PARIS - After a decade of postfeminism - all girly dresses and shoes not made for walking - designers are taking a serious look at appropriate dressing for a working woman.

In the Western world, at least, women are no longer battling a masculine ruling class ; it is nearly half a century since the “power woman” pantsuit, that symbol of emancipation, made its debut.

But while a man has a business “uniform” - a suit that works for most occasions - his partner has no equivalent. At best, women tinker with appropriate looks, swapping a jacket for a cardigan or wearing a sleek dress as feminized severity.

But women are now coming to maturity without the baggage of the feminist revolution. The current bellwether of style, Phoebe Philo, creates sleek outfits for the French brand Celine . Her classic combinations of skirt and blouse or tailored coat have no reference to the “secretary” style of the 1950s or the androgynous looks of the ‘80s.

“It is the only way I know how to design clothes, by using myself as a mirror,” said Ms. Philo, who works out of London. “I feel I know myself more in my 30s,” she added.

In Western societies, women are increasingly more educated than men. Modern mothers juggle demanding jobs and parenting, managing stress and sex. Building a working wardrobe often means trying to find something as anodyne and universally acceptable as the way a man dresses.

That is why political women who grew up in the feminist era, from Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, use pants as a uniform. Some - notably Christine Lagarde, the French economics minister, and Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the United States House of Representatives - give their streamlined looks an elegant spin.

Two male designers, Tomas Maier at Bottega Veneta and Raf Simons for Jil Sander, offered for the autumn collection the streamlined modernism of a plain, impeccably cut suit, though shaped close to a womanly body.

“I don’t think it is necessary to be connected to a certain style to say, I am independent, I am strong,” said Mr. Simons.

In Hamburg now working on her +J line for Japan’s Uniqlo Ms. Sander still champions female modernity. “In business,” she said, “one should mix understatement with individualism, be subtle but not self-effacing. ”

The Israeli designer Alber Elbaz of Lanvin is shifting from the simplicity of the dress to the power of pants. “Pants are coming back because women are wearing the pants today,” he said.

Christopher Bailey, chief creative officer at Burberry, said: “ Dressing for work, as with everything, is about contradictions ? hard and soft. Too hard and the look is too tough and aggressive, too soft and the look is too relaxed.”

There is clearly a difference between women who are connected to a fashionable, design-conscious world and those who are in a work situation where there is a more defined code.

As chief executive of Yves Saint Laurent in Paris, Valerie Hermann is in a unique position to re-think the female wardrobe. The essence of her clothes for work, weekend and vacation is her desire for “simple things,” with a rejection of any kind of what she called “costume.”

She wears pants, shirts and jackets, many selected from the collections of the current Yves Saint Laurent designer, Stefano Pilati.

Ms. Hermann said that the modern catchall is what she calls the “three hole dress,” a tunic style that goes over the head with arms protruding, so that the sleeveless outfit can be worked with a sweater, shirt, pants, skirt and even a jacket.

But she also said she believed in selfawareness. “With three daughters of 22, 19 and 15, I begin to get a notion of the evolution of age and the cycle of life,” she said. “You have to be clear what you are doing.”

The board director and deputy chairwoman of Sotheby’s Europe in London, Melanie Clore, agrees.

“Clearly in the 1980s, women were so grateful to have serious jobs in an utterly male world they felt they had to dress like men to remain there and to blend in,” Ms. Clore said. “This is now no longer the case.”

But she added, “I do think it is sad when women still feel the need to dress like men ? female politicians are the worst culprits.”

The one “politician” who has repudiated all the wardrobe certainties is Michelle Obama, who has favored modern separates with a cardigan, rather than a jacket: a major statement.

Mrs. Obama has yet to wear a stark pantsuit. If she does, it may be a symbol not of a retrograde vision, but of a woman with the confidence to make a man’s world her own.

BY SUZY MENKES