30 Mar Glamour | At the 2018 State of the Union Address, Fashion Was a Vehicle for Quiet Protest

Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union Address last night to a divided audience—one that was split not only by the choice to stand up to applaud, but also by what they wore.

Leading up to the president’s address to the nation, certain groups, like the Democratic Working Women’s Group and the Congressional Black Caucus, announced they would stage quiet acts of resistance against the current administration at the State of the Union through their clothing. Following the lead of the Time’s Up protest at the 2018 Golden Globes, a group of lawmakers (led by female Democrats) coordinated to wear black, both to the Address and to various boycotts hosted in tandem with it, in a show of solidarity with the #MeToo movement. (Representative Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), who participated in the protest, toldGlamour:”Black has become the color of solidarity for women in the country right now to show this movement is real.”)

Additionally, members of the CBC donned kente cloths as a response to the President’s recent disparaging remarks against immigrants from predominantly black countries, the Washington Post reported. What’s more, Rep. Bonnie Coleman (D-N.J.) encouraged attendees to wear red pins with the name Recy on them in honor of Recy Taylor.

Not all protests came from the Democratic side of the aisle, though: In response to the defiant all-black dress code proposed by Democrats, some Republican lawmakers opted to wear red, white, and blue to the State of the Union. Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Calif.) explained to CNN that this meant “to show patriotism for our country.”

Across party lines and affiliations, outfits worn to the 2018 State of the Union Address culminated in markedly powerful moments of fashion protest on the U.S. Capitol. See all the members of Congress (women and men) who participated in the myriad fashion protests during the 2018 State of the Union Address, below.