevent us from talking about her clothes,” comments Sophie Lemahieu, author of
Dressing in Politics
*.
It must be said that, daughter of a seamstress, Anne Hidalgo is no stranger to the subject.
However, it would be wrong to reduce the Hidalgo style to the all-purpose suit.
“There are only two functions where fantasy is tolerated among women politicians: the ministry of culture and the local mandate” asks the author.
Mayor of a cultural capital, Anne Hidalgo touches on two particular cases.
The flawless look of Anne Hidalgo
In images, in pictures
See the slideshow09 photos
See the slideshow09 photos
Neither ordinary nor extraordinary
Impossible to miss the farandole of scarves with floral motifs, Aztec, red, blue or bright pink which regularly punctuate the outfits of the chosen one.
The black leather jacket and, in summer, the printed dresses replace his eternal blazer, but only in certain circumstances, "on the ground, where showing his dynamism is well seen" specifies Sophie Lemahieu.
But for Jamil Dakhlia, researcher in communication and politics and director of the University of the Sorbonne Nouvelle, there is "no extraordinary fantasy" in her appearance: "for women politicians, appearance is complicated .
There are gendered injunctions: you shouldn't look like a man, not too much like a woman either.
Every fantasy gives rise to jeers.”
An observation that Anne Hidalgo has already shared openly, even if she knows how to bend skillfully to the exercise.
More a woman of words than a woman of fashion
In the female political landscape, Anne Hidalgo was one of the first to publicly put her finger on the importance of her appearance.
In 2014, she agreed to lend pieces from her wardrobe for the
Women Fashion Power
exhibition in London, and underlined, in her inaugural speech, that "the clothes you wear, especially when you are a woman in the political life, is undoubtedly the first message that we send to people who meet you, even before they hear you speak.
It's what you represent, what you give off."
Full screen
Anne Hidalgo opens the Women Fashion Power exhibition at the Design Museum in London.
(October 28, 2014.) Abaca
Where her colleagues willingly elude the subject of their appearance, Anne Hidalgo "assumes [sa] difference": "I don't want to pass for another.
I like to work but also to be pretty” she advocated in 2013, when she opposed the other candidates for mayor of Paris.
"A good point, strategically" notes Sophie Lemahieu, who recalls the crucial position of Anne Hidalgo, at the head of the fashion capital.
"Caring about your appearance is respecting people"
Failing to support emerging creators through clothing, the mayor of Paris positions herself as someone who is stylish and sensitive to the subject.
“I am fascinated by fashion.
(...) I don't really know what it means to be fashionable, I'm mainly looking for outfits in which I feel good.
(...) I like pure, marked lines.”
she confided to
Madame Figaro
in a joint interview with Ralph Toledano, president of the French Federation of Couture in 2016. And to justify this appetite with her personal story.
Coming from a line of seamstresses, Anne Hidalgo inherited a taste for clothing and does not fail to remember it.
Nimble with the needle, she wouldn't be reluctant to sew on a button, even in the middle of a meeting at the town hall.
“By referring to her mother, she also indicates her modest origin,” analyzes researcher Jamil Dakhlia.
"Take care of your appearance is to respect people" can we hear the candidate say.
"It's a speech that we also heard from Rachida Dati: she presents her sense of appearance as a form of respect for others, inherited from her working class background, and not a futile concern."
he continues.
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White shirt and Chopard necklace, for her official campaign poster, Anne Hidalgo bet on the blueprint.
(2022.) Hidalgo!2022
Gri-gri and storytelling
“In terms of political communication, it's interesting to explain your choices with a story,” emphasizes Jamil Dakhlia.
Demonstration with the jewel.
Very focused on "gri-gri", Anne Hidalgo never separates from her Chopard Happy Diamonds necklace, a model that dates back to twenty years.
The mayor of Paris told
Gala
her story: it is a gift received at the birth of her last child, Arthur Germain.
Again a family affair, and a slice of life willingly shared.
“Impossible to know if it is calculated or not, but it goes rather well, it makes sense and she manages to explain it” comments the sociologist.
For Jamil Dakhlia, “voters are looking for consistency.
If she wants to cultivate her stole as a leftist woman, you should not go into luxury.
Faithful to the end of the hem, Anne Hidalgo has entrusted her figure to the Apostrophe brand for years: a high-end but discreet address, a stone's throw from the famous luxury brands of Avenue Montaigne.
Since 1968 and for the third generation, the Hazan family has been offering carefully timeless collections, made in Paris.
The chosen one acclaims their straight pants and jackets with a straight cut.
The brand's slogan?
"She is, she does not appear."
CQFD.
*Published by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, in partnership with the École du Louvre, 160 pages, 35 euros.