Style Icon: Leslie Knope

There are some female celebrities out there who wear very expensive clothing and get their hair done a lot, and that’s nice for them. But let’s talk about Pawnee’s own Leslie Knope. Leslie is the Deputy Director of the Pawnee City Department of Parks and Recreation, as well as a strong contender for City Council and, in my opinion, the future first woman president.

And why is that? Because Leslie Knope has style. Take a look at what she’s wearing here:

That’s right: a confident smile. Leslie Knope’s confidence is overwhelming and infectious. Which isn’t to say she doesn’t have her moments of self-doubt, but she’s able to overcome them with a confidence that is sometimes cocky, but never in a cruel way. Leslie believes in herself, in the good of people around her and in the sheer deliciousness of breakfast foods.

But let’s not forget to take a look at her style here:

Her style of government, that is! Leslie, despite sometimes being discouraged by the bureaucracy and…um…political aspect of…politics…strongly believes in the government as an institution to serve the people. She believes those in power should use their power to help the people they govern, which sounds pretty simple and elementary but is an ideal often lost in all levels of government.

That’s not to say Leslie doesn’t have some personal interest in her political success, she dreams constantly of shattering barriers and becoming Pawnee’s first female mayor and eventually the first woman to be President of the United States. But she doesn’t want to do these things just for her own satisfaction, she wants to do them in order to make things better for people.

But it’s not just about Leslie’s WORK style, there’s also this:

Her style of friendship.

Leslie is extremely supportive of all of her friends, especially her friend nurse Ann Perkins. Even when there’s some potential awkwardness between the two (Ann dated Leslie’s long time crush…but only after seeking Leslie’s permission and talking the whole thing out as friends) they stick by each other and by Leslie’s credo of “Ovaries before Brovaries.” Leslie doesn’t buy into that idea of “I can’t have girlfriends because all women are catty and out to destroy each other.” Leslie knows better. She knows that the important thing is encouraging your friends, male or female, to succeed at what they do, sometimes to the point of good-natured meddling, and to help celebrate their achievements.

Leslie Knope has a style you can’t buy from a designer or off the rack (though I’m sure you could pick up some of her snappy pants suits if you wanted to…am I the only one who thinks it’s a little ridiculous that “suit” for a woman immediately means a skirt and you have to specify “pants suit” for women? Why don’t we have to do that for guys? Sometimes they wear skirts with their suits…like, for instance, if they’re wearing a kilt). She has a style cultivated by years and years of positivity, achievement and an unwavering “Knope” for the future.

See, I used “Knope” instead of “hope” there.

I thought it was clever.