Gloria Steinem’s most famous—and oft-repeated—quotes naturally concern equality, women’s rights, resistance, and revolution. But the legendary journalist, pioneering feminist, and social movement organizer—who has died at the age of 92—also had a thing or two to teach us about style.
Despite being criticized in the ’70s by those who felt her glamorous persona was at odds with her feminist ideology—“the miniskirted pinup girl of the intelligentsia,” as the Post reporter Maxine Cheshire dubbed her—Steinem never shied away from fashion. “Fashion in the past meant conforming and losing oneself,” she said in the 2011 documentary Gloria. “Fashion in the present means being unique and finding oneself.”
True to her word, when it came to clothes, Steinem never followed the crowd. And as for being unique, few style signatures are as instantly recognizable as Steinem’s sunglasses, which she wore with the arms deliberately positioned over the top of her teased, textured, and highlighted hair. An aviator-wearing avatar for a movement that continued to challenge stereotypes and tired norms around feminine expression and body autonomy: Steinem knew fashion had the power to traverse the political frontlines. And her own aesthetic inspirations? Audrey Hepburn and her Holly Golightly highlights in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Wonder Woman: Steinem famously led a campaign to restore the comic book character’s star-spangled outfit.
Alongside her advocacy work, her sense of style was committed to screen with the Hulu series Mrs America, which explored her role in the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment through bell-bottomed, paisley shirt-wearing Rose Byrne playing Steinem. Then there was The Glorias, which saw both Julianne Moore and Alicia Vikander step into Steinem’s flares.
So, it’s okay to be obsessed with Gloria Steinem’s style: it’s a stark reminder that there’s a power in a signature look, more in playing with it, and a small freedom in choosing what to put on your body every day that you show up in the world.
Below, we revisit some style notes from the late, great feminist hero.
Make your own rules…
Drumming up support for state senate candidate Catherine O’Neill at a rally in California in 1972.
Photo: Getty Images
Whether she was showing out for a female political candidate; at the office of Ms, the feminist magazine she co-founded with Dorothy Pitman Hughes in 1971; or marching for women’s rights, ’70s Gloria Steinem was most often to be found in a polo-neck and flares, accessorized with a low-slung belt, waist-grazing pendant, and any number of slogan badges. In 2015, Steinem confirmed in an interview with Lena Dunham that this remains her “power outfit.” Asked what she wears when she needs to feel like “a rad bitch,” Steinem replied: “Boots, pants, a sweater or a T-shirt. A concha belt. Something that’s Native American or Indian, or something that has a resonance from the past before patriarchy came along.”
