Givhan's analysis stems from the fact that the fashion industry has deemed sheath dresses (which are oh-so-flattering on every shape) equally authoritative as business suits and suggested that all women eschew stockings in the summer. And instead of complying with the fashion industry's advice — or, at a minimum, wearing a wrap dress — Sotomayor did what any sensible judicial nominee ought: she dressed both for her audience and the event, i.e. the Senate and a confirmation hearing. And thus she earns Givhan's opprobrium for not being feminine enough.

Her wardrobe, as she sat for her daily grilling by the Senate Judiciary Committee, did not reflect the fashion industry's constant refrain. In fact, it did not even appear to have been influenced by the 21st century. Instead, Sotomayor's clothes evoked authority in the manner of a 1980s lady power broker.

And while a wing of the fashion industry has been enraptured by the styles of the 1980s, its focus has been more on embellished military jackets, harem pants and jersey dresses that look as though they might spontaneously combust on a particularly hot day. That is not the part of 1980s fashion history Sotomayor was channeling. She embraced that period in fashion when femininity had no place in the executive suite.

Um, what? Either Robin Givhan and I experienced two different decades, or two different hearings. Sotomayor's suits, above, had hardly the big shoulderpads nor the boxy jackets of that (thankfully) bygone era, and I'm certain her skirts were either A-lines or flared, unlike the 80s ubiquitous pencil skirts. They weren't paired with high-necked silk shells, floppy bows of any kind or even button-down shirts. In short, they looked nothing like this.

In fact, by my count, Sotomayor wore a pink suit as well as a pink shell under her black suit; cuts that were flattering for her figure; exposed her collar bones and — for the first day — even wore a suit with a styled color and an asymmetrical line. But despite the skirts, the deliberately feminine color choices (pink, red, bright blue and a wide black pinstripe paired with a pink shell), the three-quarter sleeves and the stockings Givhan derides as being unfashionable (though a smart choice in what I guarantee was a frigid hearing room), Givhan says Sotomayor wasn't feminine.

Her single notable accessory was a slim bangle on her right wrist. Her neck, so exposed by her jewel collars, was bare.

Aside from her decision to emphasize skirts instead of trousers and the shoulder-length dark curls framing her face, there was nothing in Sotomayor's style that acknowledged her femininity in a significant way.

She, in Givhan's words, left her gender at the door.

Opening a Conventional Closet In Quest for a Supreme Robe [Washington Post]

For one thing — as I wrote last week — women were expected to play a major role in this election, potentially deciding the candidate. And like many reform movements throughout the world, candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi's supporters including strong representation among university students, of which sixty percent are women. As with another, long-ago mass protest in Tiananmen Square, those students have poured out of the universities en masse to protest for the democracy they thought they had. In the case of Iran, they were likely driven by mass arrests on campuses throughout the country.

So, suffice it to say that many of the protesters are young. Women — especially young women — are participating in large numbers because the Ahmadenijad regime has been particularly hard on them. Since he took office, the Iranian government has been cracking down on women's rights and — in particular — women's dress. According to Der Spiegel:

When Ahmadinejad was elected president four years ago, the controls by the moral police got noticeably tighter. Vibrantly colored fingernails, French manicures, false acrylic nails — there was a catalogue of fines for the various looks. "

So, when you see this woman with red fingernails, she's not just risking arrest for holding that sign, she's risking it for the shade of her nail polish.

Women have been routinely imprisoned for violations of Iran's strict dress code, which includes a head scarf and can be randomly interpreted to mean that their hair has to be fully covered.

Women have to watch carefully what they wear: a headdscarf and loose-fitting garments that reach at least half-way down their upper thighs are mandatory. Farzan, who specializes in oriental depilation with hot wax, has been arrested twice: the long coat over her trousers was too tight.

"Spending two nights in a hall with 50 or 60 girls, that's enough," she says and presents her new coat which reaches well below her knees. "I had to sign twice that I will dress decently in future. If they catch me again I'll have to pay a $200 fine. After that I may even be whipped, I don't want to risk that." It's possible to buy oneself out of physical punishment, but it's difficult, says Farzan

Women whose veils are deemed insufficiently modest or tunics deemed insufficiently long can be jailed, fined and beaten for daring to defy the dress code.

During the election, the hijab requirement was a political issue — while Moussavi didn't, apparently, advocate lifting the ban, his wife, Zahra Rahnavard told reporters:

The Koran rules that women and men should cover themselves, she replied. "However, one does not have to impose the headscarf rule as brutally as now," she added.

The bloggers at threadbared note that requirement to remain uncovered spurred women (like Rahnavard, who was part of the Revolution) to cover themselves up in protest; either way, the requirement that women conform their dress to the whims of the state is an imposition on the free will of women.

In addition to imposing sartorial requirements and cracking down on university students, Ahmadenijad's regime attempted to pass a series of laws that would have made it easier for men to become polygamists and taxed womens' dowries, angering many. He proposed a new form of marriage called "semi-independent marriage" that would have sanctioned sexual relations between married couples but allowed them to each live with their parents, as a way to get around current standards that require married couples to live together in their own place — a proposition Ahmadenijad's failed economic plans have made more difficult. Women were horrified at the thought that they might be pressed to accept a form of marriage that offered them even less legal protections and could leave them shamed in a divorce.

As you peruse the images coming out of Iran from all over, remember this: when you see a woman with a tunic above her knees, red fingernails, an extremely loose headscarf and a protest sign, try to look beyond the "pretty". Those things are also a symbol of what an Ahmadenijad regime would deny (and, in some cases, has denied) her the right to be.

Iranian Presidential Contenders Court Women Voters [Wall Street Journal]
Iran's president hails new era of hope despite beatings and arrests [The Guardian]
The Woman Ahmadinejad Should Fear [Der Spiegel]
You Say You Want A Revolution (In a Loose Headscarf) [threadbared]
Will Iran's 'Marriage Crisis' Bring Down Ahmadinejad? [Time]

Earlier: 10 Reasons Why You Should Be Following The Iranian Elections
V Is For Vote
Her Finger Does The Talking
A Face In The Crowd

First of all, Mme. Sarkozy wears couture — a lot of it. There's no fear of looking elitist or spending too much...Bruni is customarily seen in Dior, sporting Galliano's creations with the comfort of, well, a model. Whereas a first lady expert speaks approvingly of the naturalness of both Obama and McCain's looks — ""these aren't costumes" — Bruni seems to revel in her first lady costumes. This is a woman who's posed nude and walked the runway in swimwear and now — pillbox hats?! And that's why it's so appealing, probably; it feels like she's having fun. She does suits, sure, but they're retro-styled, deliberate twists on "first lady," more elegant and expensive than businesslike. She's demure in the way Mad Men is demure: it's obviously hypocritical fantasy that everyone's in on. She could obviously rock anything - the woman's a model! — so when she chooses to go demure, it's fun.

And everyone loves it. Apparently chic little suits and pink coats like the one Bruni wore on her state visit to London have flooded the high street, as has her downtime uniform: "Wide jeans, loose-fitting shirt, wide-lapelled coat and scarf." If you tried, it would be hard to come up with a personage less well-cut to the pattern of American political wife than Carla Bruni: model! Pop singer! Lovers! Tell-alls! Nudity! And yet (the
popularity of Michelle's View dress notwithstanding) it's hard to imagine one of our picture-perfect first mates becoming a fashion icon in this day and age. Ironically, it's in Europe that a woman has been more able to reinvent herself, and in America where we demand feminine convention in this regard.

Cut It Like Carla[Daily Mail]
Potential First Ladies Walk The Fashion Tightrope [NPR]