Style & Statement – The Political Power of Fashion

Fashion is never just about clothes. The power of fashion is in its ability to communicate information subtly through colors, silhouettes, and styling, among others. When incorporated properly, fashion serves as a message, shapes identities and promotes movements. In the context of politics, fashion is used as a political statement.

From different political figures to historical movements and recent social and political protests, fashion is one of the elements the media and public focus on. With the 2024 US presidential election, let’s dive into how fashion speaks politics.

A Uniform – The Art of Power Dressing

It is common for political figures to have their signature looks, resembling unofficial uniforms. These personalized outfits allow the public to easily recognize them through repeating characteristics of their physical looks, and to project their power, personalities, and values.

The Western suit is a work attire classic and has long been embedded in our brains with an impression of the wearer being professional, serious and well-composed. Political leaders such as American presidents and European prime ministers wear the golden formula of Western suit and tie. It is also adopted in business and professional fields; such as chief executive officers and lawyers.

Under the conformity of social norms and stereotypes, the suit traditionally suggests dominant masculine ideals and is a symbol of class and power. However, more female politicians are aiming to change this idea of hegemonic masculinity.

Harper’s Bazaar

Hilary Clinton

According to Josefina Erikson and Cecilia Josefsson in their article, ‘The Parliament as a Gendered Workplace: How to Research Legislators’ (UN)Equal Opportunities to Represent’, in the journal, Parliamentary Affairs, politics was historically an all-male business.  It remains the case for some countries, such as Brunei and Saudi Arabia, due to a variety of reasons including deeply ingrained cultural norms. Now the political field is still a male-dominated workplace globally despite the rise in awareness of gender inclusivity and women empowerment.

Hilary Clinton, a former US Secretary of State, is one female successful at supplanting the male work attire into their own style. Clinton has been involved in government service for over 30 years with changes of different roles, such as the First Lady of Arkansas, the First Lady of the United States, the U.S. Senator, and the US Secretary of State. Throughout the years, Clinton has been photographed countless times in her iconic pantsuits in different pops of colors, redefining what wearing a suit entails.

Clinton’s pantsuits serve a bigger role than just personal aesthetics. They challenge conventional ideas of how a gender should dress, a set of conservative and stereotypical rules formed in the past that lasted as a tradition. By wearing her power suits, Clinton inspires women to feel equal and self-assured in a patriarchal environment and to fight against the pre-existing masculine culture that comes with it.

Color Psychology and Fashion

As much as “What color is your tie?” or “Should I wear a black or blue suit?” does not define whether one is a good politician or not, it is undeniable that we live in a visually driven society. Fashion helps construct the image an individual would like to portray, playing a pivotal role in the game of politics.

Color is one of the most noticeable features in garments. At the same time, it contributes largely to how people perceive the wearer’s quality and characteristics. The colors we choose to wear carry a meaning, whether the choice is intentional or not. According to color psychology, color is a medium that can influence a person’s emotion, which in turn affects the person in attributing different colors to different qualities and characteristics.

Said artist Pablo Picasso during his Blue Period, “Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.” All the artist’s paintings in this period were monochromatic palettes of blues, greens, and grays to express the theme of loneliness, melancholy, and hopelessness. Regardless of our personal preference for a color, similar emotions will be stirred up when we look at the same said color. Hence, politicians carefully manipulate colors in how they dress to construct their image.

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Donald Trump

The former US president and a candidate for the 2024 US presidential election, Donald Trump, is known for his dark blue suits with long bright red ties. Red is often associated with boldness, power, and fierceness. Wearing this bold-colored tie is not only a reference to the Republican Party but also projects his confidence and strength.

Trump’s infamous “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) baseball cap is another testimony of the political power of fashion. The MAGA cap is political merchandise. Just like other merchandise on the market, it is widely distributed to promote something, and in this case, Trump’s political campaign. Trump was often seen proudly wearing this red baseball cap with the same red tie work attire in his many campaigns during his leadership. This combination is a regular costume of his, an image and a promotion gimmick for his campaigns.  

