when the dress is not just good taste

The color of the dress Kamala Harristhe braids of Michelle Obama and the plaid shirts of the potential future vice president: at the Democratic convention in Chicago, everything is political.

Blue, white or red?

At first glance, the question is only superficial: what will the vice president of the United States wear on Thursday? Kamala Harris for her big speech to the delegates? For her official appearances, she almost always wears a pantsuit and sober pumps or, more rarely, Converse canvas sneakers.

The real question is color

Will the candidate wear blue, the color of the Democratic Party? Red, that of Donald Trump's rival party? Or even white, the color associated with women's political struggles? For a brief surprise appearance on stage in Chicago on Monday, she wore a café au lait dress, with loose pants and a white blouse with a pussy bow. According to the press, the design is by Chloè. Even the designs of Chemena Kamaliartistic director of this Parisian house, are Beyoncé's favorites. Her song “Freedom” is Kamala Harris' campaign anthem.

In 2014, Barack Obama angered some commentators by wearing a beige suit, deemed too casual, for a press conference devoted to military strategy against the Islamic State.

Tim Walz's Plaid Shirts

Barack Obama himself, a special guest Tuesday night, painted an affectionate portrait of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who could become vice president. “Those plaid shirts he's wearing, you can tell they're not from a political consultant, they're from his closet,” the former president said. “That's just the way it is, isn't it!” Tim Walz's wife, Gwen Walz, responded by posting a photo of her husband mending one on X. The jovial running mate, the new darling of the Democratic Party, is fond of big waterproof jackets, sturdy boots, beanies and thick flannel shirts. This no-frills wardrobe reinforces the image of a country boy who is very useful politically to Kamala Harris, a Californian city girl.

Michelle Obama's Braids

At the White House, he had made his clothes and accessories real political or diplomatic vectors. Tuesday evening, in Chicago, Michelle Obama He demonstrated that he still has a perfect command of this register. To deliver a particularly combative speech, which provoked repeated applause from thousands of delegates, he wore a dark blue tunic with a severe cut, belted at the waist, over short pants. The former First Lady left the arms of her sports outfit bare.

It was to be expected, no doubt. In 2009, she wore a sleeveless black dress in her first official photo, a choice deemed so daring that all of Washington, very conformist in matters of dress, debated for days about her bare shoulders.

For her speech in Chicago, Michelle Obama had her hair braided and pulled back into a thick, waist-length braid. At the White House, he has always worn his hair straight. She said America was “not ready” for the wife of its first black president to have naturally curly or braided hair, she said in 2022. On Tuesday, she showed up with a hairstyle that proudly proclaimed her African-American identity and launched her most forceful attack yet on the former Republican president. “For years, Donald Trump did everything he could to make people fear us,” she charged, continuing: “He felt threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who are black.”