At last week's DNC, even the fashion choices carried political messaging
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As thousands of delegates flocked to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week, they brought out outfits that symbolized their support for the party’s nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.
But many of the outfits also had references to memes and trends in popular culture, along with homages to women icons — everyone from Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.
Here are some of the most eye-popping outfits from the convention.
Meryem Maameri
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Many of the items of clothing that Meryem Maameri, a delegate with the uncommitted movement from the Twin Cities wore were dedicated to Palestinian Americans and Gazans. Uncommitted delegates like herself have been pushing the Biden-Harris administration for an arms embargo on Israel — and in that spirit Maameri pinned a button that said “Not Another Bomb” to the keffiyeh that she wore as a scarf. She also had on a Palestinian thobe with tatreez-style embroidery.
Maameri, 24, said she chose this outfit as a “reminder” as to why she is supporting the Palestinian cause.
“I’m in this movement for a free Palestine as a non Palestinian, as an Algerian American. Because I get to choose when to put this on, when to take it off,” she said. “I get to choose when to support Palestine or not. But Palestinians don’t get that choice. They are always Palestinian. And this is kind of a way for me to show my support for Palestine, that I’m here for it and I’m here for you, for my Palestinian friends and family.”
For Maameri, the war in Gaza hits close to home: one of her family members was killed during an Israeli airstrike in November.
She said in order to win her vote, Harris will have to push for an arms embargo on Israel and move Israel and Hamas to a ceasefire — and be more forceful on the issue than President Biden has been.
“If she can really clearly step away and kind of separate herself from that foreign policy in terms of Gaza and Israel ... then she really needs to clearly indicate that,” Maameri said.
Adam Peters and C.J. Petersen
Adam Peters, from Davenport, Iowa, had a custom-designed “girlfriend style” shirt made in honor of the party’s vice presidential nominee, Minn. Gov. Tim Walz. He said he picked five of what he sees as Walz’s most iconic faces — including when Walz made his first appearance as Harris’ running mate in Pennsylvania, and the “adorable” picture of Walz holding a pig at the Minnesota State Fair.
“It is classic,” Peters said.
As a fellow midwesterner, Peters also wore purple pants — in reference to Minnesota native Prince and the Minnesota Vikings — to further boost Walz’s home state.
“He is a midwesterner down to his core, just like me. A coach, vet, teacher. And he was the guy that started the LGBTQ club at his school to support his students,” said Peters, himself a member of the LGBTQ community. “That’s so important. He’s just one of us, and his authenticity is just incredible.”
Peters also sported a bright green hat that said “Kamala” on it in the same font that singer Charli XCX used for the cover album to Brat.
“It doesn’t really represent much politically. It’s just so much fun that this campaign is leaning into joy completely. They’re going with the vibes, they’re going with the memes,” he said.
C.J. Petersen, of Brayton, Iowa, met Peters while working on the same campaign and have remained friends. Petersen said he grew up Republican, but became a Democrat after seeing leaders in the party, like Walz, stand up for queer rights.
“The guys on the other side are a little bit weird,” Petersen said. “They want to tell us what kinds of things we’re allowed to do with our bodies.”
That’s why, Petersen said, he wanted to wear a shirt that includes Walz’s iconic catchphrase, “Mind your own damn business.”
“So I got their shirt, plain and simple, to tell it like it is,” Petersen said.
Raiden Gonzalez
Raiden Gonzalez of Salina, Kan., sported pink for LGBTQ+ rights and both Harris and Beyoncé — who was rumored to be a surprise guest at the convention.
Like Harris, Gonzalez is also a vice president — he helps run the Kansas Young Democrats.
“There’s people in small spaces who feel like they don’t really belong and us taking a stance for LGBT rights, we want them to know that they are not alone and that we see them and they are loved, they are cherished and that they should continue fighting for what they believe in and who they are,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez, who is a paraeducator at a high school, said he purchased the hat that he wore from a shop in his city, and wore it as a reference to Beyoncé’s newest album, Cowboy Carter.
“I was looking at it and I said, ‘Oh, this would look really nice with my pink outfit and my pink galore,’” said Gonzalez.
