This morning, like each different day, folks throughout the US of America will get up and dress. However within the aftermath of the 2024 Presidential election—as folks grapple with the ramifications of a second Donald Trump presidency—many People must summon the energy to get off the bed, pull on some garments, and go on.
As folks 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 prepare platform in Williamsburg, Brooklyn felt like a funeral procession.
Throughout such precarious moments, our clothes takes on an even bigger which means. It turns into armor, a supply of consolation, a sign of shared values. Being surrounded by folks in mourning garments supplied an sudden second of consolation and group. This morning, I walked alongside the road and waited for the prepare alongside folks—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 end result and profound disappointment in those that voted in opposition to our greatest pursuits.
Trend is an artwork, sure, however additionally it is foundational to our on a regular basis lives. And in determined occasions, it turns into a salve. At present, I look across the Vogue workplace and see my coworkers utilizing clothes as a coping mechanism. A lot 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 carrying 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 traditional.
We have now a protracted highway forward, however it’s crucial that we let ourselves sit in our emotions as we speak—and costume for no matter makes us really feel protected, sturdy, or snug. Grief is a lonely feeling. To know, simply by their clothes, that the stranger beside us on the prepare or crossing paths on the best way to work is in the identical boat is a small solace, however a welcome one.