With all eyes now on Kamala Harris, since President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 election, her fashion choices have become a hot topic. Her presentation on the campaign trail is being analyzed not only for what she says, but for how she looks. Whether this is fair, considering men generally are not analyzed for their fashion choices, is another question. The fact is that she can use her fashion choices to empower her stance and her campaign.
Kamala Harris is the first woman to act as Vice President. As the only Vice president of Black and South Asian descent, she has in the past used fashion to make a political statement, presenting herself as down-to-earth and accessible through her relaxed, yet powerful style. Her fashion was provocative and groundbreaking long before she was ever sworn into office.
Harris served as a DA in California until, in 2010, she was elected as the Attorney General of California. During this time, her style was powerful yet elegant. She would often don a pair of gold stud earrings, blazers, and slacks in dark colors. Also blouses in every hue with her hair silk pressed. Her style was simple, due to the dress code of the courtroom, but aspects of her current style began to shine through during this era.
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In 2017, Kamala Harris was elected as a U.S. senator for California and served until 2021. She began donning her iconic set of pearls—also a sign of her membership in the AKA sorority at the historically Black Howard University, a service organization made by and for college-educated Black women—and began experimenting with her fashion more. During this time, she would try vibrant colors and textures. She also began wearing pantsuits as a power dressing statement.
In 2019, Harris announced that she would be running for president. During her first presidential campaign, her style remained relatively similar to her senatorial era, yet there were some key differences. She let her inner personality shine through her outfits by adopting a plethora of bold colors and textures into her wardrobe.
This era brought criticism of Harris’ fashion choices for the first time, which has lingered throughout this new presidential campaign. Her outfits were called boring due to their professionalism and her tailored silhouettes, despite their practicality and appropriateness. People wanted her in fancier clothing—but not too expensive—or suits in bolder, more patriotic colors. While most news outlets were far from critical, the commentary on social media certainly was. The double standard needs to be addressed: if Harris was a man, no one would care what she wore. But since they do, Harris is choosing to make statements with her fashion.
Madame VP and Beyond
After Kamala Harris dropped out of the 2020 presidential race, Joe Biden chose her as his running mate. After a tumultuous election year, Biden and Harris won, which then made Harris the first woman, the first Black person, and the first South Asian American person to be vice president. Harris wore suffragette white to accept the results of the election, and bipartisan purple on inauguration day. After this monumental win, Harris began to embrace a more business casual look and extended her colorways.
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Combining sneakers with pantsuits and blazers, Kamala Harris made waves in the political sphere. After being featured on the cover of Vogue, many people on the right have tried to use her style to minimize her professionalism. Many have called her style “tacky,” especially on the social media platform X. Because of her fashion, people on the right see her as unfit to run, an argument that has only been used towards women in government positions. Now, The New York Times and Business Insider are praising her for her style development as she is “dressing to be President” and committing to pantsuits in patriotic colors. The left seems to be welcoming Kamala’s new era of fashion and elegance.
Political Fashion
American political fashion has been around for over a hundred years. Starting in the 1900s, the suffragette movement was defined by white dresses with purple and gold sashes. Then, in the 1940s, fashion was used to show support for the Allied Forces. Notably, women wore utility outfits inspired by military dress and donned red lipstick as a sign of victory over Nazism. In the 1960s, there was a rise in African-inspired clothing and patterns in support of the Civil Rights Movement.
This kind of political fashion did not just influence the people, it also made its way through the US government. Nancy Pelosi was one of the first modern instances of using fashion to brand herself in the political sphere. When Pelosi first took office in the 80s, women were only allowed to wear dresses and skirts. She and the other 22 women in office fought for equality for all and were able to be taken seriously as equals by their male peers. Now she often dawns bright pastel pantsuits, as a reminder of the progress we have made as a nation.
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Many other congresswomen followed suit. Former U.S. Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton popularized the pantsuit look. In contrast, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is known for her iconic red lip and golden hoops, and her disruptive outfits that reference political events and deals such as her “Tax the Rich” dress she wore to the MET Gala in 2021.
Kamala’s fashion, combined with her carefree sense of humor and passion for change, is part of why she is immensely popular as a nominee. Her fashion serves as a reminder of progress like Nancy Pelosi, shows her inner power like Hillary Clinton, and is politically provocative like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Hopefully, she will continue to use political fashion to unite the nation through this upcoming presidential election.
