As first ladies like Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, and Michelle Obama have long been remembered in history for their clothing, first lady Jill Biden wo n’t be remembered for her clothes. But that is by style. She eschews the pleasures and emotion of fashion, rather standing by a few principles: humility, appropriateness, believability.
Collins usually looks fantastic. It can be said that, unusually, Yuko Kishida’s violet and grey Oscar de la Renta clothing was worn by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his spouse, but it was more or less true.
Her ensembles are certainly wonderful, as both Kennedy and Melania Trump’s were, nor did they change the common knowledge of clothes, as Obama’s did. They do not show a story about splendor as an appearance of authority, like Reagan’s clothing. But Biden’s fits always fit completely, and her dresses and flavor in prints are blandly wonderful..
Her outfits are never the narrative, in other words, but she may be acknowledging, regretfully, that as the vote kicks into items, that will no longer be the case.
She is turning her sense of decorum into a tool, according to the Oscar de la Renta dress she wore at the state meal. On the surface, the outfit was an expected decision: She has worn the company, designed since 2016 by Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia, perhaps more than any other, for some formal occasions ( ), and other public appearances that call for a simply wonderful decorative clothing.
” It’s kind of surprising, I think, how much commentary is made about what I wear”, she told Vogue in 2021. But Monday’s dress felt like a slight pivot in her sartorial strategy. The gown was almost completely beige, with mists of blue at the neck and shoulders. It drew the eye up to Biden’s smiling face and then quickly over to Yuko Kishida, head to toe in bright, bright blue. Although it’s unknown whether Biden was already aware of what Kishida would wear, the trick still would have worked if she had chosen a different color. Thematic interiors of the event, which included enormous fans, cherry blossoms, and a floor made to look like a koi pond, further supported by the visual act of graciousness.
Although we are in the tail end of the cherry blossom season in Washington, Biden’s dress served as a more effective visual demonstration of the American alliance. Do n’t look at me, Biden’s dress said — look at our guests. They are the center of attention, not America’s power, braggadocio or style.
The dress was subtle, but its message was not.
In fact, several high- profile Democratic women in attendance seemed to undertake heavy- handed fashion diplomacy, especially former first lady and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, in a red kimono- like caftan, and Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, in a black and white striped evening jacket that, given the occasion, also resembled the Japanese kimono. ( Funnily enough, the woman who sidestepped the game altogether, which always verges on the costumey, was Amy Rule, the wife of Rahm Emanuel, American ambassador to Japan. She wore a plain pink tea-length dress with puffed sleeves. Cherry blossom pink, maybe, but not overt. )
The strongest play came from the president’s granddaughter, Naomi Biden Neal, in a cherry blossom print dress with a cape back. From the perspective of pure fashion, she looked lovely. But with the added political context, the message was a bit over the top: We’re! Just! So! Glad! You’re! Here!
Even President Biden’s choice of neckwear appeared to be a wise one, with a necktie in place of a bow tie. It appeared to say,” Let Prime Minister Kishida have the moment of classic dapperness.”
Not since the first lady handily put a message into her clothes since the inaugural ball in 2021, when.
Naturally, that was a tense moment, one that came just after the tight race and the attempt to overthrow the results, when the Biden administration was forced to extract something opulent from a troubled nation.
Now, though it is not yet official, we are in a kind of remake of that election season, only freighted with new fears. The first lady will soon appear in countless photos that serve as comparisons between the Biden administration and the possibility of a second Trump era. Though this kind of outfit jousting is certainly not Biden’s cup of tea, every photo will be scrutinized, every look a study in contrasts, and she is savvy enough to know it.
Melania Trump is much more at home in the clothing industry. She is a classicist, in a way — indulgent in luxury brands, a woman who enjoys shopping and the way clothes fit her. The election is certainly no beauty pageant, it wo n’t be won on outfits. But clothing will be an essential battleground.
Biden will demonstrate her consistency and relatability, particularly when she is willing to change her appearance. And now, perhaps an additional note of graciousness comes from the fact that she and her husband represent a country that insists on humility rather than bloviation. Melania Trump is rarely seen, though her Garbo- like public profile will make her few appearances even more significant, more fraught with signs and symbols, intended or otherwise.
The media and, at times, the candidates are eager to take advantage of anything that paints a contrast in an election that will be fought as much in pictures and posts as anything else.
Perhaps this dinner was an outlier, and Biden will return to her pattern of understatement. However, the de la Renta gown resembled a gauntlet.