Sherry McClain, Merika Coleman and Carolyn Culpepper
Sherry McClain, Merika Coleman and Carolyn Culpepper — all from Alabama — are known by the state’s Democratic legislation as “the Bling Sisters.”
Coleman said they brought out the bling — that is, their sparkly black jumpsuits and custom-made tops designed by McClain’s cousin — to put Alabamans’ support for Harris right in the spotlight.
“We are patriots as African Americans and people of color,” Coleman said. “So today, we’re in our black and white with our splash of red and our silver to show Kamala’s name really big, but also to signify that she’s going to be the 47th president of the United States of America.”
Culpepper, who attended a historically Black college and university like Harris did, and served in the Army for 33 years, wore her outfit as a way to show the country how “electrified” she is about Harris.
“Back in 1975 when I joined the United States Army, I did not see women officers, not many of them,” Culpepper said. “Vice President Harris shows other women that it is possible. And for little girls that are growing up, they have an opportunity to say, ‘I can be that, I can do that. It is approachable and it is reachable and I'm going to reach for the stars.’”
Kelly Jacobs
Kelly Jacobs of Hernando, Miss., had a dress made featuring Harris’ face back in 2019, when Harris made her first bid for president. After keeping the outfit in her closet for the last five years, she pulled it out to wear on the last night of the convention.
To spread the word about Harris, Jacobs made 1,000 friendship bracelets inspired by the ones that Taylor Swift fans have made, so that she can pass them out to women voters. She has 200 left.
“It really works to walk up to a woman that you don't know and say, ‘Hey, are you a Swiftie?’ And if they said yes, then I give them the bracelet, and then I say, ‘Are you registered to vote?’” Jacobs said.
Desiree Tims
Desiree Tims complemented her white suit from Aritzia with color coordinated touches: a dark blue shirt, a cognac belt and shoes and red lipstick and red sunglasses to incorporate more traditionally patriotic colors. She says the suit was the focal point of her look in honor of the suffragette movement.
She also donned some buttons: a Barbie-inspired one that says “Vote,” a button that says “Tims for Harris-Walz” and another that read, “Voting is my Black job” — a reference to the comment by former President Trump during the presidential debate in June that migrants are taking “Black jobs” and “Hispanic jobs.”
“I think when he said that, it only invigorated and really excited all of us,” Tims said. “We reject any sort of categorization, and what it means to be Black in America.”
That’s why Tims said she loved when former First Lady Michelle Obama turned that line against Trump in her speech at the DNC, saying, “Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs’?”
Sarah Arveson
Sarah Arveson, a strategic researcher and policy advocate for green manufacturing from Oakland, Calif., is a member of the Union Auto Workers — which is why she joined her fellow colleagues by wearing a UAW t-shirt on the third day of the convention.
“There’s candidates who have stood with us on the picket lines and supported us in the White House,” Arveson said. “Then there’s Trump.”
Arveson said Trump has not stood up for union members, while Harris has. “She walked the picket line with us. She's been an ally.”
And now, she’s “particularly excited” about Walz, who was a former union member of the National Education Association — the largest union in the country. “He is truly coming from the working and labor class,” she said.
Ashley Fedan
Ashley Fedan’s outfit on the last night of the convention was filled with political and cultural references.
As a way to clap back at Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance’s comments about prominent women Democrats as being “childless cat ladies.” Fedan, who used to own cats, brought a plush toy cat named Gina to the convention.
“I’m a childless woman, which I’m very happy being,” Fedan said.
She said that Gina was a hit among other convention-goers. “She’s getting selfies with everybody,” Fedan said.
Fedan also wore her black frill necklace as an homage to the frill that Ruth Bader Ginsburg wore during her time on the Supreme Court.
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a tremendous influence in my life about standing up for one’s values,” she said.
In addition to wearing a sash that says “Cowboy Kamala” as a play on the sash Beyoncé wore in the album cover for Cowboy Carter, Fedan wore a cowboy hat that had a “Lotus for POTUS” sticker on it. The phrase comes from a meme that spread among South Asian American supporters of Harris across the country: “In Sanskrit, Kamala means LOTUS. In America, Kamala means POTUS.”
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