12 Defining Moments in Political Fashion When the Clothes Spoke for Themselves

Jackie Kennedy’s Pink Suit

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jackie Kennedy arrived in Dallas, their first stop on a five-city tour of Texas. Jackie wore a bright pink suit for the occasion, an exact replica of a suit shown in Coco Chanel’s 1961 collection, remade by an American designer with permission from Chanel, People reports. It was representative of her polished yet distinctive style, fitting for her last day as First Lady.

Just hours later, in a motorcade through downtown Dallas, President Kennedy was fatally shot. His blood covered Jackie’s suit, which she refused to change out of for the swearing-in of then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson that took place shortly after. In her diary, Lady Bird Johnson later recalled Jackie’s insistence, saying, “with almost an element of fierceness — if a person that gentle, that dignified, can be said to have such a quality — she said, ‘I want them to see what they have done to Jack,”” People reports. “Somehow, that was one of the most poignant sights— that immaculate woman, exquisitely dressed and caked in blood.”

Betty Ford’s Pants

For women in the white house, the ability to wear pants came slowly. According to The National First Ladies Library, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was among the first to be photographed in pants, but only because she didn’t have time to change between her morning ride and the Easter Egg Roll. Jackie Kennedy wore pants in private and on vacation but still chose dresses for official appearances. Pat Nixon broke boundaries by choosing to model two pantsuits for a 1972 fashion spread. But Betty Ford, who was a vocal advocate for the women’s movement, only appeared in skirts and dresses—until her very last day as first lady in January of 1977. On her final day in the white house, Ford, a former professional dancer, hopped up on the table in the cabinet room and allowed the white house photographer to capture her posing in a pantsuit.

Ford later told Smithsonian Magazine that she’d always wanted to dance on that table. Photographer David Hume Kennerly told the magazine what he imagined her motivation to be. “Very few women have had a seat at that table,” he said. “She was tap-dancing in the middle of this male bastion. She was storming the walls of the gray suits and gray-haired eminences.”

Madeleine Albright’s Barely Coded Brooches

During her tenure as Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright negotiated agreements on climate change, nuclear weapons, and military alliances. If ever there was a job for a power suit, this was it, but she still managed to have fun with her workwear.

Albright had an extensive brooch collection, with which she became known for sending messages. “On good days, I wore flowers and butterflies and balloons, and on bad days, all kinds of bugs and carnivorous animals. I saw it as an additional way of expressing what I was saying, a visual way to deliver a message,” Albright said in a 2010 interview with Smithsonian Magazine. She also shared some more specific examples.

After discovering that Russian spies had planted a listening device near her state department office, Albright showed up to a meeting with Russian representatives wearing a bug brooch. On another occasion, Albright attended a meeting with Iraqi representatives wearing a snake pin, a reference to the Iraqi media calling her an ‘unparalleled serpent.’

There was one time when Albright said she may have gone too far. On a trip to Russia with then-President Bill Clinton, she wore a brooch of monkeys making the hear-no-evil, see-no-evil, speak-no evil symbols. Albright chose it to reference Russian involvement in Chechnya, which Russian officials didn’t like to talk about. She told the magazine, “President Vladimir Putin asked why I was wearing those monkeys. I said, because of your Chechnya policy. He was not amused.”

Michelle Obama’s Sleeveless Dress

A few months into President Obama’s first term in 2009, the white house released the first official portrait of First Lady Michelle Obama. She wore a Michael Kors dress and a double string of pearls for the occasion. Though her outfit may look perfectly prim to the modern eye, her choice of a sleeveless dress was considered untraditional for a first lady.

 Chicago Tribune style reporter Wendy Donahue told ABC News at the time that many readers wrote in to complain that the sleeveless dress conveyed a lack of formality. It soon became a signature look for Obama, and another way in which she modernized the role of the first lady. In coverage of the portrait at the time, The New York Times said the photo “cements for posterity the sleeveless dress as her signature style.”

Wendy Davis’s Fillibuster Sneakers

At the end of 2013, Texas was set to pass a bill that would severely limit abortion access in the state. Determined to stop it from going through, state senator Wendy Davis delayed voting via a fillibuster, remaining standing and talking for 13 hours. The rules of a fillibuster prevented Davis from so much as leaning on a desk, so comfortable footwear was a must. The pink Mizunos sneakers she wore for the occasion became a symbol of her fight for women’s rights.

