Decoding the Style of Famous Women Entrepreneurs

They came, they saw, they conquered!

Incredible intelligence, distinctive personalities and sharp foresight make these women dynamic leaders, hard-core go-getters, and forces to reckon with in their areas of expertise.

Their professional skills are lauded everywhere, they make it to the most powerful lists consistently, and they are front-page news.

However their reason for recall here is not their professional excellence, but their fashion-forward, chic and classy sartorial choices. Let us peek into the style of these true epitomes of power dressing from different walks of life.

Marissa Mayer

Yahoo’s new CEO turns heads wherever she goes and whatever she does whether with becoming the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company or figuring in Fortune Magazine’s “America’s Most Powerful Businesswomen list’” year after year, or simply with her inimitable style that blends classic elements with the maverick.

A self-confessed fashionista, she passed a statement in 2008 that delighted corporate-suit women all across the globe: “For women you never have enough excuses to wear great shoes.”

Oscar de la Renta, Alexander McQueen, Carolina Herrera and Naeem Khan are her favorite designers. Reinventing corporate chic, she stands out with her feminine choices of printed dresses with cardigan for day-wear and fun and fashion-forward silhouette gowns for formal occasions clearly showing that tech and power- women can be just as fiercely fashion-conscious and experimental. Her biggest fashion moment was when she arrived at the Balenciaga and Spain Opening Gala in 2011 wearing a vintage, strapless Balenciaga gown designed by Cristobal Balenciaga himself.

She brings fun and colors back on the corporate dressing scene and kudos to her for that!

Indra Nooyi

The miracle CEO of the second largest food and beverage giant on the planet – Pepsico, Nooyi was born in Calcutta, India. Impeccable decision-making, foresight and all-round growth strategies have enabled her to expand Pepsico in leaps and bounds, making her a darling of the owners and share-holders alike.

Her style is effortlessly elegant and exudes positivity and vibrancy which is something I would recommend for all working women. Crisp, collared dress-suits and pant-suits in striking hues are a clear favorite with her. Pearls are definitely this woman’s best friend. She accessorizes her outfits with them most of the time. While she has become a pro with western clothing she rarely forgets a touch of her native land in her dressing. She is often photographed in gorgeous pashmina stoles, shawls and beautiful silk sarees that make her stand out in a sea of skirts, dresses and trousers.

Her mantra in business is also her mantra in style: “Never hide what makes you.”

Oprah Winfrey

Universally loved, Oprah Winfrey is synonymous with humanity, love, fun and of course power and wealth.

An early starter and a success story worth text-books, her style has also evolved with her. If flamboyance is her middle name then it can’t be forgotten that this woman does classic with just equal elan.

Just like her multifaceted personality, her dressing style is also equally diverse and unique. She is somebody who can move from leather pants to a gray chic knee-length dress effortlessly and still look mesmerizing and powerful. Deep V-necks, off-shoulders, and form-fitting silhouettes are her perennial favorites, but she doesn’t shy away from experimenting with other looks. Oprah’s dressing has veered toward subtle and classic now and her gray dress on the announcement episode of her show remains one of her favorites.

Victoria Beckham

From being ‘Posh Spice’ to Mrs. Beckham to one of the most powerful women in the fashion industry whose creations have been worn by the creme-de-la-creme, Kate Winslet to Beyonce to Julia Roberts and Oprah, she is definitely one of the most influential female entrepreneurs of our time and with an eponymous fashion label of clothes, bags and sunglasses, it isn’t surprising that she has a rocking style of her own.

Victoria sports her own clothes regularly and her style is all about very flattering silhouettes, nothing too busy or too many prints and colors, pristine cuts and understated chic.

Victoria carries this style with ease; shirt dresses, coats and jackets from her own line, high heels, colorful wedges and experimental hair complete her style file.

While she is expanding into more affordable segments, it’s a relief for now at least for Victoria fans that they can also achieve her style at an affordable budget.

Angela Ahrendts

The former Burberry Chief Executive Officer managed to shock all in the fashion world with her decision to move to Apple. One of the most successful CEOs of our times Ahrendts turned Burberry around completely making it the fashion behemoth it is today.

Her wardrobe like her image has always been immaculate and continues to impress. With a killer wardrobe she definitely understands power dressing like a seasoned player. A Burberry loyalist, she has always been sporting the brand in a way that looks enchanting and captivating on her.

Jackets, crisp silhouettes, and not to mention the Burberry trench coats have been a regular staple with her. Her dressing is that perfect combination of authority, appeal and curiosity. While it exudes an air of confidence and business, there is also an openness in them that allows her to look approachable and warm, the patterns, textures and silhouettes chosen by her look so fantastic on her that it automatically makes the watcher inquisitive of her style of dressing.

Sheryl Sandberg

The Facebook COO might have come in the row of fire for her ‘feminist’ comments in her book and sparked many a controversy about superficiality and emphasis on the way women dress and look but when it comes to her own sense of fashion we definitely like what we see.

Feminine yet professional, chic and understated, Sandberg has a wardrobe many women would envy.

Monochromes, sharp silhouettes and color-blocking are styles she swears by.

Sheryl definitely understands a thing or two about fashion. Watch how this style maven picks colors and silhouettes that complement her porcelain skin and body perfectly. Knee-length well-fitted dresses, delicate fabrics, beautiful blazers and cardigans are staples of Sheryl’s style. She is somebody who strikes a perfect balance between professional ambitions and her love for her femininity.

With that collection of delicate and beautiful earrings (her go-to accessory) she accessorizes her clothes with, and those amazing lustrous locks, Sandberg has a fan in us.

Arianna Huffington

This woman has one incredible and enviable resume what with being the president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, Huffington post winning its first Pulitzer Prize in 2011 under her and being the author of 13 books.

She definitely impresses us not just with her incredible professional skills but with the refined fashion statements as well.

‘I Mean Business’ looking skirt suits and pant-suits are her style mantra for the day and at work, while gorgeous yet distinctive gowns (think her black lace dress at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party) are her pick off-work, for events.

Her style is unique and contemporary as she herself claims she loves knowing what the current trends are. The best part about her style? She always manages to surprise us!

When glamour meets power it’s a dashy cocktail and after all who doesn’t love a woman of style and substance, right?