This morning, like each different day, individuals throughout the US of America will get up and dress. However within the aftermath of the 2024 Presidential election—as individuals grapple with the ramifications of a second Donald Trump presidency—many People need to summon the power to get off the bed, pull on some garments, and go on.
As individuals tried to hold on this morning, I couldn’t assist however take inventory of how New Yorkers dressed to face a world that has chosen hatred in its many varieties. I leaned into mourning in a black boatneck long-sleeve t-shirt and black denims. I shortly discovered that I wasn’t alone. The primary two younger girls I noticed after I left my residence have been additionally cloaked in head-to-toe black. Strolling down the practice platform in Williamsburg, Brooklyn felt like a funeral procession.
Throughout such precarious moments, our clothes takes on a much bigger which means. It turns into armor, a supply of consolation, a sign of shared values. Being surrounded by individuals in mourning garments provided an surprising second of consolation and group. This morning, I walked alongside the road and waited for the practice alongside individuals—principally girls—wearing black fits, skirts, and attire, bloodshot eyes veiled by darkish glasses. I do know they shared not solely my similar sartorial tendencies, but in addition my heartbreak over the election’s final result and profound disappointment in those that voted towards our greatest pursuits.
Trend is an artwork, sure, however it is usually foundational to our on a regular basis lives. And in determined instances, it turns into a salve. At this time, I look across the Vogue workplace and see my coworkers utilizing clothes as a coping mechanism. Lots of my colleagues who sought consolation swaddled themselves in cozy knit sweaters and turned to well-worn denims and broken-in flat footwear. And, like myself, a big contingency are sporting their hearts on their sleeves, wearing all black. Some used it as an outlet for his or her fury and outrage, able to tackle a brand new day in sharp-shouldered blazers and platform heels. Others yearned for a way of normalcy and dressed for enterprise as ordinary.
Now we have an extended street forward, but it surely’s crucial that we let ourselves sit in our emotions right now—and costume for no matter makes us really feel protected, sturdy, or comfy. Grief is a lonely feeling. To know, simply by their clothes, that the stranger beside us on the practice or crossing paths on the way in which to work is in the identical boat is a small solace, however a welcome one.
