If Looks Can Kill: How to Dress Like Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin is constantly cultivating the image of male power, and the style of clothing he wears plays an important role in his alpha image. He favors bespoke suits in classic cuts, dark colors and fine fabrics. Classic cut suits are directly linked to power as the classics inspire the trust of the people around them and are neutral. Moreover, the classic style shifts the focus of attention of onlookers directly onto the person himself, and not on his attire. Vladimir Putin also remains quite conservative in his color choices, preferring black, dark blue and gray. This is an important detail because colors are a powerful communication tool. Colors are used to signal action, influence mood, and even influence physiological reactions.

The classic cut suit is the ideal style for men who are conservative and successful. The suit is cut looser throughout providing more forgiving wear while still bringing out the timeless tailored silhouette. For Vladimir Putin when it comes to his trousers, he does not wear skinny pants, only wide legs. This provides a balances silhouette while still retaining a sharp and sleek overall appearance. This style of clothing, wide-legged and reflecting of the 1980s is not only a transliteration of Putin’s ominous persona; indeed, it’s an extension of the 1980’s itself, politics, KGB, and all.

Also interesting is the fact that you will never see any patches on Putin’s clothes that can be used to identify a brand. Everything is carefully stripped and masked. Just like Putin who is always serious and hard to read, his clothing carries inauspicious tones and without a label in sight. Even his socks are exclusively black in color.

Putin’s favorite color combinations are easy to see throughout his entire tenure and it has almost never been unchanged. With blue and gray suits, he wears a blue shirt and blue tie (again, if the summer suit is light gray, then the shirt can be blue), and if the suit is black, then he pairs it with a white shirt and a black or maroon tie.

Usually, men who occupy serious positions in politics or business show their individuality in the choice of a tie or a handkerchief, but even here the president is very traditional: he chooses black, blue or maroon ties. The maximum patterns that he wears on his tie are small speck, cell or pea patterns.

Again, touching on the power of color this is an important caveat of Putin’s style choices. He is very specific with color for a reason. Breaking down the meaning of the colors and then correlating it to his suit, shirt and tie combination paints a great picture of the kind of man Putin is.

The maroon color is often used to represent intense and passionate things like; confidence, creative thoughts, excitement, power, risk, passion, love, ambition, courage, strength, warmth, and beauty.

Dark blue symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect. Blue is strongly associated with tranquility and calmness.

The black color is associated with power, fear, mystery, strength, authority, elegance, formality, and sophistication.

Now considering Putin’s black suit and maroon tie combination you see how the maroon tie highlights confidence, power, courage, and strength paired with the black suit that symbolizes strength, authority, and sophistication. This is exactly how Putin comes across in any meeting of world leaders, press conferences and business meetings. Also, It is important to remember that most communication is not in the form of words. In fact, most communications are conveyed through action, results, body language, posture, attire, tone of voice and eye contact etc. Putin is a master of all these. Make no bones about it, his suit and color choices are an extension of his political prowess and power.