Does a woman’s power come from the inside or the outside? According to Judith Light and Bronwyn Newport, it can come from both.
The pair of women appeared on the “New Power Women: On Screen and in the Wild” panel presented by South Coast Plaza at TheWrap’s 2025 Power Women Summit, presented by STARZ #TakeTheLead on Tuesday, alongside “Hacks” costume designer Kathleen Felix-Hager, stylist Kelsey Brosi and actress Yvonne Orji.
To start, the panelists each defined what makes them feel powerful, before Newport admitted that it took her some time to find her own power. So, while she did, she used fashion to help.
“For a long time, I didn’t feel like I could show up confident and powerful, and clothing was armor for me,” she explained. “Sometimes wearing something that made me stand up a little straighter, or I had to remember to keep my legs together in that short skirt, it reminds you who you are. And other times, when it’s more just who I am intrinsically, I have more fun with my fashion.”
As Newport moderated the panel, she turned the question to the others: What does power actually look like for women? Light readily agreed that fashion can be a helpful assist.
“Sometimes you don’t do it from the inside. Sometimes you do it from the outside in,” Light said. “So you put on the outfit, you put on the makeup, you put on the costume … and all of a sudden, you incorporate that feeling. Because what we’re talking about right now is emotion and feeling, and we’re not talking about the stuff you think about in your head, I don’t think.”
“I mean, it’s more like, what does that feel for me in here?” Light continued, gesturing to her body.
At #PowerWomenSummit2025, the incomparable Judith Light talked about how costume design informs acting and offered an old school fashion tip or two during the panel "The New Power Women: On Screen and in the Wild" presented by South Coast Plaza. pic.twitter.com/uFIBoMOdUP
— TheWrap (@TheWrap) December 3, 2025
At that, the rest of the panel noted that they would feel fantastic if they were Light, simply because of the brooch she wore for the day. According to the women, “there was an inter-panel debate” over the jewelry, because they each wanted it.
Orji noted that she took a similar approach as Newport when she was first starting out in comedy.
“I said, ‘Listen, if the joke’s bomb, the outfit’s gonna be bomb, OK?’” she joked. “Because I don’t know what I’m going to say, but I know how I’m going to look. So I always had like, thigh high boots. I’m true to this, and always wanted to be like, even if like they were like, ‘I don’t know she wasn’t funny, but her outfit is cute.’ I’ll walk away with that.”
As a costume designer, Felix-Hager noted that she looks more at the evolution of a person’s style, especially because that’s what she has to think about for characters, and encouraged trying new things.
“I think it’s OK to evolve, and to change, and to take risks, and, you know, put yourself out there,” she said. “And maybe you’ll wear something that makes you happy, and everyone else thinks you look insane. But I think that’s also really amazing.”
“Style evolves because we evolve, whether that’s a shift in a career, or you become a parent, or you just growing within yourself, fashion changes, and so do you,” Brosi agreed. “And as a stylist, I am able to help support people identify who they are in this chapter, and ensure that their wardrobe reflects who they are today and not who they are or were five years ago.”
You can watch part of “The New Power Women: On Screen and in the Wild” panel presented by South Coast Plaza, the exclusive retail sponsor of Power Women Summit 2025, in the video above.
TheWrap’s Power Women Summit presented by STARZ #TakeTheLead is the essential gathering of the most influential women across entertainment and media. The event aims to inspire and empower women across the landscape of their professional careers and personal lives. PWS provides one day of keynotes, panels, workshops and networking. For more information visit: thewrap.com/pws. For all Power Women Summit 2025 coverage, click here.