Stylists and critics say unstyled campaign looks are still deliberate branding
As Americans prepare to vote in the US midterm elections, candidates with their eye on Congress are competing on personal style as well as policy. In the social media age, their clothing has become a measure of their authenticity and appeal, and stylists and fashion critics say wardrobes now carry campaign messages. “Politicians are dressing for two jobs at once: to look capable of holding office but to also look connected to the people they want to represent,” said Joe Zee, a celebrity fashion stylist.
The looks range from flannel and cowboy boots to American flag heels, from Alaska to Texas. Robert Ordway, a conservative public policy adviser and former owner of Capitol Hill Clothiers, said: “The necktie is dead on the campaign trail in both parties.”
Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who represents Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, has embraced a relaxed, outdoorsy image. The former car repair shop owner is seeking re-election on a platform focused on support for small businesses and working families after capturing a Republican-held seat in her state in 2022. She favors low-fuss, low-key work jackets, flannel shirts, jeans and practical footwear.
Ordway said Gluesenkamp Perez is probably the most “spot-on” when it comes to “authenticity and where you come from.” “Also it really vibes with the Pacific Northwest, which has trees and forests and a little bit more of an outdoor vibe,” he said. Her style also “shepherds a message championing the working class,” said Tashira Halyard, an attorney, content creator and public policy expert based in Washington, DC.
In Alaska, Democratic lawmaker Mary Peltola, running for a Senate seat in the battleground state, takes a similar approach. She made headlines for wearing traditional boots of the Yup’ik people while being sworn in as a congresswoman in 2022. During this election cycle, her rugged outdoor gear nods to her days working on a fishing boat on Alaska’s Kuskokwim River and her “fish, family and freedom” campaign slogan. Bonnie Kristian, a conservative author and journalist, said the flannels, puffer jackets and Indigenous-inspired details appear designed to remind voters that Peltola is a native — and Native — Alaskan.
Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson of Iowa has opted for a bolder, patriotic image. Her style is polished and conservative, with classic — arguably nostalgic — touches, including denim and bandanas for more casual appearances. In a tight race against her Democratic opponent, Hinson has tried to separate herself from specific policy decisions made by the Trump administration while still expressing loyalty to the president. She wore pumps with the American flag bedazzled across them at a primary election party in Iowa in June.
Halyard said the look, reminiscent of the style worn by Trump supporters at rallies, is quintessential American patriotism. “Ashley’s American flag high heels, denim dress and bright red blouse worn with a bandana around her neck are classic Americana,” she said. “It’s this idea that… I’m literally going to wear my patriotism on my sleeve.” Kristian said there is “a strategic advantage” to Hinson’s look, one that involves “cultivating a visual identity that cannot possibly be misinterpreted” in an era when social media presence, even for a split second, is crucial. “Her denim dress, red bandana and sparkly American flag shoes all signal that she’s a Republican wooing rural voters — and indeed she is,” Kristian said.
Once a reliable Republican stronghold, Texas has become a battleground between Ken Paxton, 63, the state’s top prosecutor whom Trump endorsed over a longtime senator, and James Talarico, 37, a Democratic state lawmaker. On the campaign trail, the two contenders have made similar clothing choices, wearing relaxed blazers and cowboy boots. “The younger man dresses up to look serious, and the older man dresses down to look like one of the guys,” Ordway said.
Fashion critic Friedman said Talarico’s handcrafted Lucchese cowboy boots “are a very deliberate choice that allows him to speak to all different kinds of constituencies in Texas.” “Those boots mean something that is very deeply rooted in Texas semiology,” she said, referring to the study of signs and their interpretations. “Former US President George W Bush wore Lucchese cowboy boots, so suddenly you’re crossing all sorts of party lines and tapping into all sorts of different electoral groups with your shoes.”
Paxton’s own style of dress has drawn criticism on more than one front. Trump has urged voters to focus on Paxton’s record because it “speaks a lot louder than the suit he’s wearing that doesn’t look so great.” Paxton’s opponent has also criticized him for wearing a pricey watch and a polo shirt from the luxury hotel chain Four Seasons as a debate about the high cost of living dominates the midterms.
Zee — also a stylist and faculty associate at Arizona State University’s Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising — said the criticism raises another style-branded question: “casual clothes don’t necessarily communicate an ordinary lifestyle.” “A five-star resort-branded polo can carry luxury associations just as clearly as a suit,” he said. “The watch’s identity and value were unconfirmed, but the perception illustrates how an accessory can complicate a candidate’s message.”
A uniform, if it reads naturally, can be an incredibly effective way for a candidate to be recognized across the country, Friedman said. Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, a former congresswoman for Tennessee’s 7th congressional district who is running for governor of her state, has adopted that approach: she is often seen in structured jackets and skirts, sometimes with patterns. Ordway, who worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative director for a former Indiana senator, recalled that Blackburn “was extremely polished” whenever he spotted her there. “I always saw pearls on her,” he said. “Since she’s a veteran politician I think how she dresses in relation to how voters see her was probably decided many, many years ago.” Kristian added: “Her looks tend to be fairly timeless — we could imagine GOP women wearing many of them any time in the last three decades.”
In Michigan, Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed — a left-wing political outsider, as BBC News describes him — has adopted a consistent look of black V-neck T-shirt and blue jeans in a highly competitive race against a Trump-backed former congressman. His campaign slogan is “money out of politics, money in your pocket,” and he calls his outfit choices “minimal look, maximal politics.” The effect, Ordway said, is reminiscent of a start-up entrepreneur, designed to appeal to an urban, working-class electorate. The look also removes much of the “ceremony of a political appearance,” Zee said. “The suggestion is that attention should go to what he is saying. But the plain T-shirt remains an image choice. Looking un-styled can still be a deliberate form of branding.”
The master of the signature look in the US at the moment, according to Friedman, is Trump, whose instantly recognizable power suit and red tie were cultivated even before he moved into the White House and remain ever-present in film and reality TV. “[Trump] doesn’t just have his own merch, but he’s got his own outfit, and now he’s got all his cabinet wearing the same outfit, and half the Senate is wearing his outfit, and it becomes like a Pavlovian signifier,” she said. “If they’re wearing a navy suit, red tie, and white shirt, you’re like, ‘oh, that’s a Trump person.’” The BBC News photo caption accompanying the story names the officials wearing similar looks: Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — the named examples of the navy suit, red tie and white shirt style behind Friedman’s cabinet and Senate generalization.
Whatever the outcome of the elections for Trump and his party, Friedman said she expects to see more politicians branding themselves with their clothing when the 2028 general election arrives. “What we see is that so much of politics now is fought over social media and over TV, and that places a premium on visual messaging that is only going to become more important,” she said.