Kamala’s kicks, Tim’s lids, and the red ties that bind Trump and Vance – what’s behind the fashion choices of each candidate

By Deirdre Clemente, University of Nevada, Las Vegas A man holds up a Converse Chuck Taylor – Kamala Harris’ favorite footwear – during the vice president’s campaign rally on Aug. 9, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images With Election Day approaching, candidates are courting voters with everything they’ve got: targeted ads, texts, taunts and stump speeches. As a fashion historian, I think an overlooked aspect of electioneering is clothing, which is a silent, powerful way for candidates to tell the American public who they are. It’s an act as old as power itself. “Clothes, from the King’s mantle downwards, are emblematic,” wrote Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle in “Sartor Resartus,” a seminal text in fashion studies. Tim Walz, Kamala Harris, JD Vance and Donald Trump have all taken a page from that 1834 publication. Each wields an emblem in an effort to appeal to voters – and hint at how they’ll lead. The people’s crown What’s more American than a baseball cap? When Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, dons one on the campaign trail, he’s doing more than covering up a thinning head of hair. To the bane of many churchgoers and office managers, baseball caps have moved...