Power of a Pantsuit: How We View Politics & Fashion
By Asha Kannan
Cover image by Asha Kannan & Charlie Deichman-Caswell
#Pantsuitpower. Pantsuit Nation. A flashmob. All associated with former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Clinton revolutionized the idea of women wearing pantsuits when she made the change from skirts to pants to avoid suggestive commentary about her clothing and to protect herself from being sexualized by photographers. The #pantsuitpower flashmob took place in New York’s Union Square in 2016, performed by a group wearing an eclectic collection of pantsuits, some tailored and others thrifted. Some women showed their #pantsuitpower and support of Clinton by wearing pantsuits to the polls when voting for her.
When Clinton first began to wear pantsuits, there were a lot of mixed responses. Project Runway’s Tim Gunn expressed criticism, particularly geared toward wanting to standardize female and male roles and confine gender to different fashion spheres. “Why must she dress that way? I think she’s confused about her gender…all these big, baggy menswear tailored pantsuits. No, I’m really serious,” he said. Despite disapproval from Gunn, other celebrities have joined the pantsuit movement. At the 2017 Grammys, for example, Katy Perry wore a white pantsuit in support of Hillary Clinton.
At large, the pantsuit movement has shifted from a deeper political statement to a business-casual colloquial clothing style, although the suit itself still emulates power and femininity, especially when worn on the red carpet. Other politicians have harnessed fashion in such a way to promote an ideal they want voters to see.
President George W. Bush is famous for wearing cowboy boots on inauguration day. While this garment did not cause visible controversy, it forced people to think about Bush’s Texan roots, and could have been seen as a political power play to emphasize his home state.
Unfortunately, regardless of the feminine spirit and inspiration that the pantsuits might capture for some, the words of Tim Gunn cannot be ignored so easily, particularly if voters think about female and male candidates based on their looks instead of their objective politics.
Collage by Asha Kannan & Charlie Deichman-Caswell
A 2014 study conducted by Dartmouth College revealed that while many voters consider political competence when assessing candidates, they are also easily swayed by physical beauty and a conception of “traditional femininity.” When thinking about Bush, his fashion statement was seen as a positive emphasis on his cultural background. However, there was so much controversy surrounding Clinton’s desire to wear pants instead of a skirt. Voter perception of political figures—often based on their appearance—is interesting because we in turn also wear the politics that we support, perhaps resulting in judgment from our peers.
Numerous political figures, namely Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, have been turned into memes, placed onto t-shirts or conveniently found themselves stuck onto someone’s water bottle. Nowadays, it’s pretty common to see someone wearing a Democratic Party sweatshirt, or a t-shirt in support of fighting climate change, but these t-shirts often put a comedic spin on the cause itself, which isn’t socially acceptable in the clothing of political and public figures. There has even been increased media circulation surrounding the knitted mittens that Bernie Sanders wore in the iconic inauguration day meme. What we wear reflects what we believe, and what politicians wear reflects how we think about their politics, but politicians are scrutinized infinitely more despite the fact that we make the same clothing choices every day.