Dressed for the Capitol kill

Bo Derek, actress, former sex symbol, activist and Kennedy Center trustee, was on a plane to Washington when she heard the wife of the Kuwaiti ambassador was giving a farewell party for the Swedish ambassador and his wife.

Rima Al-Sabah, the Lebanese-born blonde and glamorous haute hostess, was thrilled when Miss Derek decided to show.

But instead of a cocktail dress, she arrived in a corporate gray business suit.

It was the only thing she had packed to come to Washington besides her bluejeans, and she planned to wear it to Capitol Hill for a lobbying effort.

Funny thing was, no one batted a Maybelline’d eye.

“This is a town where women like to be taken seriously,” said Mrs. Al-Sabah, a fashion-conscious wife and mother who gravitates more toward Dolce and Gabbana than Brooks Brothers. “They are feminine, but serious-minded at the same time.”

Now comes Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

With her Oscar de la Renta scarlet silk gown, her knee-high boots and long jacket, her pastel Akris suits and jaunty flip, she’s making women in Washington watch with a mixture of envy, awe and inspiration.

“I think she’s amazing,” said Mrs. Al-Sabah. “She is dressing feminine, yet she’s serious-minded. I think she’s got a lot of style.”

Suddenly, people are asking: Why can’t Washington women dress, well, more like women?

It’s a town of career gals, first of all, a legacy of the World War II influx of typists, assistants, news hens and war brides. It’s not a town of “ladies who lunch.” Even if she doesn’t have an official job, her spouse probably does, and that means endless rounds of charity events, board meetings, meet and greets, grip and grins, drop-bys and drive-bys. So the same conservative navy-blue blazer that works for a coffee in the morning inevitably shows up for the cocktail hour.

Few have the luxury, as does first lady Laura Bush, of changing wardrobes for different events.

Personal shoppers can (and do) help, but in the end it’s a city where chic is a four-letter word. So are Washington women fashion-challenged, or just saddled with the albatross of dressing “appropriately”?

“I think that’s the number one thing to go for: appropriateness,’ ” said Letitia Baldridge, White House social secretary to first lady Jacqueline Kennedy. “This is a very serious city. People look very much alike in their neat pants and tops and handbags and designer sunglasses.”

Washington women, simply put, are afraid.

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