Personal Style on Trial 

“She seemed nervous. The outfit was interesting,” the staffer noted. According to the fashion editor — who omitted Jones’ admirable literary accomplishments from conversation — the incoming editor wore a navy shiftdress strewn with zippers, a garment deemed as “iffy” at best.

Jones’ choice of hosiery proved most offensive, according to the editor. For the occasion, Jones had chosen a pair of tights — not in a neutral black or gray as is common in the halls of Vogue — but rather a pair covered with illustrated, cartoon foxes.

The animal caricatures may have also been too much for Vogue editor in chief and Condé Nast artistic director Anna Wintour, who is said to have fixed one of her trademark stoic glares upon Jones’ hosiery throughout the duration of the staff meeting.

Unnerved by Jones’ choice of legwear — and Wintour’s reaction — the fashion editor proclaimed to her friends: “I’m not sure if I should include a new pair of tights in her welcome basket.”

This is your periodic reminder how much harder it is for women to be leaders in business. It’s bad enough this happens at all, but it was also reported on as news.

To be clear, Ms. Jones is eminently qualified. She is a graduate of Harvard, with a doctorate in English and comparative literature from Columbia. She was an editor at Time magazine, managing editor of The Paris Review, and most recently was the editorial director of the books department at The New York Times. There’s no way a man this qualified would be called nervous or judged sartorially.

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