Power Shortage: The Old Pantsuit Now Showing a Little Leg

This year—perhaps in response to the dour duds favored by a certain former first lady turned former Presidential candidate—designers at New York Fashion Week have relaunched the classic women's power suit. By replacing traditional trousers with tailored shorts, forward-thinking designers have offered customers half the suit with twice the chutzpah. Certainly, the boys have been enjoying this trend since last spring. Our favorite twisted takes on the classic range from Jeremy Laing's relaxed, colorful plaid 2-piecer to dressier options turned out by Obedient Sons and Daughters and Marc Jacobs. Retro influences held strong as Rachel Comey, and Trovata successfully modernized the ever-popular plaid pant-suit, maintaining a touch of funk but adding to it a dose of refinement. United Bamboo and Aussie counterpart Karen Walker both fashioned short suits with masculine So-Cal cuts and fits—all refreshingly wearable. So what if you have to double up next spring on your waxing appointments—hink of the time you'll save sans all that mixing and matching!