The importance of dressing from day to night has been taught to us by several generations of American women through editorials in women’s magazines, but no one has ever mentioned how to dress for a 48-hour press conference. (Weird.) Vice President and 2024 Democratic nominee Kamala Harris faced the same conundrum this week when she made a tracksuit-wearing guest appearance on Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast, directly relating to her Monday appearance and Tuesday’s 60 Minutes interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. (Somehow she also fit in the look on Howard Stern.)
In a constantly changing media landscape, clothing norms are changing, too. Many may have been shocked to see Cooper wearing a hoodie while interviewing Harris. But the vice president works with podcasters in a style that encourages comfortable intimacy for both guests and audience. Of course, Harris didn’t wear an actual tracksuit, but rather a double-zip navy jacket that resembled a tucked-in blazer. With its hardware details, Harris’s more candid look connected with Cooper’s audience (dubbed the “dad gang”) without sacrificing the dignity of his office. (After all, she paired the jacket with her signature straight-leg pants and pointy-toe heels.) Cooper, for his part, dressed for the occasion, pairing his lavender hoodie with black pants and pointy-toe boots.
But on “60 Minutes,” Harris stuck to a more traditional look. The vice president chose a uniform of a custom suit and pussy-bow shirt. Everything Harris wears is thoughtfully considered. The padded-shoulder jacket creates a toughness that balances the shirt. Even the dress’s eggplant color was thoughtful: Purple signified bipartisanship, and with a close election just weeks away, Harris needed to appeal to as many centrist and moderate Republicans as possible.
It’s anyone’s guess what Harris will wear on Tuesday’s Late Show, but when she first appeared on Colbert’s show in 2018, she wore a navy suit, a black top, and a very modest string of pearls, the display being relatively simple; of course the look has evolved since she entered the campaign trail in earnest this summer, so for all we know, maybe she’ll carry a denim bag or some tiny (but not tiny!) sunglasses. After all, fashion fans vote too!
