Speaker Emerita: Nancy's Fashions

Nothing gets my juices flowing like poring over photo galleries of Nancy Pelosi's stylish "powersuits." I just love it when women pull off a classy feminine flair in their business suits, and no one color coordinates while whipping votes and twisting arms quite like Nancy. The Daily Beast and the New York Times have both done some clever coverage on how the Speaker Emerita balances feminine and powerful (the secret, they both agree, is apparently Tahitian pearls). The NYT piece has a great photo of Nancy draping a statement red shawl over a matching red skirt suit.

Charles Dharapak / Associated Press
While she looks effortless in eye-catching red, Nancy is also known to wear purples for important ceremonial occasions - purple being a gimmicky bipartisan blend of Republican red and Democratic blue - as she did at her 2007 swearing in as the first woman speaker in history.

Nancy shatters the "marble ceiling" in a burgundy purple skirt suit.
...and that time she led a procession to the Capitol ahead of the historic health care reform vote in the House. (Disclaimer: there was nothing bipartisan about the health care reform vote, which garnered exactly 0 Republican "ayes" and involved a controversial procedure called reconciliation designed to amend the bill to the House's liking while bypassing a Senate filibuster). Nancy in a lilac skirt suit and matching pumps moments before the final 2010 health care vote:

Lauren Victoria Burke / AP Photo
The Daily Beast compares this outfit to a lavender runway look in the Philip Lim show that same year.

Stan Honda / Getty Images
I prefer this pairing with Nancy looking cosy in camel. I myself have been looking for a good camel jacket for months as well! (LOLOL Harry Reid, what r u doing in this photo? In a matching camel coat to outshine Nancy no less! Opposite Harry Reid, a model in Alexander Wang's Fall 2010 show)

Alex Wong / Getty Images; Slaven Vlasic / Getty Images
And my favorite high-fashion analogy from the Daily Beast: "'Anna [Wintour] is basically the Nancy Pelosi of fashion' [...] Pelosi, for her fearsome authority and consistent style, could likewise be called the Anna Wintour of Congress." That, and they both wear their hair in a fashionable bob.

Associated Press
I also liked Nancy's autumn green outfit with basket weave detailing at last year's State of the Union address. Since we're doing her style in terms of couture, I'm gonna say that the weave detail looks like the intrecciato technique used in Bottega Veneta bags.

Getty Images