Every year, the State of the Union address presents politicians and public figures with a unique sartorial opportunity. The event gathers hundreds of powerful people with a wide range of opinions and views about the state of the nation, and then only one of them talks. The rest are simply on national television, listening (or briefly interjecting, at most). They have to find silent but visible ways to express their agreement or dissent, and as a result, their clothes and accessories often wind up doing the talking.
On Tuesday night at President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, a number of attendees chose looks that sent a distinct and pointed message. Here are the memorable fashion statements, both individual and collective, of the evening.
Somber suits
First lady Melania Trump, second lady Usha Vance and Turning Point USA leader Erika Kirk — all of whom have been known to make the occasional bold fashion choice, including Vance’s memorably flowy peach suit and scoop-neck blouse at last year’s address — declined to do so Tuesday evening. The three women instead ceded the spotlight in somber, straightforward ensembles: Vance and Kirk in simple black suits, Trump in a charcoal Dolce & Gabbana suit with a black belt and white dress shirt.
Democratic women in white, once again
Democratic women have worn white in a coordinated effort on many occasions in recent years, such as the 2024 Democratic National Convention and the State of the Union address in 2024, in honor of the suffragists who won women’s right to vote in 1919. Some kept up the tradition last year, too, while other Democratic women instead coordinated to wear pink.
A Democratic boycott of this year’s State of the Union led to a dramatic number of absences; many skipped in favor of the “People’s State of the Union” on the National Mall and other counterprogramming. Still, several of the Democratic congresswomen who did come to the Capitol on Tuesday once again wore bright white.
Frog costumes
A mile and a half to the west, the anti-Trump group Defiance.org hosted a “State of the Swamp” event, scheduled concurrently with the address, along with the Portland Frog Brigade activist group and the liberal news outlet Courier. Attendees were invited to wear green or frog costumes — a maneuver of “tactical frivolity” that Portland activists deployed last year at ICE protests and that was soon adopted elsewhere.
When law enforcement harasses or attacks peaceful protesters in goofy blow-up costumes, “it just makes the violence really kind of clear, who’s doing it,” Brooks Brown, a founder of the Operation Inflation group, which has helped outfit protesters with inflatable costumes, told The Washington Post in October. “Like, you’re trying to call the Insurrection Act on Barney the Dinosaur and SpongeBob?”
A different kind of Trump tie
Rep. Troy E. Nehls (R-Texas) arrived at the State of the Union wearing a tie with the president’s picture printed on it. It caught Trump’s attention on his way into the chamber, then got some more TV airtime when Nehls got into an argument with Rep. Al Green (D-Texas). Soon afterward, Green was ejected from the chamber holding a sign that read, “Black people aren’t apes,” a reference to an offensive video Trump recently shared depicting former president and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama as apes.
Epstein protest pins
Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California), Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) and Jeffrey Epstein accuser Danielle Bensky, among others, wore black and white pins that read, “Stand with survivors: Release the [Redacted] files,” in reference to the remaining documents detailing the activities and associations of Epstein, the late financier.
Tuesday’s event drew a number of additional statement pins, including Rep. Nanette Barragán’s “Liar Liar,” Tlaib’s simple but punchy “F--- ICE” and the constellation of whistles pinned to the back of Rep. Jill Tokuda’s blazer in the shape of a raised fist.
Olympians in khakis
The most successful collective fashion statement of the evening, however, came from the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team (minus five players), fresh off their gold medal win Sunday over Canada in overtime. Cozy American-flag-emblazoned knits, khaki slacks and a glittering gold medal — a no-fail combination, largely thanks to that last accessory.
By: Ashley Fetters Maloy
Source: The Washington Post