In the same week as an Australian journalist was criticised for daring to wear the same jacket more than once, a photo collage of dozens of TV presenters wearing identical dresses has gone viral.
The flattering frock, which is sold for just US$23 on Amazon was shared in a private Facebook group of female TV meteorologists, and was very quickly snapped up by a lot of members.
The dress is popular for a variety of reasons, and it seems that when a sartorial selection works for one lady in the business, she is not afraid to help her sisters out.
A Reddit user compiled a collage of American TV meteorologists wearing the dress.
It’s a pretty massive indicator of the challenges women on TV face every time they step in front of a camera.
The dress, which comes in a number of colours, is flattering, and quite cheap; this low price point is an important factor when a lot of presenters at smaller stations are not provided an allowance for clothing.
But more than that, it is “appropriate” for television audiences, and, the women hope, will not anger too many of their critics.
There is, apparently, a lot to consider when picking an outfit to wear when presenting on camera.
One of the first rules women are warned about when they start off their career is that patterns do not show well on screen.
So anything floral, checked, houndstooth or damask is out. Plain is the name of the game.
Also, a TV meteorologist can’t wear anything green, or they will disappear in to the chroma key weather maps.
And yet even when a clothing item ticks all of the many boxes required to make it on screen, sometimes it just isn’t enough.
Earlier this year Natarsha Belling’s blazer was nicknamed ‘the penis-jacket’ when one viewer deemed the neckline X-rated.
The $550 Scanlan Theodore jacket had been worn by a number of TV presenters, including Melissa Doyle and Eva Milic, before Belling chose it for a Channel Ten news bulletin.
Eventually, it seems, it found someone to offend.
Today Show host Lisa Wilkinson stepped in to call out the ridiculous criticism, announcing that she would be wearing her version of blazer in support for Belling, and women in TV.
And just this morning, Channel Seven’s Samantha Armytage came under scrutiny for selecting a dress with a similar neckline.
Last year, Wilkinson spoke out about the huge amount of emails she receives commenting on her appearance.
“It leans towards a lack of support,” she said on the Today Show at the time. “Although…the majority of women are really, really encouraging. But when I get criticism, more often than not it’s from women.”
“Who the heck is Lisa’s stylist?” one emailer fumed. “Today’s outfit is particularly jarring and awful. Get some style.”
Her co-host Karl Stefanovic stepped in to support Wilkinson, in a move that went viral.
Stefanovic wore the same suit, a cheap Burberry knock-off, every day for a year to prove just how tricky his female counterparts have it.
“I’ve worn the same suit on air for a year – except for a couple of times because of circumstance – to make a point,” he told Fairfax Media.
“I’m judged on my interviews, my appalling sense of humour – on how I do my job, basically. Whereas women are quite often judged on what they’re wearing or how their hair is … that’s [what I wanted to test].”
And Stefanovic has had to rally behind yet another journo this week, when ABC’s Europe Correspondent Lisa Millar was called out for wearing the same jacket during her ongoing coverage of the Paris attacks.
When Millar sharply retorted that: “Funnily enough I didn’t have time to shop. Mental note to self – pack better when covering breaking news tragedies”, Stefanovic pointed out that he too had been wearing the same overcoat for his reports.
Hugh Whitfield, Millar’s Seven Network counterpart, said the same thing, adding that he had “barely had time to eat some days.”
So why is it that women are being judged so harshly on their wardrobe choices? Surely, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not worth the email?
Millar says that, unfortunately, there are “some attitudes that just stay the same.”
It’s little wonder, then, that the Amazon dress has proven so popular.
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