![](https://style.time.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2013/03/9782080201355.jpeg?w=260)
Power is in no small part based on perception, and for centuries men (and later women) have used their wardrobe as a way to project authority. The newly-published book Power & Style: A World History of Politics and Dress uses the lens of fashion to identify shifts in political and social influence through history. Here, TIME looks at power dressing through the ages.