Why They Wore It: The Politics & Pop Culture of First Ladies’ Fashion, at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

Has the nation always hung by a thread? Forgive the hyperbole, but you might be asking yourself the same question after viewing the detailed, edifying exhibit, “Why They Wore It: The Politics & Pop Culture of First Ladies’ Fashion,” at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, on display through September 12.

Guest curator Carl Sferrazza Anthony has arranged 20 formal gowns and apparel from America’s First Ladies in order to explore how each woman leveraged fashion to advance her, or her husband’s, particular agenda. Notably, the exhibit is the first to display one of First Lady Melania Trump’s dresses outside of the Smithsonian. Featured is the silver Dolce & Gabbana dress she wore at the G7 Summit in 2017(above).

A former speechwriter for Nancy Reagan, Anthony has authored 13 books and served as historian of the National First Ladies’ Library. What’s he’s not is a fashion critic. “I don’t know about fashion – and frankly, I am not interested,” notes Anthony, who will conclude the exhibit Sept. 12 with a final public lecture at the library. “I study these women in the context of politics. In the White House, everything becomes political.”

COAST: Some of Trump’s fashion choices have sparked controversy — the stilettos in a hurricane, the jacket with “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” on the back. Is it fair to suggest that the First Lady represents a statement for the administration?

CARL SFERRAZZA ANTHONY: It’s very fair. But Melania Trump is sending signals that she speaks for herself, not the administration.

COAST: Is that a break in historical precedent?

CSA: It sure is. It’s very subtle. I’ve heard it referenced as a kind of post-modern feminism. It creates debate. People say, “How can she say that?” Others say, “Well it’s just nice clothes.” Others perhaps read far too much into it. It is fascinating, because, in its way, it is a form of performance art. It’s left to our interpretation. Until she writes her memoir, if she ever does, and until she addresses all of this, we really won’t know.

COAST: When have we seen First Ladies in the past make definitive statements? It seems each one made some kind of statement.

CSA: You saw that from the beginning. Martha Washington was always wearing white – she always had a white scarf and white mob cap and of course had white hair. It conveyed the image of purity and the impression of a pure democracy, a new kind of government.

Dolly Madison and her husband were both friends and supporters of Thomas Jefferson’s anti-Federalist party, which essentially became the Democratic party. Jefferson would do things like greet the minister of Great Britain wearing slippers as a way of saying, “We are so different from you.” Dolly Madison recognized during what was called the National Period that there was the sense that England was still exercising some kind of control over us. She was seeking in every way to elevate the status of the United States. At that time in the early days of the nation there were not many symbols, so she made herself the symbol: She dressed in bright colors, elegant fabrics, attempting to draw attention to herself. Her trademark was the turban. It was suggesting, like a crown, that she was a figure of queen, but it wasn’t a crown.

 

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