I think it depends on the industry you work in, not so much on what gender you have.
Certain industries have certain dress codes. Bankers, lawyers and anyone working in the classic DAX noted companies in Germany (especially sales and procurement) just knows: classic suit, shirt, no experiments, no individualism - anything else is generally frowned upon.
On the contrary, e.g. in engineering departments, the combo of cords with a knitted sweater and patterned shirt underneath is perfectly fine, women can wear whatever they want, as long as they get their detail engineering and process layout right. Same goes for bookkeeping department, while in Controlling, suits again.
In marketing / PR / press, even men go full color the Italian way, and women dress either right out of fashion magazines or just practical.
Despite working in plant engineering and chemical industry my whole work life, I do mostly dress how I feel - casual on days with no customer contact (and not necessarily only on 'casual fridays') if I don't feel dressing up, bold patterned dresses, fitted dresses, mini and midi dresses if I am in the mood for them, and full 'career mode' (= shiftdress with blazer, pumps) if I want to.
Yes, I have some pantsuits as well, but they are not 'classic', but all with a twist.
During my whole career, I never felt as if I had to copy men to be accepted or to get forward?
But I instinctly knew that there were meetings where the classic route would just be perceived as more appropriate, and for those special meetings, I pull(ed) the BOSS clothes.
That said, my own experience is that, contrary to 20 years ago, nowadays clothes don't matter as much as they used to do, the focus is more on what you say, know and do - irrespective of gender. At least in my company & business (my company is in a role model position here - it's, in general, still a male-dominated business, but we have a > 50% female percentage of employees).
But still, there are places where the first impression counts (before you even had the chance to speak a single word and convince by your knowledge), and then it's good to just 'fit right in' optically so that people can concentrate on the content of your speech instead of contemplating your figure.
This works, by the way, the other way round as well. I do prefer my business partners in suits. Most men look OK in a classic suit. I don't like them to wear jeans and white shirt only (especially when they are fat), or a coloured chino, funny socks and strange patterned shirts (> because my first thought when I see a man wearing funny socks with ducks or the like is: so you're wearing duck socks ... do you also wear duck undies?).
Sorry for the OT, I guess what I wanted to say is that some 'conventions' have their good reason.
To draw the bridge back to royal clothes / Vic clothes: that's the reason why we often say "this royal dressed appropriate for the occasion " (or not): because there are some general expectations of what to wear when and for what. And these expectations might sometimes be old fashioned, but they still have a "raison d'être". And they change very slowly.
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