How The Fashion Was On Point & Was Sending A Clear Message.
I was glued to my television on Wednesday. I was ready to start our new chapter in America and I couldn't wait to celebrate our first female Vice President. However, I was not ready for all the looks that slayed on this momentous day. As each guest walked down the hall, were introduced and made their grand entrance through the door my heart skipped a beat with a side of shouting YES! My neighbors must've thought I was crazy. I was clapping so loudly. It was the first time in months I realized that I missed working in fashion. Yes I blog and talk about it but working in the industry is a different feeling. The joy of seeing the latest collection before it's out, touching it, trying it on, the runway shows. Oh man! So when Michelle Obama walked down the hallway, no wait not walked, strutted down the hallway it was pure electricity. I loved Hillary Clinton's purple suit too. I know she came out before Mrs. Obama but it wasn't until that moment that I had to prepare myself.
One by one these lovely ladies walked through those doors with beautiful monochromatic colors. Purples, Blues, Pink, Camel, Yellow, White. They all meshed so well together. As the Biden granddaughters walked in with their own looks and color with matching masks I kept gasping! The pink, white and camel color, oh my! We haven't even started. Our future First Lady and Vice President didn't even walked out yet. I was so excited. Here I was trying not to focus on the fashion but this historical moment. However, one by one as they walked out I couldn't help myself from oooing and aahhing over their looks. Then Kamala Harris walks in her purple look and pearl necklace. I ran and threw on one of my oversize pearl necklaces in solidarity. Then Dr. Jill Biden walked through those doors in her blue overcoat and dress, that blue was the color of the Caribbean ocean and her dress was bedazzled with gems. As the camera kept panning around the crowd I noticed Amanda Gorman in a yellow coat and red satin headband. Who is this? I didn't know who she was at the time but her color combo was on point. Then Ella Emhoff was standing there in her sparkling shoulder plaid overcoat. Wow! I then saw a green dress and coat worn by Meena Harris. I thought it was pretty but didn't think much about it until later in day when I saw her walking down towards the White House. When I saw her dress with her coat open and those boots! Those boots were everything!
The inauguration began and I did not expect to be wowed some more with looks but out comes Lady Gaga with the epitome of gowns. I think that dress and bird weighed more than her but only Lady Gaga can get away with that. I saw some of the comments but if I was performing on the world's biggest stage you bet I would come in hot too. Then Jennifer Lopez came out, all white Chanel, as one should. Again there were so many comments about her choice, however people were looking at her choice superficially and not the real meaning behind this look and color. Plus it's Chanel, I mean!
After the inauguration I went online and of course I wasn't the only one going crazy over the looks. I was looking at the stories and commentaries of the choices made. The color purple was chosen to signify unity between both houses, red and blue; because you know it becomes purple. The color white was chosen since it is associated with The Women's Suffrage Movement. Lady Gaga's gold dove that everyone was talking about had a purpose - a symbol of peace.
In addition to the color choices, the choices of designers were interesting too. Our new First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden's designer is Alexandra O'Neill who focuses on sustainability. Madame Vice President design was from Christopher John Rogers, who is an up-and-coming American fashion designer. Michelle Obama's look was designed by another up-and-coming designer, Sergio Hudson. Lady Gaga's look was from Schiaparelli. I didn't find much info about Amanda Gorman except that her coat and headband was Prada. However, her choice of yellow and the fact that she was the poet was like sunshine. She is a shining light and her words were positive and powerful. A few other designers on the rooster were Ulla Johnson, Coach, Alaia, Miu Miu and of course my Shoe God, Manolo Blahnik. Oh, those bedazzled boots Meena Harris wore are from designer Paris Texas and yes they are sold out. Luckily I have a pair of gold bedazzled booties of my own to keep me satisfied until I can find these again.
Lastly I can't forget about the most talked about person at the inauguration, Bernie Sanders! Yes, he made a fashion statement too. I don't think he did it on purpose but his choice of mittens highlighted something special. His mittens were made by a woman and teacher. She used old wool sweaters and lined them with fleece (made with recycled plastic bottles). Since his mittens were trending I went on research mode and I found her during the inauguration on twitter, Jen Ellis (@vtawesomeness). She gave Bernie Sanders these gloves two years ago. She had a few hundred followers on Twitter but when I looked today it was at 12K. She doesn't have an e-commerce and people were offering to create a website and graphics for her in exchange for the mittens. Yesterday she tweeted she no longer had mittens for sale and said there were other designers on Etsy that have similar products. But people are still messaging her and saying they want to buy her mittens. I even messaged her and said if you love creating you should go for it. There is a demand and who doesn't want another woman to win? So yes, even Bernie's mittens are part of the fashion statement/message of positivity even though he became a meme. I can't lie I created a few with my own pictures and posted them on my Instagram. I couldn't help myself.
Overall Wednesday was a great day! We still have a lot of work to do but the solidarity and positive energy was flowing. We have more women in office and we have our first female Vice President. People were sending each other positive messages and support. We felt a sigh of relief that we can now move in the right direction towards progress. Most importantly, when we want to make a change for the better we have to come together and make our voices be heard. Oh! One more thing we can't forget, did you notice Madame Vice President's grand nieces wore leopard print faux fur coats? Our new female Vice President wore a similar coat as a child herself and her nieces wore these coats because when they grow up they know they can be just like her.
Images by Getty Images