Look of the Week: Nicole Kidman is bringing this 9-5 staple to the celebrity circuit
By Leah Dolan, CNN
(CNN) — Nicole Kidman has officially clocked into the press tour for her latest film, “Babygirl,” and she’s dressed for business. On Monday evening, the actor — who plays a high-powered executive in Halina Reijn’s movie, out Christmas Day in the US — arrived at the Late Show with Stephen Colbert in a fitted black pinstriped suit with a double-breasted blazer. After the taping, Kidman furthered her case for employee of the month by switching out her sheer blouse for an official “Babygirl” T-shirt from A24’s merchandise store.
But Kidman isn’t the only A-lister to embrace the humble stripe. This week, a throughline has emerged — from Rihanna running errands in LA wearing a striped Bottega Veneta set, to Elle Fanning showing up to a London photocall for “A Complete Unknown” in a Saint Laurent pinstripe shirt (paired with beige wide-leg slacks and a navy tie).
The iconic pattern — most deftly demonstrated in Kidman’s suit — can be traced at least as far back as the Medieval era. One of the earliest mentions of pinstriping in literature comes from Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” written in the 14th century, where the English writer described a barrister who was wearing a homely coat “girt with a silken belt of pin-stripe stuff.” By the Victorian era, suits decorated with single-weft lines had become a staple among the British banking class, but the style of stripes was less about form than function. Each bank reportedly owned a particular colorway or fabric, while the thickness and spacing of the stripes themselves delineated a person’s rank within the company.
There’s a certain irony in the fact that those on the celebrity circuit — who appear to hover above the mundanity and misery of cubicle working and employee dress codes — are embracing this staunch symbol of corporate professionalism. But they aren’t alone. Despite the rise of work from home culture decimating the need for old-school office wear, there is an appetite for a more playful version of 9-5 style.
This year, Gen Z fetishized pinstripes, gray tailoring and denier tights with the “office siren” microtrend — a phrase that has 48,000 videos attached to it on TikTok, with some racking up millions of views. At the Saint Laurent show in September, the same collection Fanning found her Monday night outfit, creative director Anthony Vaccarello honed in on the power suit — designing them with huge ‘80s shoulders, pinstriped shirts and jewel-toned ties. Fashion houses LaQuan Smith, Nina Ricci and Antonio Marras similarly followed suit, offering up pinstripe tailoring reimagined either in mini dresses or exaggerated silhouettes.
Thankfully for her, Kidman won’t be needing to apply for a real office job anytime soon. But dressed in her pinstriped suit she looks every bit the “Babygirl”-boss.
The-CNN-Wire
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