Australia’s best dressed politician Julie Bishop accidently attended a meeting in Qantas pyjamas as the initial MH17 drama developed.
As the details emerge of how the Foreign Minister and Prime Minister Tony Abbott worked to secure a UN resolution and support the Ukrainian Parliament during the early days of the air disaster, the story of the PJs became in public knowledge.
Ms Bishop, who usually sports a chic sense of style, outed herself to a leadership conference in Perth where she told the tale of how she ended up at 3:30am at a National Security Committee meeting in Kiev in her pyjamas.
“I’d had an hour’s sleep in four days, so I rolled into a room in my pyjamas because it’s supposed to be a phone call and there were huge video screens,” Ms Bishop said.
“In Canberra you have the Chief of the Defence Force in uniform, the Federal Police Commissioner in uniform, the PM in his blue tie uniform – and I’m in my jimjams.”
Aside from her political achievements, the former high-flying lawyer has earned a reputation for looking well put together through her winning combination of designer labels and immaculate hair.
But Ms Bishop said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph last year not to confuse her style with snobbery.
“I don’t think I am posh,” she said. “But I have always been interested in fashion. Clothes are a part of who I am. Having two older sisters probably has a lot to do with it.”
Here are some of the polished politician’s best looks.
Julie Bishop reveals how she attended National Security Committee meeting in her PJ’s.
“I started wearing Armani suits when I was in law. Doing what I do, you have to have clothes that you can wear at meetings and sometimes take you into functions at night. I don’t like clothes that are too trendy, or over the top,” Ms Bishop told the Daily Telegraph in September 2013.
The Foreign Minister appears to be a fan of bright colours and is often seen sporting vibrant jackets like this one which she wore to the Bali Democracy Forum in Nusa Dua in 2013.
It’s a smart move to embrace monochrome when you have to transform one outfit from day style to evening wear easily.
Julie Bishop gets geometric as she meets with Hollywood heavyweight Hugh Jackman and wife Deborra-lee Furness in New York in January.
Ms Bishop wore this elegant outfit to a speaking engagement in 2013.
Ms Bishop joins Mr Abbott and another stylish political figure, former Governor General Quentin Bryce at Government House in Canberra for the PM’s swearing in ceremony.
Julie Bishop again in some vibrant colour as she speaks during the 68th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters on September 2013.
On a night off Ms Bishop has some fun with her look for the opening of Nobu restaurant Perth in 2010.
