Ad(dressing) the Nation: How Kamala Harris’ Style Reflected Her Campaign

For decades, fashion has been used as a political messaging tool. Remember how Hillary Clinton solidified the pantsuit as part of her wardrobe and it became a cultural statement for the power of women everywhere? But Harris has taken the movement to the next level. Let’s take a look at the next Vice President’s style and how it has translated into her messaging.

THE CONVERSE:

Something you’ll never see Ms. Harris without are her Chuck Taylors. Throughout her campaign, she sported these bad boys alongside almost every outfit. In early September, she made Twitter go crazy when she stepped off a plane wearing jeans, a navy blazer, and her signature black converse. While Harris has always loved the sneakers for their comfort, she has remarked that she does think they represent something greater: “… we all want to go back to some basic stuff about who we are as a country. Chucks—whatever your background is, whatever language your grandmother spoke—you know, we all at some point or another had our Chucks,” she told Complex.

With her Chuck Taylors, Kamala Harris changed the expectations of the female politician’s dress code. The former senator is already breaking gender stereotypes by becoming the U.S.’s first female vice president, but she’s also combating the stereotypes of women needing to dress formally in professional settings. Hillary Clinton also attempted to battle this notion—although her pantsuits certainly became a form of protest against these stereotypes, she largely stuck to a more traditional look. As a consequence (among many other factors, of course), many people criticized Clinton for being too cold, rigid, and even robotic during her 2016 campaign. Younger voters had a difficult time supporting Clinton because they felt she didn’t resonate with them and was far removed from understanding their wishes.

Harris, however, has given the younger demographic what they want: someone who is down to Earth and can wear skinny jeans and sneakers while campaigning for one of the highest offices in the country. The hip sneakers convey youth and energy, something that is much needed in a campaign where many people criticized Biden’s old age. A simple wardrobe choice can reassure the American people that the candidate is fit for the job.

THE ATTORNEY:

While Harris does enjoy dressing down, she also always pairs her Chucks with a more subdued look that comes from spending years in the courtroom. She almost always wears dark pants and/or jeans and a dark blazer, creating an overall professional look. Many lawyers, particularly women, adhere to a strict dress code in order to blend in and stay discrete so as to allow the courtroom to only focus on their words, not on their outfit. It is clear that Ms. Harris took this strategy to the campaign trail, as she was facing the world not only as a woman but as a woman of color. It was crucial that her priority laid with the message she was delivering.

Even in the courtroom, many women lawyers struggle with walking a fine line of conveying quality in clothing but also refraining from looking too flashy. Over the years, Kamala Harris has perfected this balance. Her subdued style is perfect in the fight against an extravagant President, thereby representing seriousness and capability. The consistency of this style also represents, on a smaller scale, reliability and loyalty, two qualities the American people need after an unstable past four years.

THE PEARLS:

The last crucial piece of Kamala Harris’ wardrobe are her pearl necklaces. She almost never leaves the house without them, whether they are black, white, or even teal. Some have suspected that these are an homage to her sorority at Howard University, Alpha Kappa Alpha, which was the first African-American Greek-letter sorority. The members of the sorority are referred to as the Twenty Pearls; “the strand of pearls speaks to solidarity among the members,” the international president of AKA, Glenda Glover, told Vanity Fair. By wearing them, Harris stresses the importance of the Black community, and specifically Black women, in her life. The pride she exemplifies thereby resonates with Black women across America who see someone who is unafraid of her heritage and what it may mean for pursuing the vice presidency; she renews hope for the very people she has relied on for much of her life.

In any case, it is clear that the pearls project one thing: power. Glover additionally stated that “pearls represent refinement and wisdom.” In line with her sober style, the pearls are a perfect balance of boldness and femininity as a tool to emphasize her accomplishments and capability rather than fashion sense.

She also takes risks with her pearls—she wears an array of colors, pairs them with different color strands, and even layers them. Harris has the ability to take this timeless fashion trend and make it into something current, subconsciously reflecting the Biden campaign’s mission to “restore the soul of the nation” for the future.

VICTORY SPEECH OUTFIT:

I’m sure Harris’ outfit on Saturday night was not lost on women—it certainly wasn’t lost on me. The color white has always been a symbol of the suffragette movement, but over the past few years, the white pantsuit has become a symbol of women’s rights in general. She paired the pantsuit with a white silk blouse with a pussy-bow, which has also been an instrumental symbol in female empowerment. In the 1950s, Coco Chanel and YSL popularized the women’s necktie as an accessory for pantsuits, ushering in the “power suit” era of the 70s and 80s. Now, it has become a double-entendre after Trump’s “grab ‘em by the pussy” scandal.

Harris’ choice to step away from her usual darker tones and into this new outfit is no accident. It represents her understanding the importance of this moment as a Vice President of many firsts—first woman, first person of South Asian descent, first black woman, first daughter of immigrants—and joining a long tradition of women in politics as she declared with conviction, “while I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last.” Such a statement paired with her outfit reveals that this is just the first stepping stone for women in the journey of breaking that glass ceiling. It was a representation of the future of politics and is a signal of what to expect going forward.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT:

To close it out, we’ll end with my favorite outfit. It’s important to note that Harris can be flashy when she wants to, but only a few occasions call for it. One notable one was when she wore a studded rainbow jacket to a Pride parade in San Francisco in 2019. The jacket is from Levi’s, which is fitting considering the company is based in San Francisco. It got people talking on social media – this outfit was noteworthy considering just months earlier, she had gotten hate for trying on a similar multi-colored, sequined jacket in a store. Journalists criticized her for spending her time shopping instead of what they saw was valuable time to campaign for president; Fox News analysts labelled it as “embarrassing.” Such an incident reflects the challenges women in the political sphere face all the time, emitting a sense of competence yet also light-heartedness.

Kamala Harris is an inspiration for women of color everywhere, and her fashion choices reflect this. If there’s anyone who can combat the narrative of what women are supposed to wear, it’s her. Now that she’s been elected to the White House, I hope to see more surprises in her fashion choices here and there – maybe we’ll even get to see a white pearl-studded jacket in the Oval Office!

Featured image via