A Tale of Two Dresses and a Suit –

We’re all born fashion victims. It’s the nature of being human. Unless you were born in a cave and live in the Amazon, chances are you’ve been wearing clothes and making fashion choices as long as you can remember. And like it or not, our fashion choices are a public display of who we are even if we’re oblivious of it.

Take the recent RNC and DNC political conventions. The fashion crowd would argue that the political world has always suffered from fashion famine. Let’s face it, our trusted public servants are more focussed on world issues and getting reelected than they are on what they wear or studying what is current in fashion. But, it’s the attention to detail or lack thereof in our clothing choices that broadcasts to the world who we really are.

At the RNC convention, Melania Trump stepped onto the world stage in a gorgeous white Roksanda “Margot” dress and the fashion world gasped for air. This stunning beauty and former model might be the breath of fresh air that the faltering luxury market desperately needs. But, alas, that doesn’t look likely with the controversy over the authenticity of her speech.

This week, Congress Woman Joyce Beatty of Ohio wore a very similar dress that caused quite a commotion on social media. It seems that Beatty was not only educating Melania on the art of throwing shade (putting someone in their place), she was also broadcasting to the Republicans that you better up your game if you want to win. In this election, everything is fair game including fashion.

Then there was Hillary looking rather presidential in that ivory man-tailored suit. Everyone wants to read into the subliminal message of the color choice saying that Hillary was paying homage to the suffragists who often wore white. Perhaps she was, but there’s so much more to the story. White on the color spectrum is inclusive of all color. It’s also symbolic of innocence and purity. That’s why it has been the color of choice for bridal dresses for at least a century. Finally, it’s the color of the most symbolic iconography of the office of the president, the White House. Perhaps Hillary is saying look at me I’m innocent. I’m just another human being trying to do my best while pursuing the American Dream. Or maybe, just maybe and quite possibly, she is sending a direct message to Donald Trump – I am woman, hear me roar.

Hillary has been the brunt of fashion jokes throughout her long public service career. She’s been criticized for not taking fashion risks, wearing to many bright colors, taking too many risks with her hair, etc. It is her fondness for the pant suit which really seems to bother other woman. They say that her choice of wearing bifurcated garments is anti-feminist because pants are made for men. I would argue that Hillary’s immaculately tailored ivory suit is one of the bravest fashion choices she’s ever made and so politically radical it’s going to take years for the general population to catch on. What other presidential candidate could carry off a white suit? Except for a very brief period following the release of Saturday Night Fever in the seventies, men just don’t wear white suits – and even then Jimmy Carter, Ronald Regan, George McGovern and all the other political wanna-be’s would have committed political suicide by wearing a white suit.

This campaign is showing us that it’s anything but business as usual when it comes to politics and/or fashion. Hillary is not only breaking the rules of politics and fashion, she is rewriting them and the Hilary effect will be felt for years to come.

• Note – Hillary’s suit was designed by Ralph Lauren.