Power dressing now
Power dressing? Hey, why not learn from the best? Forget pantsuits and muted makeup; flamboyant, fiercely feminine Cleopatra is back as a power-dressing icon, and we are here for it!
Once upon a time, women believed that, in order to be taken seriously, they had to dress like men. From Margaret Thatcher’s iron coif to Hillary’s pantsuits; it was all about mimicking the boys to gain access to their club. Blend in, suppress your femininity, lower your voice and your heels. But for a lot of women, it was more than just looking the part. We wanted to feel the part. Perhaps, we thought, wearing a power suit would automatically make us feel empowered? But it wasn’t quite that simple…
I was seven years old when I first tapped into my inner source of strength through style. I had cut up a pair of woolen tights to make my own stockings and make-shift garter belt. The moment I put on my handmade creation and looked in the mirror I felt a thrill: that delicious tension between what’s secret and what’s laid bare. And the best part: I was in command of it! A year later, during my First Holy Communion, I felt a similar surge of power. As I stood by the altar in the heels that I had made my parents go on a nation-wide search for, I felt so tall and strong: closer to God, but rooted firmly in my femininity.
I began looking for role models: women that embodied fierce, feminine power. Madonna hadn’t claimed the stage yet in her pointy bra, and it was at least a decade before the birth of ‘lipstick feminism’. But then, when I was 10 years old, I saw Liz Taylor as Cleopatra enter Rome on top of a sphinx. It’s the most stunning scene in the 1963 blockbuster: the Egyptian queen, dressed as goddess Isis in a winged, 24-carat gold costume, flaunting her divinity, power and beauty. A feminine feminist power move avant la lettre, with a cherry on top: the playful ‘slayed it!’ wink she gives Caesar when she descends from the sphinx.
This delicious scene of feminist ‘power play’ gave me an insight that would shape my life-long mission to empower women: why dress like a man when you can dress like a goddess? Or at least, your inner goddess? Don’t get me wrong, I love a good fedora or a nicely tailored pinstripe suit. But it’s about realizing that women have so many more options to engage with their inner power. It’s about understanding that femininity does not equal weakness. The moment you dare to own it, your femininity becomes your superpower. Whether it’s through wearing heels like I do, or by showing off your gym-honed arms like Michelle Obama.
Luckily, a lot has changed since Thatcher and ‘Working Girl’ (1988). More and more, women are refusing to camouflage themselves to fit in. Besides Michelle, we some other great new role models, from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg commanding any room in her fitted dresses to congress woman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fighting fascists while sporting bright red lips and hoops. And how about New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – wearing pink, her hair down – handing off her baby to her husband before addressing the United Nations? ‘Hold the baby, dear. I’ve got a country to run!’.
One of the biggest shifts in awareness has been caused by the recent ‘Time’s Up’ and ‘MeToo’ movements. After decades of silence and making ourselves as small as possible to avoid accusations of ‘having asked for it’, we are no longer toning it down. We are ready to speak up and show off! What better icon than Cleopatra to guide us through this brave new world? As we embrace a more fiercely feminine brand of power, the Queen of the Nile – who once floated down the Nile reclined beneath a gold-spangled canopy dressed as Venus to impress Roman general Marc Anthony – teaches us that, whether you go for pinstripes or lace, for sneakers or Louboutins, supreme confidence is the best style of all. So, drop that last bit of modesty and step into the spotlight. Flaunt your femininity. This is our hour of power; let’s claim it. And after each success, make sure to give yourself a Cleopatra-style wink in the mirror: slayed it!
shop Cleopatra-inspired lingerie
- Share
MD Friends
Building bridges
From the Erasmus Bridge and the Mercedes-Benz Museum to Qatar’s metro network; Ben van Berkel’s iconic landmarks bring people together in rapturous beauty, again and again. I talked with the Dutch architect and educator about sensuality, ‘healthy’ buildings and the remarkable parallels between our designs.
- Share
MD Friends
More than a feeling
Don’t ignore your emotions; they are much more powerful than you can imagine. By linking the magical world of emotions with hard science, Dutch scientist Pierre Capel, professor emeritus in experimental immunology, shows us the consequences of our feelings and the power of our minds. The message: we can do much more than we think. “Meditate. It’s the single best thing you can do for your health.”
- Share
Marlies Says
Keto curious?
The fact that I feel bikini-confident all year round is, of course, a nice bonus. But for me, the biggest payoff of following the keto diet is the way it optimizes my health and gives me tons of energy.
- Share
Marlies Says
Super (skin) food
‘If you can’t eat it, why put it on your skin?’. I pretty much live by this beauty adage. After all, with your skin being one of your body’s largest organs, anything – and I mean anything! – you put onto your skin will end up in your bloodstream.
- Share
 food "Pinterest")
marlies|dekkers lingerie
Marlies|dekkers heeft een grote variëteit aan lingerie wat gedragen kan worden door iedereen en voldoet aan iedere vrouw haar behoefte. Naast het aanbieden van producten op onze webshop, houden we een blog bij in de categorie ‘Maison Marlies’ waar over verschillende onderwerpen geschreven wordt zoals; Waarom 50 worden fantastisch is, een 5-stappenplan voor het kopen van lingerie voor jouw vriendin, vrouw of partner , hoe je lingerie als deel van je outfit maakt en andere leuke onderwerpen.
Maison Marlies
In Maison Marlies blog kun je van alles lezen over het leven achter en rondom het bedrijf. Of je nu wilt weten waar ze haar inspiratie vandaan haalt voor het ontwerpen van een nieuwe collectie, of dat je interesse hebt in haar levensstijl, gezonde recepten, of haar smaak in bijzondere kunst, je kunt het vinden in de blog. Deze zakenvrouw krijgt het voor elkaar om met een knipoog te schrijven over haar zakenreizen, shop avonturen, haar collega’s, vrienden en familie en zelfs over haar vakanties waar ze even helemaal tot rust komt. Wanneer je even niet meer weet hoe je jou goede bh maat kunt vinden, biedt Maison Marlies een aantal richtlijnen zodat je je boezem kunt schudden zonder dat je borsten eruit floepen. Comfort voor je buste is een combinatie van de juiste maat en de juiste kwaliteit. Je wilt toch geen onhandig ondergoed, terwijl dit eigenlijk heel makkelijk voorkomen kan worden door het dragen van hoge kwaliteit lingerie?! En wanneer je voorgevel goed op z’n plaats gehouden wordt kun je eindelijk volledig je vrouwelijkheid vieren. De blog geeft advies over het mixen en matchen van lingerie, over het stimuleren en inspireren van je eigen stijlgevoel en houdt je op de hoogte van de laatste trends.
blij met marlies|dekkers lingerie
Haar celebrity vrienden zijn ook erg blij met de perfecte pasvorm van de bh's van marlies|dekkers. Deze vriendinnen laten met trots hun sexy lingerie van marlies|dekkers zien in fotoshoots voor tijdschriften, en tijdens optredens, tv-shows of zelfs in films. Maison Marlies wijdt een speciaal gedeelte van de blog aan gerelateerde nieuwtjes en ontwikkelingen zodat je altijd op de hoogte blijft van de laatste ontwikkelingen rondom de speciale missie die de visie van Marlies’ ademt voor de toekomst.
