She will not use fashion as a shield against the world. She will not disguise herself in glamor, or arm herself with armed European brand names. She’s certainly not a trophy sitting on a plan.
As the Democratic Party’s experiment in remote containerization continued on Tuesday, Tuesday, Dr. Jill Biden took the trouble to present her husband, Joseph R. Biden Jr., as the anti-Trump in character and conviction to a personal close, and played her part in the drama. After all, if he is the presidential alternative, then she is also the current first lady.
First lady is a foreign role, as many historians have pointed out: not elected, but also crucial to the carnage of a president’s humanity, and the parts of a candidate that resonate with voters. This is why the partner receives a keynote during the convention, and also why so much attention is traditionally paid to what she wears: why, for example, her clothes may end up in a museum, and why the first lady is sometimes treated like the first influencers. (Why, when it’s time for a first man, his clothes will also matter.)
The first couple is an important part of image-making.
Thereupon, Dr. Praying in her congress segment in an empty school hall in Wilmington, Del., A nod to her academic performance and inclusion as a teacher – a job assistants have said they plan to continue in the White House.
She started talking and walked in the middle school class, where she once taught. She talks about family and loss, the pandemic and parents, and how love – and her husband – can bring things back together. About caring for each other as individuals and as a nation. At the end, her husband jumped off the wings to give her a kiss, and praise. It was a moving scene, in every sense.
She wore a chalkboard-green coat, cut down the left side and very small jewelry. Nevertheless, praise from exciting viewers, some of whom knew where to get the appearance, it had gone unlucky Wednesday morning.
That may not seem worth mentioning, but in a world where it’s become public figures to control their designers – see tonight’s convention moderator Tracee Ellis Ross thanking Proenza Schouler on Instagram for her burgundy -uterlik. And for a woman who spent eight years alongside Michelle Obama, whose every outfit put on a frenzy, it was a meaningful choice.
It was not the most interesting of the night. That honor should go to some of the individual election electors who represented not only the nominating choices of the 57 states and territories, but also a responsible rainbow of dress. Floral crowns! Plaid shirts! Scrubs! They were all there. Plus many more.
However, the appearance of Dr. Biden the folksiness that has become a part of Biden-lore, and the couple’s relativity, just as her words underscored her husband’s empathy (as the segment about his Amtrak friends did on Day 1). And it provided a stark contrast to Melania Trump, who for the past three years has costumed herself in the brightest of aspiring designer names and for the most part let her do the talking for her.
In her coat, Dr. Biden looked comfortable and pulled together. She looked like everyone’s teacher: familiar, but also a little bossy.
The biographical video montage that preceded the speech and invited viewers into their lives had set the stage. There she was: as a young mother, as a partner; in mourning, in joy. There she was, ready to run … a marathon? Just around the block? Both. She wore leggings and an old T-shirt; the work-from-home pandemic uniform.
It caused a joke of recognition: Oh, I know her.
