Fashion is not at the forefront of everyone’s minds at the State of the Union address—especially not tonight’s—but members of Congress and Dr. Jill Biden took the opportunity to show support for Ukraine with their clothing. While President Joe Biden praised Ukraine’s bravery and outlined the United States’ position on the conflict, many attendees wore outfits of yellow and blue, the colors of the Ukrainian flag. As for the first lady, tonight, she wore her support for the country on her sleeve.
Dr. Biden’s indigo silk dress from the New York-based label LaPointe had a sunflower embroidered into the wrist. It’s not only the national flower of the country, but has also become a symbol of the resistance against the invasion. (A video of a Ukrainian woman giving sunflower seeds to Russian soldiers went viral last Friday.) Dr. Biden also wore a face mask embroidered with the flower on Monday at an event to celebrate Black History Month.
It’s not the first time that women have used fashion to send a message at the State of the Union, and it surely won’t be the last. In 2020 and 2019 female members of Congress wore white (the color of suffragettes) to highlight women’s issues. In 2018, the House Democratic Women’s Working Group asked both men and women to wear somber black in support of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements.
Dr. Biden also has a history of making statements through her clothing (though just two months into her tenure as first lady, her office announced that it would not address her outfits). At the G7 summit last year, she wore a Zadig & Voltaire jacket that read “Love” across the back, an undeniable statement of unity that stands in stark contrast to another infamous jacket from a former first lady. During her husband’s presidential campaign, she wore Stuart Weitzman boots that read “Vote.” Tonight, the sunflower on her sleeve sent yet another clear message of support and solidarity.
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