Dr Jill Biden Can Wear Whatever She Wants – And That Includes Fishnet Tights

When Dr Jill Biden innocently pulled on a pair of tights a few days ago, little did she know that they would - both ludicrously and inevitably - become the ‘the story’. She wore the tights, which were black and patterned with what looks like a criss-cross style, on April 1. A few days later, the outfit snipers appeared on Twitter. One user, in response to a comment about the fact that the tights were not in fact ‘cheap fishnets’, said she looked as ‘trashy as heck’ and followed up by saying, ‘Between joe and her we are the laughing stock of the world.’

Comparisons to Madonna, a famous fishnets wearer, were also making the rounds, and led other users to leap to her defence.'I'm with #FLOTUS. Patterned tights, fishnets and the like are all very good things and women should wear what they want! There is no age limit for fun or style.'

Having your clothing choices raked over the coals every time you disembark an airplane or step up to a podium does, of course, come with the territory. Margaret Thatcher’s handbag; Theresa May’s leather trousers; Boris Johnson’s running shorts; Michelle Obama’s sleeveless dress; all have been reported on and gossiped about with a frankly indecent amount of rigour because politicians and their partners are seen as 'fair game'. But a pair of tights – really? (It is worth noting, however, that Meghan Markle has faced her own versions of tight-gate, so this is by no means the first time hosiery has made headlines.)

While some of the talk generated has been in the spirit of fun - The Cut compared some of her black-and-white outfit choices to the brilliant Moira Rose, Schitt’s Creeks’ resident glamazon - it mostly makes for depressing reading. Because what it boils down to is criticism of women, particularly when they somehow ‘fall short’ of people’s set parameters of what is and is not appropriate, whether that’s wearing something too short, too tight or, in this case, apparently too ‘trashy’. In lieu of the now unfashionable but once powerful ‘hot or not’ lists in weekly magazines, we now have Twitter, where it’s only too easy to throw out words like ‘embarrassment’ to describe a woman wearing a pair of tights.

Dr Jill Biden's wardrobe is certainly not the most interesting thing about her but, sadly, it is the most often-discussed. She knows this, too, which is why she has chosen to use her platform to champion young designers and brands with a positive ethos – on Inauguration Day, for example, she chose Markarian, a female-run US brand. The day before that, she wore Gabriela Hearst, a sustainable designer. This is well-trodden ground, of course, when it comes to figures like Meghan Markle, who also wears a lot of sustainable brands, or Spain's Queen Leitizia, who often showcases the high street of her country whenever she’s on public duty.

Biden is giving these designers a sense of power and visibility that they may not have had otherwise. Similarly, Kamala Harris used Inauguration Day to spotlight a number of young Black designers including Christopher John Rogers, Sergio Hudson (also chosen by Michelle Obama) and Pyer Moss' Kerby Jean-Raymond. In this way, these women have turned tabloid fascination with their appearances into something altogether more productive.

Clothes are powerful. They are visual signifiers and can certainly send a message – just think of Melania Trump's 'I really don't care, do u?' jacket. But now, as the world still grapples with a global pandemic, a woman's choice of tights seems particularly unimportant. We finally (after a very long four years) have a White House filled with intelligent, capable women using their moment in the spotlight to uplift and champion interesting designers with a thoughtful perspective. That should be celebrated. Other than that, Biden – and indeed any other woman – can wear whatever the hell she likes.