“Your clothes are the most political choice that you make everyday,” Sage Paul said, an Indigenous fashion designer based in Canada. Throughout history, fashion and politics have always intertwined. Fashion is a way to get a point across barriers, and have your voice heard. There have been many examples of this throughout history. Fashion can be used to demonstrate solidarity or rebellion on a certain topic.
One example of fashion in politics is the Women’s suffrage movement that took off in the mid-19th century, many women involved in the suffragist movement wore white bloomers to identify themselves. During that time, pants were only for men, so wearing these bloomers had signified to others that they were a part of the movement. However, the bloomer movement was cut short as they were ridiculed in political cartoons. Later on, the women’s suffrage party wore white dresses instead to identify themselves. Even after the 19th amendment was passed, this white dress symbol still lived on. Fast forward to November 2020, Kamala Harris wore a white pantsuit during her vice president acceptance speech to pay tribute to the movement.
Another example can be found in the late 1960s, when the Black Panther Party wore pins on their clothing to identify themselves and show that they stood with the black empowerment movement. The Black Panther party was seen as a threat by the FBI at the time, since the party was being monitored, the slipping of a pin to others was quick, making it a safe way to promote their message. The Black Panther Party was also associated with leather jackets, sunglasses, and unisex clothing.
Around the same time as the Black Panther party, the Vietnam war protests were at large. College students all over the states were peacefully protesting against the US engagement in the Vietnam war. They wore black armbands with a white peace sign on it, but they received backlash and the arm bands were banned by the schools. It was a peaceful way for students to show their opposition to the war involvement, but many ended up getting suspended over this action.
For many years, people have been wearing the Keffiyeh, a Palestinian square scarf. Originally, people in the Middle East wore the keffiyeh to protect themselves from the sun. It’s a way to represent Arabs and Palestinians, it hasn’t always been for resistance. More recently, people have been wearing it more often to show their solidarity to Palestinians in Gaza.
Fashion transcends language, hence there have been so many movements like this throughout history. It is a way to connect and inspire others. Many of the trends today are inspired by movements like these, whether people realize it or not, fashion and politics have always been intertwined.
