The Politics of Dress at the State of the Union

How much of an impact does a fashion statement have the second (or third) time around?

Last year at the State of the Union address, a majority of the women of the Democratic Congressional Caucus wore white — white suits, white dresses, white shirts, white jumpsuits — as a nod to the suffragists, to women’s rights, as a silent riposte to President Trump and as a message to the electorate about their own unity. This year, many of them did it again.

On the podium, Speaker Nancy Pelosi wore a white pantsuit with her dagger-like Speaker’s Mace pin on her lapel. Before the event, the women had posed en masse:

In the House of Representatives chamber, they sat as a visible block: an island of white in a sea of largely dark suits and the occasional bright blue or red jacket.

It was not as startling or as striking as it was last time — at this point, post-Hillary Clinton candidacy, the white suit has become a political uniform of its own, on par with Mr. Trump’s navy suit and red tie (which he also wore Tuesday evening). The color’s meaning, and signifier as a form of female empowerment and protest at major public moments, has been codified. We are even starting to expect it.

But that doesn’t mean it was not an effective tactic. In a moment where the only person speaking is the president, but millions outside the chamber are watching, it allowed those members of Congress to have a say. The clothes become a proxy for the point.