I drew the short straw in my little political group and had to be the designated watcher of the speech to Congress last night. This sad task was made a bit easier to bear by a couple of interesting clothing choices among the attendees. Maybe it’s the lingering effect of the recent Oscars, but I was noticing women’s clothing more than I ever have for a Congressional speech. No, it’s not about fashion; it’s about #resist.
It was pretty obvious that several Democratic women planned ahead to dress in suffragette white and sit together for the speech. I noticed that women on the other side of the aisle tended not to sit in groups, which made the group of women in white that much more noticeable.
Elizabeth Warren wore purple, another one of the colors historically associated with suffragette solidarity. I did also notice she sat with another woman.
Denisha Merriweather, the young black woman introduced in connection with the tuition credits bullet point, was also wearing suffragette white. I welcomed her subversion.
Melania wore a very expensive black outfit with beading. I thought it was an odd choice, more suited to a party than a speech. She also seemed ill at ease except when she was being applauded, when she softened up some. I wanted to interpret her choice of color as a mood indicator, but that’s just me.
Barbara Lee wore a large black rosette on her suffragette white outfit; I also interpreted that as commentary.
And Ivanka Trump wore hot pussyhat pink. I just don’t know what to make of that at all!
