On Monday, Queen Letizia attended the Zenda Awards Ceremony held at the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid. She looked incredibly professional and powerful in a silvery-grey blouse from Hugo Boss. The blouse was anchored by a voluminous bow tied at the neck—an iconic pussy bow blouse.
The pussy bow blouse has become a royal staple, with the Princess of Wales owning nearly a dozen blouses with the signature bow style and other royal women turning to the design on their royal engagements. Usually paired with suits or trousers, the blouse is often chosen for the most professional of royal events.
The style has a long history in women’s power dressing. In a 2016 feature in Vogue on the style, Laird Borrelli-Persson described the style as “a variant of the scarf-neck blouse; the flamboyantly-knotted bow draws attention upwards to the face.” Comparing it to the equivalent of a tie on a man’s suit, she said, “in the Dress for Success era of power dressing, it was often worn with strictly tailored pieces, softening them, and becoming a sort of stand-in for a tie.”
From the Vogue feature we learned that “according to a 1934 description of a little girl’s dress, it’s a 'cunning bow that ties high under the chin and looks for all the world like those we put on Pussy Cat when company’s coming.'” The style seemed to originate from major designers of the time like Coco Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent, who took their inspiration from the Gibson Girls of the late 19th century.
From there, it became a workwear staple, solidifying women’s place in the workplace and at the most professional of events. The style became favored by key figures like Margaret Thatcher, Nancy Reagan, Princess Diana, Samantha Cameron, and now features in many royal wardrobes, including Princess Kate, Queen Mary, and Queen Letizia.
The pussy bow blouse may benefit from a new moniker, but its place in fashion history and modern royal fashion is cemented. Queen Letizia’s tough-as-steel outfit proves she brings style and substance to the awards ceremony, and to any future professional event.
