Conservatives in vogue

According to some influencers on the left, all Republican women look the same. They all wear the same short, tight, obnoxiously colored sheath dresses. They all wear their box-dyed blond hair about collar-bone length, heat-styled in light waves. Many have had work done—Botox, fillers, buccal fat removal. They have spray tans and cakey, matte makeup two shades too warm.

“Sort of a cross between a Fox newscaster and Miss Universe,” as Vanessa Friedman, the chief fashion critic at The New York Times, recently described it.

For better or for worse, conservative fashion is having a moment. With the return of Donald and Melania Trump to the White House, conservatives are no longer outsiders but are enjoying a certain limelight. And not all of them are sporting so-called “Mar-a-Lago face,” characterized by heavy makeup and plastic surgery.

In a movement broadly known as “Make America Hot Again,” many conservative young women are embracing their newfound status as the cool kids. They are celebrating their femininity in the way they dress, but it’s a mixed bag: Tastes in style differ. And in some cases they are flaunting their sexuality in revealing outfits that wouldn’t be considered “conservative” by their grandmothers’ generation.

But some fashion proponents think con­servatives can do better at avoiding gaudiness and embracing elegance. Better at promoting traditionally conservative values and not simply reacting to progressivism.

“Fashion reflects a lot of what’s going on in the hearts and minds of a generation of people during a certain time,” explained Isabella Redjai, a New York–based fashion writer. With each political party reflecting a distinct set of values, the left and right gravitate toward different clothing trends. Influencer Beverly Hart has gone viral for her videos breaking down how to differentiate Repub­licans and Democrats in D.C. by outfit alone.

Currently, a primary value of some conservative women is simply that they aren’t woke. Left-wing politics has for years emphasized feminism, downplayed traditional gender roles, and most recently sought to neuter gender altogether, emphasizing androgyny. It’s perhaps unsurprising, then, that many conservative women are fighting back with hypersexuality.

Young women attend a “Make America Hot Again” event in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Tom Brenner / The Washington Post via Getty Images

Ultimately, fashion is a language, according to Hannah Brusven, the founder and editor-in-chief of The Swish, a style magazine. “What we wear says something about ourselves, even if we don’t recognize it,” she said. “It tells us what we value.”

Brusven wishes conservatives would dress better to reflect their values.

While attending a Christian college in Idaho, she became convinced that her female classmates, though thoughtful about everything else, neglected the way they dressed. Dressing well was perceived as arrogant, she said. She started The Swish to advocate classic, elegant style and femininity.

She promotes four principles: symmetry (aligning inward values with outward expression), subtraction (leaving room for mystery without flaunting everything), sustainability (prioritizing long-lasting pieces and thrifted clothing over fast fashion and consumer culture), and seduction (not sex appeal but unique qualities setting one woman apart from the rest).

Visitors to The Swish’s website are greeted by a neutral color palette and ads for Brusven’s Classical Femininity Masterclass. Featured articles contrast Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (the former Meghan Markle). Other articles herald the return of modesty and elegance to mainstream culture, what-to-watch recommendations, and advice for navigating tough friendships.

Brusven points to Catherine as a modern example of classical femininity. “She is totally symmetrical in the way that she has lived out her life, in the things that she values, and in the way that she presents herself,” she said.

Freelance fashion writer Evie Solheim is the author of The Girl’s Guide, a Substack website that encourages her audience of conservative 20-somethings to prioritize sustainable, quality fashion. Alongside lifestyle tips for living in Washington, D.C., Solheim offers advice for finding timeless or vintage pieces at the thrift store.

“I think that [fashion] is something that Christians or conservatives should advocate,” Solheim added. “I don’t think they should feel like pursuing beauty is less than pursuing truth or goodness. We can’t abdicate beauty or aesthetics.”

Solheim doesn’t think conservatives are really innovating fashion. “But they are conserving fashion,” she said.

Among recent startups promoting a conservative fashion resurgence is The Conservateur, an online alternative to Vogue that offers a mix of political commentary and style tips. Evie Magazine, a conservative alternative to Cosmopolitan, presents lifestyle content and fashion roundups. Although Evie is pro-life and advocates traditional gender roles, the content isn’t all “traditional” but features sex tips, bikini models, and celebrity gossip alongside articles about home­schooling and reproductive health.

Conservative fashion trends like old money, quiet luxury, and the trad wife aesthetic deliberately borrow from history and tradition. Old money especially, with its emphasis on neutral colors, quality fabrics, and classic cuts, is driving the popularity of vintage Ralph Lauren and ’90s J. Crew.

Fashion and femininity have been upended by progressivism in the last few years, but Brusven hopes this will clear the way for conservatives in a space traditionally dominated by the left: “It’s an exciting time because that means we can actually lead a cultural change in what it means to be a conservative woman.”

—Jacqueline Annis-Levings is a junior and English major at Patrick Henry College