Donald had left the building. That means it’s also time to bid farewell to the tone-deaf Trump-era wardrobe (in Washington at least, for now). Just a brief run through of some of Melania’s eyebrow-raising moments: the pith helmet, the $51,000 coat, the pussy-bow blouse, and we never did get a satisfactory explanation for the ‘I Really Don’t Care, Do U?’jacket, did we? It seems to have taken just the duration of the flight to Florida for Melania to ditch her strict FLOTUS uniform – she arrived in Mar-a-Lago changed out of the black skirt suit she wore to depart the White House, wearing a fluid printed tunic and flats (!).
Still, we really don’t care, do you? Because today a new political class entered the White House as Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States and Kamala Harris became the first female, Black and South Asian Vice President. The new administration seems determined to foster a spirit of hope, unity and solidarity – something that was clearly apparent in the fashion choices made today (nowhere more so than in Harris’s championing of young, Black designers). Fashion diplomacy is back.
This new attitude was also exemplified by the popularity of purple with Harris, former FLOTUS Michelle Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton all opting to wear variations of the colour. Harris wore a coat by Christopher John Rogersand a dress by Sergio Hudson, Obama chose a plum look – also by Hudson – and Clinton arrived in one of her signature Ralph Lauren trouser suits, this time in vibrant violet. For the eve of the inauguration, Dr Jill Biden also wore an amethyst coat and dress by the designer Jonathan Cohen.
Their collective allegiance to the colour isn’t a coincidence. For the women, purple was a symbolic choice. Much like white - which has been restored with political resonance by the female powerhouses of the Democratic party - it’s one of the colours of the suffrage movement, representative of loyalty. It is also a nod to bipartisan politics – what you get when you mix red and blue, a message reinforced by President Biden's speech today. Harris's choice, it has been reported, was a nod to Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress (it was a colour she often wore, and one of her campaign colours). For Clinton there was perhaps another hidden meaning; she wore a black and purple suit when she conceded defeat to Donald Trump in 2016. Could she be saying, I am back and I am stronger than ever?
Purple also resonates an unapologetically powerful femininity (colours do not ‘belong’ to either gender, but it would have been surprising to see a man turn up in a purple suit today). It is bold, it is regal, it refuses to fade into the background. If there is one thing this White House is going to champion – from within, with the first female Vice President and the First Lady who will continue to work – it’s strong women.