Fashion Is Already Being Used as a Form of Resistance—Will It Matter?
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In times of uncertainty, fashion can be a communication tool. It’s been true for centuries and is certainly true as President Donald Trump resumes office again. This was on full display with Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson's adornment, which she wore for the Inauguration - that fell on January 20, 2025, notably also Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Supreme Court justice wore a collar made from cowrie shells, which could have several meanings – most especially as a historical symbol of ‘resistance to enslavement,” according to the African American History Museum. The site also notes that “historians speculate the cowries may have been brought to America as talismans to resist enslavement” because of their history of protection for Africans.
Vogue notes that some could interpret this akin to what the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg would often do, wearing a collar to highlight her dissent.
Justice Brown-Jackson hasn’t confirmed any personal feelings or intentions about the collar, but that doesn’t mean it’s not open for interpretation, and the instinct from observers of the spectacle to ascribe meaning is fair, especially when you consider the power shift that happened. In a matter of hours, the rights of immigrants, trans people, and women around the country faced new levels of threats and erosion, with seemingly fewer tools to push back.
In this way, it might be easy to fall into the idea that clothing is as symbolically frivolous as the fashion naysayers often want to make it out to be. Is it really doing anything to wear a necklace or a t-shirt highlighting your position? Did it serve anyone last time Trump was president when Congresswomen showed up to the State of the Union addresses in all white to highlight the suffrage movement or when Nancy Pelosi wore kente to introduce the Justice in Policing Act of 2020? Is it merely a self-serving sign to show where you stand? Maybe it's a little of all of the above.
Clothing and accessories as signifiers are almost certainly something we will see more of over the next four years from those opposed to President Trump (and especially the next two years while Republicans have control of the Senate and the House). It’s fair to say that showing resistance is important, and fashion can be a very powerful way to do that. It’s also OK to recognize that it stings when even those with seemingly the most power to make the changes we need are using the ones that, while important, are merely symbolic.
Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
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