“Did you see what Richard Stewart was wearing?,” said no one ever.
The Coquitlam mayor had been donning the same dark blue suit since the fall of 2014 to shine a light on the sexist scrutiny women face in the workplace.
Stewart began wearing the suit — a jacket and pants bought off the rack from Moores — in November 2014 to council meetings, committee meetings and other city functions.
He told no one about his experiment, not even his wife.
Stewart wore the suit through the winter, into spring and summer, and as the months drifted into another new year, Stewart waited for someone, anyone, to notice his never-changing #OOTD. No one did.
“I never had any comment about my clothing,” said Stewart on Monday. “But every woman I’ve spoken to in our office today has said the same thing: ‘A woman could never do that.’ ”
Stewart got the idea after reading an article about Australian news anchor Karl Stefanovic who wore the same suit on TV for a year to make a point about the criticism and unsolicited appraisals his female colleagues received from viewers.
He embarked on a similar experiment to call attention to the double standard women in media, politics or any career in the public eye have to contend with.
“It’s not a big issue, but it speaks to a larger issue,” said Stewart.
He questioned whether “we work hard enough at removing the barriers women can face in some professions,” noting how Global B.C. meteorologist Kristi Gordon was lambasted for her choice of maternity clothes during her pregnancy.
Stewart said he had been told by women thinking of running for office that they would have to buy a wardrobe or get a makeover before they could enter politics.
“When I’m at council, I’m being judged by what I say, how I chair the meeting, by the public-policy positions I take,” he said. “I look to the day when every member of council can say that as well.”
Stewart’s self-imposed sartorial sentence ended last Monday when a councillor finally made a comment about his suit.
The councillor hadn’t noticed he’d been wearing the same outfit all this time, said Stewart. It just so happened all three councillors were wearing grey suits, and Stewart stood out in his blue suit, garnering a joking that “you didn’t get the memo” comment.
“I was getting tired of (the suit). I burst into a smile when someone finally mentioned it,” he said.
