Champagne Bow Peplum and Forest Green Trouser

I drafted this for a partner at one of the law firms who entertains clients at lunch three times a week. She told me she wanted to look approachable but not soft, expensive but not loud, and she did not have the energy to think about it every morning.

The champagne peplum carries a single bow at the shoulder, hand tied in the same fabric as the bodice so it sits flat and does not flap when she lifts her fork. The green button row at the side reads as detail close up and as discipline from across the room, which is the trick we use when we want a client to look composed in a photograph taken at any distance. The forest green trousers ground the palette and let the champagne hold the eye.

The bow is the only soft thing on the look, and that is the point. She wears this on the days she is closing rather than presenting, which she explained once over coffee as the difference between speaking and listening. The look listens well.