Marissa Mayer

by Kristin Tice Studeman
"Geeks are people who love something so much that all the details matter." –Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo

Last month, Forbes released its list of America’s most powerful CEOs age 40 and under. Of the 18 people on the list, only one of them was female—Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer.

Not only is she one of the most powerful businesswomen in the world—she was the youngest woman ever to take over a Fortune 500 company, but also one of the most stylish. Since leaving Google to helm Yahoo, which was floundering when she got there, the 38-year-old mom and Vogue star has rocked the world with her visionary, and often controversial, decisions. 

During her short time at Yahoo, she’s already launched a redesign of the site, acquired Tumblr for $1.1 billion, released more products than the company has released in total in years, banned the company’s work-at-home policy and removed the classic cubicles from the office buildings (among many other achievements). She’s also hard at work building up a full-fledged video-network. (Watch out YouTube—she’s reportedly looked to poach a bunch of your biggest stars.)

And she’s done it all while looking effortlessly chic, with Oscar de la Renta and Michael Kors right by her side. Mayer, who admits to being a total geek, also happens to have a knack for style, earning herself a spot on the Vanity Fair Best Dressed List alongside the likes of Kate Middleton. She’s hugely devoted to her ODLR sweaters that she wears as part of her office uniform (she’s reportedly one of his biggest customers), consistently rocks a designer sheath dress, and has an affinity for Carolina Herrera. On her work style, she once told the Wall Street Journal, “I think that you should pick a fashionable piece that has some flair—some interesting color or detail—and then pair it with more basic separates.”

No doubt, she has propelled herself to superstardom both in the fashion and business worlds. We would all be smart to take some office style cues from the ultimate geek goddess, but more importantly, to follow her daring leadership skills and impressive work ethic.