Her pussy-bow blouses, which help soften a suit and frame the face, have attracted plenty of interest recently. Margaret Thatcher famously wore them, often with an elaborate Christmas-present-like bow, while Harris tends to favour a more streamlined loop. Harper’s Bobb observes that “Kamala Harris’s pussy-bow blouses are always loosely tied, as if to say that she’s approachable and unstuffy — a fresh candidate to lead us into the future without any conservative strongholds.” Thatcher groupie Liz Truss, UK prime minister for 49 days in 2022, also favoured the style, as have British royals from Diana, Princess of Wales to the Duchess of Cambridge. Regal and presidential aren’t so far apart.
But the lavallière blouse, as it’s also known, has been interpreted as symbolic, too. Melania Trump chose a Barbie-pink Gucci version shortly after her husband’s boast that he could “grab [women] by the pussy”, and it’s been questioned whether Harris is seeking to underline Trump’s lack of respect for women’s rights by wearing them.
Reading meaning into clothing is a spectator sport in Washington, and Harris’s choice of a camel-coloured Chloé suit for the Democratic National Convention in August was also interpreted by some as loaded. Back in 2014, Barack Obama caused a minor sartorial controversy when he wore a light brown suit instead of a customary dark one for a press conference about Syria, and reactions included Republican Peter King calling it “unpresidential” for a serious occasion.
