The politics of fashion

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There has been a time in my life when I thought that politics and fashion didn’t really get along too well. Politics was a serious business for very clever people, fashion was frivolous and superficial, I thought. Obviously I was wrong and my ideas changed very quickly one day when I sat down and started pondering a bit about politics and fashion and ended up realising they were just two faces of the same coin, power.

The rich robes of kings and queens, their extravagant headwear, their accessories and jewels, represented “status clothes”, a way to show people how powerful they were. When political propaganda didn’t formally exist, human beings used sartorial propaganda to promote themselves. The richer and more extravagant was a court, the more powerful was the monarchy that ruled it. Elizabeth I had created for herself a strong image through which she represented and advertised the prosperity of her country; Louis XIV surrounded himself with a group of courtiers who were allowed to wear a special coat, a symbol of their allegiance and servility to the king.

Little by little as the decades and centuries passed fashion became a way for politicians to reinforce their power. The fascist regime was very interested in fashion for example and Mussolini saw it as an important aspect of Italian culture that could have helped the regime to win the masses' approval. While in the ‘80s ordinary people started following the power-dressing trend and adopted padded shoulders and jackets with a rather square silhouette, politicians used the look for their own means. Think about Margaret Thatcher and your mind will instantly conjure up images of the Iron Lady clad in jackets characterised by the trendy power shoulders, while her pearls and handbag weren’t simple accessories but important pieces that perfectly complemented her rigid uniform.

Fast-forward to more recent times and you will realise how, in the last few years, fashion and politics have established indissoluble links one with the other. Last December French Justice Minister Rachida Dati was criticised for posing in a Dior dress and high-heeled boots in Paris Match magazine, the haute couture dresses she wore being in contrast with the difficult reality the justice system was going through; earlier this year while accompanying the French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy on his visit to the UK, a stylishly Dior-clad Carla Bruni overshadowed her partner. To criticise the left and hide his more dubious machinations, Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi often offended the look of the opposition politicians, while he tried to re-launch his own image surrounding himself with female ministers such as showgirl and former Miss Italy contestant turned Equal Opportunities Minister Mara Carfagna who seems to have more designer bags in her wardrobe than brilliant ideas in her mind. In the more recent weeks, ex-Naj Oleari and Fiorucci designer Ilaria Macola has instead been hailed by the Italian press as the woman who gave a '50s touch to Condoleeza Rice’s wardrobe, helping the US Secretary of State to achieve a more chic yet still powerful style.

Politicians have definitely become more clever in using the subtleties of fashion. For months the media have been trying to decode the messages the Obamas have been sending through their sartorial image with Barack’s simple and sober slim-fitting suit and Michelle’s modern version of Jackie Kennedy’s look, complete with pearls (usually fake ones to achieve a more down to earth effect) and slightly updated to look like a crossover between Carrie Bradshaw and Carla Bruni. Throughout the campaign Michelle seemed to favour strong and bold colours and a more casual and less rigid style compared to Cindy McCain's maybe more refined but outdated look, slightly reminiscent of Nancy Reagan’s ‘80s power dressing.

But the war of style doesn’t end here: Sarah Palin spending $150,000 from campaign funds to go through a major wardrobe revamp tells us that looks are important to the voters, even though judging from the results she achieved, you couldn’t really say that her shopping spree, that included stops at Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, really improved her image.

Talking about style and clothes might be considered extremely superficial in times of crisis, and yet I’m sure that in the next few days there will be more pieces written about this same topic, and lots of keyboard bashing will be done to comment on the looks of the winners and losers. Since politics and fashion have become two of my main obsessions, I’ll definitely sit and wait to see the results and the looks. There is just one thing I don’t like about the politics + fashion equation: politicians have learnt from fashion how to turn their campaign promises into short-term trends (Berlusconi docet...) so that their good propositions are discarded the day after they are elected like a pair of bad quality jeans or a trend that quickly fades away. Hopefully, more politicians will use fashion just to improve their image and look more powerful, making sure their promises are turned into real achievements rather than into the next short-lived fad.