Obama’s Tan Suit

President Obama gave a press conference in the summer of 2014 to discuss the U.S. military’s response to ISIS. The public responded in outrage—not because of his foreign policy, but his choice of suit. Obama’s tan pants and jacket were a departure from his usual black or navy, and drew criticism for being overly casual.

New York Congressman Peter King told CNN “He looked like he was on his way to a party at the Hamptons,” while New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman wrote “Khaki is a sort of wishy-washy color… a particularly odd choice for a discussion of wishy-washy military policy.”

Hillary Clinton’s Signature Pantsuits

When Hillary Clinton accepted the democratic nomination for president in the summer of 2016, she wore a white pantsuit, which many interpreted as a reference to the favored color of the suffragettes. She had already made history as the first first lady to pose for her official portrait in a pantsuit (rather than a dress) in 2004. Pantsuits of all colors would become a symbol of her campaign and the promise of a woman finally holding the country’s highest office.

She later told CBS News that she started wearing pants after an upskirt photo of her ended up on an underwear billboard in Brazil. The photo was taken at a suggestive angle while she was sitting on a couch. And given how often she was photographed, she knew it could happen again. “I’d be on a stage, I’d be climbing stairs, and they’d be below me…I just couldn’t deal with it. So, I started wearing pants,” Clinton said.

The Pink Hats at the Women’s March

After Donald Trump was inaugurated in January of 2017, thousands of women marched throughout the country in protest of his crude comments about women, dozens of sexual assault allegations, and anti-choice policy proposals. The march became known for the pink hats participants wore. The hats, dubbed “pussyhats,” had cat-like ears, and referenced Trump’s comments about grabbing women by their genitals.

Melania Trump’s “Really Don’t Care” Coat

In the summer of 2018, then-first lady Melania Trump traveled to Texas to visit detention centers where children separated from their parents at the U.S. Mexico border were being held. For the visit, she wore white jeans and a green jacket featuring text on the back that read, “I really don’t care, do u?”

The first lady later told ABC News it was directed toward “the left-wing media who are criticizing me. I want to show them that I don’t care. You could criticize whatever you want to say, but it will not stop me to do what I feel is right.” Still, the look drew criticism for what was considered a flippant response to children forcibly separated from their parents.

Congresswomen Wearing White at the 2019 State of the Union

When President Trump delivered the State of the Union to the joint session of Congress in 2019, the crowd, usually made largely of navy and black suits, had unusual swaths of white. Members of the House Democratic Women’s Working Group all wore white. It was one of the first sessions of congress after the 2018 midterm elections, in which a record number of Black, Latino, and women representatives were elected. White, the color favored by the suffragettes, symbolized solidarity among women. The group’s chair, Representative Lois Frankel of Florida, told CNN that “Wearing suffragette white is a respectful message of solidarity with women across the country, and a declaration that we will not go back on our hard-earned rights.”

AOC’s Hoops and Red Lip

In the six years since her election, congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become known for her signature red lip. However, the style of her first session of Congress in 2019 was a break from the traditionally buttoned-up beauty and fashion looks found around the capitol and a more fitting one for the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.

Ocasio-Cortez explained her choice on X (formerly Twitter) the next day, saying, “(the) lip and hoops were inspired by Sonia Sotomayor, who was advised to wear neutral-colored nail polish to her confirmation hearings to avoid scrutiny. They both kept the red. “Next time someone tells Bronx girls to take off their hoops, they can just say they’re dressing like a Congresswoman,” said Ocasio-Cortez.

Ilhan Omar’s Hijab

In 2019, America elected its first two Muslim congresswomen, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. The day they were sworn in, the House passed an amendment that would allow its members to wear religious head coverings, Time reports. The amendment was proposed by Omar, Representative Nancy Pelosi, and Representative Jim McGovern. For the 181 years prior, headwear was prohibited, thanks to an 1837 rule that experts say was originally intended to prevent representatives from wearing hats on the house floor.

Omar was sworn in surrounded by her family, becoming the first congresswoman to wear a Hijab. On X, formerly Twitter, she said, “No one puts a scarf on my head but me. It’s my choice—one protected by the First Amendment. And this is not the last ban I’m going to work to lift.”