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Al Drago

For decades, women who appeared on TV news were expected to dress a certain way: business casual. It took years for Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer to land spots leading the prime-time news hours on “CBS Evening News” and “ABC World News,” respectively, and both spent their tenures dressed in crisp and understated clothes that were professional but barely memorable.

That was certainly the point: Media executives long fretted that America wasn’t ready to have its news delivered by a woman, and clothing was a low-profile tool to assuage those (ridiculous) anxieties. The message was, we’re just like those White men you’ve come to rely on to tell you what’s happening in the world.

But more recently, something has shifted, as a new generation of anchors like Abby Phillip, Kaitlan Collins and Linsey Davis has taken on anchor roles in the past three years. Television journalists are changing expectations of what it means to look feminine and authoritative. Their clothes are more expressive, more colorful — and even (gulp!) more fashionable.

Ava Thompson Greenwell, a professor at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism who worked as a television reporter in the 1980s and 1990s, recalls that anchors’ wardrobes have long been a frequent point of discussion — and criticism.

“There was really a lot of emphasis for women, and I think unfairly so, on what they wore and that if they didn’t wear the right thing, they weren’t going to attract the audience,” she said. “And somewhere along the line, clearly that changed, maybe because more women became news directors and leaders in the newsroom. And they began to soften some of this idea that you can’t wear certain colors and that everything needs to be covered up and buttoned up.<i>”</i>

CNN anchor Abby Phillip, host of the network’s “NewsNight,” is perhaps the epitome of the change: She always looks professional, but something about her clothing is fun, even fearless. Her <a href="https://www.cnn.com/profiles/abby-phillip-profile" target=_blank>show’s title card</a> pictures her in a double-breasted red jacket, its shoulders slightly puffed. Perhaps an attention-grabbing gesture in a medium with fractured attention spans? But her choices suggest there’s more to her style than just catching your eye.

As she reports from rallies and conventions and moderates panels, she dresses with a sense of self-satisfaction, in <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DBh1bYgNFR9/?hl=en" target=_blank>a camel suit with a blouse that appeared to be leather</a>, or a mauve pantsuit worn over a pastel purple shirt with leopard shoes. That she chose leopard print shoes — an accessory her viewers would rarely, if ever, see — suggests this is less an effort to assure her viewers of anything in particular and more a reflection of her own desire to look or even feel a certain way. Confident, playful and maybe even cool.

Jason Mendez

Phillip is not trying to look like the old White guy. She is trying to look like herself — a goal that underscores how the image of media authority has changed. Rather than calm us, she is commanding our attention.

Phillip’s network colleague Kaitlan Collins has carved out a reputation for asking punchy questions in equally punchy clothes. Collins rose to fame as a White House correspondent, reporting from the lawn in Kelly green dresses, trench coats and mustard yellow blazers, and she now hosts “The Source,” where she wears hot pink almost as much as black. She pressed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on whether he would accept the results of the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/election-2024/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">2024 election</a> while wearing a hot-pink pantsuit, and grilled John Dean, Richard M. Nixon’s former White House counsel, on the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity in pastel purple. She’s no wannabe Walter Cronkite — she’s not even Cronkite in heels. Her feminine clothes are like an asset that introduces an added note of skepticism or remove in her interviews.

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Greenwell said that at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention this summer, she noticed a number of young women journalists, including several of her former students, in brightly colored suits. ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott and Fox’s Harris Faulkner both wore such looks for their combative interview with <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/donald-trump/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Donald Trump</a> at the conference. “I loved it, because it actually helped them stand out,” Greenwell said. Wearing strong colors, as in the case of Collins hammering Cruz with questions, “counters what people expect of you interviewing someone. People expect a serious color. Well, what is a ‘serious color’?”

Across the networks, the news is now delivered in neons and pastels. Nancy Cordes, a White House correspondent for CBS, wears burgundy or scarlet jackets over lavender tops. Yamiche Alcindor, NBC’s Washington correspondent, has reported from the field in a ribbed, burnt orange knit dress, a shirtdress in a butternut hue and a pistachio-green blazer. Kristen Welker, moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” regularly wears suits in tangerine, pink and red. Laura Coates, who hosts her own show on CNN, even wears prints, once considered a no-no because of their supposed potential for distraction.

Anna Moneymaker

During the vice-presidential debate, moderator Margaret Brennan wore a hot-pink pantsuit. Her co-moderator, Norah O’Donnell, was more subdued in navy, but her double-breasted jacket, with its fitted shape, looked like the work of a trend-aware designer. When Dana Bash moderated the debate between President Joe Biden and Trump in June, she wore white — not as conspicuous as neon or lavender, but still eye-catching.

Sali Christeson, the founder and CEO of Argent, whose colorful pantsuits are worn by anchors including Phillip, Couric and NBC’s Zinhle Essamuah, said that color conveys power and confidence and a comfort with taking up space.

“If you’re going to pay attention to what I’m wearing, then I’m going to show up, I’m going to look great, and that’s going to work in my favor,” she said. “When you wear something you don’t feel great in, you are at risk of falling into that confirmation bias trap when someone’s expecting women to be inferior. And if you’re dressed the part, then that immediately discounts the message you’re sharing.”

Noam Galai

On Fox News, too, women have begun to stray from their fitted shift dresses. When Ainsley Earhardt sat down with Melania Trump to discuss the former first lady’s  new memoir in September, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7HZGb0ssgQ" target=_blank>she wore Barbie-pink trousers and a matching top with an unusual wrap detail at the neckline</a>.

(One exception to the trend is Megyn Kelly, <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/12/megyn-kelly-fox-news-cover-story?srsltid=AfmBOoprmJ9M_47M_S03k0gLlt4c3-rR0JRy3arbYBVwr93VzA0TwGJL" target=_blank>who a decade ago wore her hair in a flapper-like crop and was painted by Vanity Fair as Fox’s answer to Diane Sawyer</a>. Now the host of her own podcast, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/megynkellyshow/" target=_blank>she wears her blond hair long and dresses simply</a>, occasionally with gold hoops in her ears.)

But this is no makeover or glow-up. It is an act of female assertion. Yes, TV journalists may be dressing in bright colors to draw attention in an age when social media and other video platforms have sapped influence and eyeballs from TV sets. And, yes, many of these anchors represent a generational change: Collins is 32, Phillip 35. Maybe brands such as Argent, Tibi and Michael Kors, who are worn by several of these women, have gotten better at making clothes that look professional without looking dull.

Demetrius Freeman

But there is an undercurrent, a more important one. “Culturally for Black women, colors are sort of part of our culture,” Greenwell said. “And of how we dress, the accoutrements, the jewelry — while some people might see it as being more flamboyant, I see it, as a Black woman myself, as being is pretty standard.” Greenwell has seen more Black TV journalists wearing their natural hair, as well — a significant shift when most journalists are seen from the waist up. “If I bring my authentic self to the workplace, I’m less concerned about you telling me I’ve got to dress like this person or that person,” she said.

When ABC’s Davis moderated the debate between Harris and Trump, she wore a gray pinstripe suit with sharp shoulders and slightly oversize lapels, a steel gray button-up underneath. She looked composed and prepared, and very much like she was enjoying herself.

“She looked very powerful and confident,” said Greenwell. Still, it didn’t distract from Davis’s job. “I don’t remember the details of what she wore<i>.”</i>

ASME nominee for reviews and criticism, 2023

University of Pennsylvania, BA in English and art history

Rachel Tashjian is a fashion writer at The Washington Post.

Rachel Tashjian

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