Often, women at the State of the Union address choose to wear a symbolic outfit.
For example, in recent years, congresswomen have worn white to highlight women's issues
in the United States.
In 2019, it symbolized the historic number of women who had been elected to the House
that fall.
The following year, it was meant to commemorate 100 years of women's suffrage.
And this year, members of congress of all genders wore blue and yellow to show their
support for the Ukrainian people after Russia's invasion on February 24th.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi stood out in a royal blue suit with pins of the American and Ukrainian
flags as she sat behind President Joe Biden during the address.
Next to her sat Vice President Kamala Harris, who looked markedly different from the others
in the chamber — and Twitter apparently took notice.
Harris looked professional and polished in a brown pantsuit with a brown blouse underneath,
but some American viewers didn't quite understand her color choice, given that the unspoken
fashion theme of the night was Ukrainian flag colors.
It also didn't fit with any of the previous years' themes.
As one Twitter user wrote:
"Pelosi is wearing blue for Ukraine and Kamala is wearing brown for…"
Another tweeter thought Harris could have made a better choice for her own sake, writing:
"Kamala missed a great PR moment by not wearing Yellow... whoever put her in brown should
be fired."
However, at least one person thought the choice was perfect, saying:
"All I Know Is Kamala Is Wearing TF Out That Brown."
It was a historic night for Vice President Kamala Harris as well as House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi, as, for the first time during a State of the Union address, two women were seated
behind the president.
The image offered a stark reminder that, should anything happen to President Joe Biden, two
women will be next in line to be president.
Of course, it probably shouldn't have mattered what color either woman chose to wear, and
nobody had anything to say about the president's choice of suit.
However, the night was marred by the criticism of Harris' pantsuit — something that happens
all too much to women in American politics.
It's also not the first time the VP has made headlines with her choice of attire.
In February 2021, Harris was criticized for wearing Dolce and Gabbana due to the upscale
fashion line's marketing, which is perceived by some as offensive with racial undertones.
Indeed, female politicians are often placed under particularly close scrutiny.
For example, much was made of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton's clothing choices
when her husband was running for president in 1992, and this continued right through
to her own run for president in 2016.
"You said 'you can tell it's summer — today Hillary Clinton hit the beach in a one-piece
pantsuit."
By the time Clinton had emerged from her husband's shadow, she was so well known for her pantsuits
that it sparked a movement of female supporters donning pantsuits on November 8th, 2016, when
they headed to the polls to vote.
However, her suits also garnered so many headlines that The Atlantic published a story at the
time called "Why the Pantsuit?"
In this piece, writer Megan Garber concludes that a pantsuit is a fashion choice that essentially
says, "please stop talking about my clothes."
Unfortunately, people still ended up talking about Clinton's clothing in much the same
way they would criticize Vice President Kamala Harris' clothing nearly six years later.
As early as 2015, when Clinton was still just a primary candidate, the former first lady,
senator, and secretary of state was constantly criticized for her pantsuits not being "feminine"
enough — just as Harris' outfit was criticized for not being the right color.
Despite being more than just her clothing, Clinton did choose to wear certain colors
to symbolize specific moments.
Like the women in the House did during State of the Union addresses the last few years,
she wore white when she accepted the Democratic nomination.
In her book, What Happened she also wrote that she and former President Bill Clinton
wore purple during her 2016 concession speech as "a nod to bipartisanship," as blue and
red together make purple.
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