If Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump ever stand next to each other on the debate stage, viewers watching from their living rooms will notice — if only subconsciously — what the two candidates are wearing.
Trump’s “loud aesthetic” contrasts with Harris’s more muted style.
Dress and image have always been an important part of politics, going back to the earliest days of the English monarchy, said Derek Guy, a menswear writer best known for his popular Twitter account. The traditionally masculine suit has been and still is a part of the American political scene. And in that scene, which has long been visually and literally male, Harris has had to find a place for herself as a black woman.
“I think the issue of gender in the political space would be more about how dress has changed since women have come into it and how they’ve either adopted or challenged the male uniform of politics,” Guy said. For Harris, this has taken the form of a repressed but recognizable femininity, political science and fashion experts told Business Insider.
Trump has adapted the traditional male suit to suit his body and brand. Guy said Trump often wears navy blue Brioni suits, which are reminiscent of the power silhouettes of the 1980s. The shoulders are padded and elongated to give him a slimmer, more masculine figure. Around his neck, Trump chooses a shiny, satin, bright red tie.
It is, according to Guy, a “noisy aesthetic”.
Harris, on the other hand, isn’t loud about her outfits at all. Sparsha Saha, a lecturer at Harvard who has co-authored a book on the political meanings and effects of clothing styles, called it “unrepeatable yet feminine.”
For women in male-dominated fields, styling is often an attempt to prove worth and authority, said Shauna Shames, an associate professor at Rutgers University and co-author of the forthcoming book. Dressing for Sex: The Democratic Paradox Revealed by Clothes.
“Most female politicians will start with an assumption of credentials, showing that they are competent,” Shames said. “Clothing is a good signaling device to show competence.”
Harris’ campaign did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
Trump’s campaign celebrated his style choices, with spokesman Steven Cheung saying, “President Trump has the greatest style of any president in history.”
An old controversy reinforced the importance of styling.
For Harris, trying to “credentialize” has meant looking like a lawyer at a high-profile firm. She often wears designer pantsuits in traditionally safe colors and neutral Manolo Blahnik pumps, though she also has a known penchant for Converse sneakers. In a nod to her fellowship at a historically black college, Harris will usually don a string of pearls. For important events, such as the inauguration, she will sometimes wear black designer clothes.
According to Shames, the whole look embodies traditional femininity and perceived professionalism, which is often coded as male and white.
“Maintaining the feminine look, which I think is strategic, balancing being a professional woman, a woman on the move, a lawyer,” said Saha. “Being tough. She wants to deliver all those things and I think so far she’s done really well.”
“She’s developed an image that’s incredibly powerful, but she’s also not trying to hide her femininity,” Joseph Altuzarra, the designer behind many of Harris’ pantsuits, told the New York Times in 2021.
Harris faced a clothing controversy early in her term as vice president when she graced the cover of Vogue magazine in her jeans and sneakers. People immediately called the look too casual and said it didn’t show enough respect.
The aftermath will likely teach her that, for better or worse, styling has real consequences, Saha said. Women in politics, and in the professional space in general, must walk the line between associating with masculine leadership traits and dressing in accordance with expectations of traditional femininity.
“That’s called a double bind. How about feminine, but not too feminine?” Saha said. “And that’s her style. I think her dressing style is that. Feminine, but not too feminine.”
Trump’s outfit doesn’t need to start the needle in the same way — indeed, this year’s Republican National Convention relied on traditionally masculine tropes. Shames said that red, his signature color, codes for masculinity.
Clothing communicates values and is a necessary consideration.
Guy, however, sees Trump’s trademark style as more related to industry than gender. He usually wears tailored suits to create a classic masculine physique, but his overall appearance mostly conveys the wealth of traditional real estate businessmen. Some of Trump’s clothing choices—especially the shiny, shiny tie—defy classic menswear, but work because of his specific brand of power.
“You can never take a person’s style away from the person wearing it,” Guy said. “If we never had Trump, if any other person wore this, it would just be considered cheap and weird and bold.”
Given his background in reality television, Saha said Trump understands the game of rapid visual communication and knows that clothing can send signals about values. Harris knows the same thing, Shames said. Aware that people will inevitably scrutinize her, especially as a black woman, the vice president dresses strategically.
“It’s beautiful clothing that communicates competence, communicates sophistication, but doesn’t distract from what she’s doing or saying,” Shames said. “I think she’s learned that she has to deal with the attention. She can’t help but want to minimize the stares.”
While Trump has rewritten the political playbook in recent years, and this election cycle has upended what many consider normal, the importance of gender and clothing has remained stubbornly consistent, Guy said. Now, with Harris at the head of the Democratic Party ticket, the question of how to signal gender to voters is being played out before our eyes, at rallies and in television ads.
Trump has had years to develop his distinctive visual brand, which, like much of his politics, “reflects a rejection of traditional conservative good taste,” Guy said. Harris, however, is still fine-tuning her look, as Washington Post style columnist Rachel Tashjian noted. She, according to Saha, is likely very conscious of the message her style sends, given Trump’s tendency to attach appearance-based slogans to his opponents.
Tensions are no stranger to lower-profile politicians or even ordinary voters, Shames said. Many can understand the dilemma of dressing for an event and trying to figure out how they want to be perceived.
“It’s not far below the surface. It’s sitting there. The politicians I’ve talked to know about it, they’re very aware of it, they struggle with it on a daily basis,” she said. “We are all thinking about clothing every day.”