It was the summer of Republican Ronald Reagan was running for reelection against Democrat Walter Mondale, who had picked a woman, Geraldine Ferraro, for his running mate. Marks Place. Let the rest of the world flounce to the ballot box in neon colors, miniskirts, big-shoulder overcoats, and Jane Fonda workout clothes: I was dressed for the occasion as if it were , not , with prohibition in full swing and Republican Calvin Coolidge winning the White House.
The waggish journalist and cultural critic H. If politics notoriously makes strange bedfellows, the same can be said about those of us obsessed with affairs of state but also besotted with fashion.
I am now, and have been for my entire adult life, as excited by a great stump speech as I am by a superb runway show. In fact, I wish our candidates were selected with the same precision I reserve for choosing my outfits. It might seem strange, or trivial, to view social history through the lens of fashion, but please consider: The issues that animate us, the causes that rile us up, the music and films that thrill us—they all inform our political views.
Why, then, would we not express our moods, our desires—the essence of ourselves—through our clothing as well? Maybe it was my rebellious nature that first led me to causes and clothes that stray far from the beaten path—or maybe it was just the realization that a vintage ensemble suited me better than the sexy suggestions the runways were dictating. Though my politics were far, far to the left of even the Democratic ticket—how many eyebrows did I raise on picket lines dressed like Clara Bow?
Mondale was 56 at the time, Reagan And so, in this deeply fraught election year, here is my highly partisan, deeply personal, deliberately random stroll down memory lane: What I, and the rest of the world, was wearing when various players were vying for the highest office in the land. After all—I remember every cause and campaign as well as I do my wardrobe and my favorite runways.
