Sartorial Stands at the State of the Union

Not everyone needed 80 minutes behind a microphone to make a statement at the State of the Union address.

The Democratic Women’s Working Group wore black pantsuits, skirts and dresses. In doing so, they followed the women of Hollywood, who wore all black to the Golden Globes in honor of the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements.

It was a stark contrast to what has, in the past two years, become the Democratic women’s unofficial color: white. Hillary Clinton memorably wore a white pantsuit when she became the first woman to accept the Democratic nomination for president — a nod to the suffragists, who adopted it as one of their signatures in 1913. And last February, Democratic women wore all white during Mr. Trump’s address to Congress.

Yet on Tuesday, in a strange turn, it was Melania Trump who chose white — a gorgeous pantsuit by Christian Dior. Was it meant to stand out against the all-black crowd? Was it a nod to women’s rights? Or perhaps a thumb in the eye of her husband, who was recently accused of having an affair with the porn star Stormy Daniels just weeks after Mrs. Trump gave birth to their son? To judge from Melania’s face and the reports that she traveled to the speech apart from her husband, I suspect the latter.

The members of Mr. Trump’s party kept things traditional. Paul Ryan wore the classic American flag pin on his lapel and his equally classic smug face. And many Republican men wore red, white and blue ties.