Trump’s merchandise is a highly recognizable fashion statement using the symbolic Republican red and the MAGA slogan. It is a successful and powerful tactic as the cap was and still is being worn by his supporters up to this day, even after his presidency ended in early 2021. Now, as a candidate for the 2024 US Presidential Election, it is no surprise to see more MAGA caps surface on the streets of the States.

Reuters/Alyssa Pointer

Not Just Them, But Also Those Around Them

Fashion as a political statement is not solely applied to the political figure; but also extends to their spouses. The US First Ladies, for instance, have purposefully fashioned themselves and proved that they are not just “the wife of a politician.”

Jacqueline Kennedy, more known as Jackie Kennedy, was an American First Lady and the wife of the late US President John F. Kennedy. She was a style icon even before her role at the White House and later used fashion cleverly as the First Lady in responding to controversial times. In the midst of the Sexual Revolution in the 60s, Kennedy managed to appease both traditionalists and rebels by wearing a strapless dress under a sheer sheath.

Being in a position that is heavily paid attention to during a sensitive time, this fashion choice balanced both modesty and boldness in navigating shifting cultural standards. It embraced a timeless elegance and modern femininity, matching Kennedy’s image as a fashion icon on top of understanding the power of subtlety in fashion.

Michelle Obama

Another example is the Obamas. In Becoming, a Netflix documentary of the First Lady, Michelle Obama, the former US president, Barack Obama, stated how fashion is not simply fashion in politics. Sexism is very much prevalent in the media, where women’s appearances are discussed more than men’s. As First Ladies, the media coverage is bound to naturally increase, which the former president believed in “turning it into your tool rather than being a victim to it.”

Barack Obama has a consistent preference for wearing blue and gray suits. The calm-colored attire symbolized the professionalism and thoughtful direction of his leadership. Michelle Obama as the First Lady, her carefully curated style is a perfect addition to Barack Obama’s image. All her tactful looks are a testimony of individuality, creating a stage for herself with fashion and refusing to stay in her husband’s shadow.

One simply cannot conclude Michelle Obama’s fashion approach in a word – it is a powerful mix of confidence, elegance, strategy, and inclusivity. She is known for blending accessible clothing brands with high fashion to build an approachable image despite her status as First Lady. She is also recognized for selecting designer pieces associated with the countries she engages with as a gesture of goodwill and respect to reduce diplomatic tensions. For example, when Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, visited the United States in 2015, Michelle Obama wore a black and white dress with elaborate embroidery by Indian-American designer Bibhu Mohapatra, whose designs are a fusion of Indian craftsmanship with Western styling. The fashion choice symbolized the exchange between the US and India. It is a way to demonstrate cultural diplomacy and her appreciation for the country’s rich heritage in craftsmanship.

Dressed to Protest

Similar to music, fashion has the ability to evoke feelings and raise awareness about an issue. Fashion has long been adopted in social and political movements, utilized as a political statement to protest and voice a message.

The #MeToo movement is a perfect example of how fashion is more than just aesthetics. Women’s fashion choices are somehow associated with their fate. Victim blaming and sexist comments like “the woman should have had it coming when she chose to dress slightly more revealingly” are unavoidable in debates about sex crimes.

Beginning in 2006, the movement aims to raise awareness around sexual harassment and abuse of women in the workplace, promoting the message that women should feel able to dress unapologetically without living in fear. The movement went beyond the states in 2017 in response to the sexual abuse case by American film producer Harvey Weinstein and remains one of the largest social events.

Protests broke out around the world in which participants clapped back at the outdated and sexist notion of a patriarchal society where women must dress to fit the male gaze. In the 2018 Golden Globe Awards, many actresses, including Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, Jessica Chastain, and Emma Stone, wore black to show their support for the #MeToo movement and protest against sexual misconduct. As an industry that struggles with the subject, the involvement of parties in entertainment is influential in raising public awareness of the movement. In addition, this pushes changes in the industry’s practices, like strengthening workplace conduct policies to protect people from harassment. 

When Style Becomes Political 

Fashion is an indicator of one’s identity and personality, or a signifier of the message one wants to convey. Therefore, different elements in fashion, such as color and styling, need to be considered carefully when one wants to dress as a visual form of expression, especially when it comes to politics.