The Biden family's style legacy: American designers and Biden Blue

As the end of the Biden administration nears, that assessment is starting to come in. They reflect on the pandemic, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the response to wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and the canceled second presidential campaign.

But few people mention style. It's not the first thing that comes to mind about this presidency, but it played a bigger role in building the president's narrative than was apparent at the time.

When President Biden took office in 2021, he promised a “return to norms” from the chaos of the Trump administration, a return to old-fashioned diplomacy, civility, and bipartisanship. What it looked like was, in a way, reflected in the first family's…well, normal clothing.

It started with the inauguration ceremony, which was held during the coronavirus pandemic. Pandemic precautions may have prevented an inaugural ball or even a large crowd, but that didn't mean the administration couldn't use the extravaganza for its own purposes. The first and second families all wore American designers (not to mention masks to match their suits).

And not just American designers, but in Mr. Biden's case, Ralph Lauren, a man who built his entire identity on the American Dream. Jill Biden chose labels designed by women like New York's Markarian and Gabriela Hearst.

It is a deliberate contrast to the cartoon costumes of the January 6th rioters who laid siege to the Capitol just weeks earlier, and a hierarchy of values ​​expressed in part through a love of luxury. Needless to say, this is the gilded theater of the Trump administration, complete with Label from Milan and Paris.

It was a step back from the intimidating White House image created by the Obama administration, especially that of Michelle Obama. By using fashion as an expression of diversity and inclusivity, she radically rewrote expectations and sparked public interest in political attire. It hasn't faded yet.

The Bidens simply channeled that attention into their own cause, offering four years of carefully tailored, single-breasted blue suits that were slim-cut but not fashionably narrow-cut. I've been doing variations of the striped shirt and blue tie for four years now. I wore working women's shirt dresses and ladylike floral dresses for four years.

Not that it was boring. Biden regularly appears on lists of Washington's best-dressed people and has received praise from the likes of Tom Ford. It's that they had the luxury of being accessible, typical Washington. method. After all, they entered office with wardrobes formed over decades in the Washington establishment. Friendliness was part of their selling point, and their attire helped showcase that.

“Their brand was one of empathy and responsibility, and all of their political commitments were encapsulated in their clothing,” said Tammy Haddad, chief executive of consultancy Haddad Media.

Introducing Biden Blue

In fact, when opening the Costume Institute exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2022, Dr. talked about how it is used. Although she used the generic “we,” she may have been referring to herself and the West Wing. (This was one of only two times during Biden's presidency that Dr. Biden directly addressed her relationship with fashion in public.)

For example, she might have talked about how, after the Trump era, she returned to the tradition of wearing American clothing. Let's go back to brands like Oscar de la Renta, which has dressed just about every first lady since Jacqueline Kennedy. And every once in a while, I go back to complaining a bit about the attention being paid to their outfits (because they had more important things to talk about). Even if they coolly play the dressing game.

After all, this is a commander-in-chief who has become synonymous with one particular accessory: Ray-Ban 3025 aviator shades, who not only used it as a stand-in for his first Instagram post, but also used it as a stand-in for a visiting head of state. As a gift, it was used as visual shorthand sprinkled throughout the campaign merchandise. This woman was the first lady to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine twice and for the third time.

And this family always appeared dressed in a certain shade of blue, so much so that, as Katie Rogers writes in her book American Woman: From Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden, the Evolution of Modern First Ladies became known as a family. “Biden Blue” Consider the shade of tie Biden wore during his three State of the Union addresses and his farewell speech to the nation. The color was officially identified at the first post-pandemic White House Easter Egg Roll, which featured “Biden Blue.” eggs,” as well as all subsequent Biden Easters.

The Bidens also had a stylist. Granted, he wasn't a full-time White House aide like Mrs. Obama's stylist, but Dr. Biden (and sometimes the president) worked with him on a regular basis. And in one of his final acts in office, Biden awarded Lauren the Presidential Medal of Freedom, making him and Vogue editor Anna Wintour the first fashion designers to receive such an honor.

repeat performance

As Dr. Biden said when he donated his inaugural outfit to the Smithsonian Institution, “I knew my clothes would help me say something important.” On days when her job was photo shoots, she said, they might become “my spokespeople.”

Dr. Biden sometimes wears clothes to communicate literally, like the Zadig et Voltaire jacket with the word “love” emblazoned with studs on the back that he wore to the Group of Seven meeting in the United Kingdom. (this has been broadly interpreted). In response to Melania Trump's “I Really Don't Care, Do U?” cover). Or the Christian Siriano dress she wore to a campaign event right after her husband's infamous presidential debate in 2024, with the word “Vote” printed all over it.

Like Gabriella Hearst's matching ivory dress and coat, both were adorned with “flowers from every state and territory of America,” as she said when presenting the costumes to the Smithsonian Institution. She also used clothes metaphorically, as in Her point, she said, was to show that she intended to “be a first lady for all Americans and do my part to bring the country back together.” Ta. The blue silk Lapointe dress she wore to the 2022 State of the Union address had sunflowers embroidered on the wrists, which was meant to show support for the Ukrainian people in the face of Russian aggression. .

And, perhaps most importantly, she simply used clothing to modify expectations, re-wearing looks from her peak moments of public exposure over and over again. She wore the same Brandon Maxwell polka dot dress to the G7 meeting (under that “Love” jacket) and the Tokyo Olympics. The same Reem Akra dress was worn at the state dinner of the South Korean president and the wedding of Jordan's Crown Prince Hussein. The same black Schiaparelli suit was worn at the funerals of Queen Elizabeth II and Jimmy Carter. And the dress she wore to her wedding to Joe Biden in 1977, and again in 2024 to the White House's Fourth of July celebration.

Biden, like Lauren, favors Brooks Brothers and Jos. A. Bank suits, which he wore to host his granddaughter Naomi Biden's wedding on the South Lawn of the White House. That's what it means. . Even when he habitually wore a business-casual open collar and blazer without a tie, it seemed to be a type of occasion attire in itself. It was just an opportunity to visit the Texas border, for example, or step off a plane while traveling abroad.

As a result, modeling certain behaviors (typically sustainable, economical, and detail-oriented) that have fallen out of favor in the Age of Influence, just as the Biden brand of politics has fallen out of favor. A method was born. And in the wake of Trump 2.0, it increasingly looks less like a reset and more like a relic from another era.

After all, despite Biden's affinity for Hoka Transports, it's probably because of Biden's affinity for Hoka Transports that it's ultimately less a reflection of his hipness than a reflection of his hipness. , which appeared to be a reminder of his aging body, the Biden family's style seemed out of place at the moment. But that in itself is part of the story.