February 9, 2023

"When one makes the decision to wear an all-white outfit to a gathering where many will have defaulted to a dignified dark or jewel tone, one makes a choice..."

"... not just to be the de facto center of attention, but to invoke something pure, even holy. There’s a reason guests aren’t supposed to wear white to a wedding; there’s also a reason Jesus is so often pictured in white. When Marjorie Taylor Greene wore a white coat with a fur collar while heckling the president during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, many on social media saw Cruella de Vil.... Greene’s outfit Tuesday — a white, knee-length dress paired with an ecru Overland alpaca wool coat with an alpaca fur trim on the hood and collar — was surprising for a handful of reasons. Not only is a white ensemble an unusual choice for the wintry, business-formal State of the Union (and a coat an unusual choice for an indoor event), but the silhouette itself, luxe, frothy and hyperfeminine, was somewhat outside the norm for Greene, who tends to opt for clean lines and often wears black or red."

1. White is not an unusual fashion choice for winter. There's a term for it: "winter white." It's classic and has been for decades.

2. As the columnist concedes, the Democratic women in Congress wore white to Trump's SOTU in 2019. Supposedly, a coordinated, massive effort to pull attention is better than a single individual choosing a conspicuous color. The real difference — don't we all know? — is what Democrats did to Trump is entirely different from what Republicans do to Biden.

3. So you're really going to critique the degree of femininity in a woman's clothes? They'd better stick to black or red or — spare me! — "jewel tones" and "opt for clean lines" or you're going to insinuate that they are lightweight — "frothy"? If a right-leaning commentator talked like that about a female Democratic politician, it would be easily seen as sexist. 

4. Wearing white is "religious imagery"? Really? Not just purity but holiness? Are you saying that about the 2019 Democrats (and the suffragists they were emulating)?

5. When one makes the decision to use the word "one" as the subject of one's sentence, one makes a choice....

52 comments:

Kevin said...

Everyone can cover "Nasty article about MTG" on their weekly WAPO bingo card.

Sebastian said...

"The real difference — don't we all know? — is what Democrats did to Trump is entirely different"

Corollary to the first law of American politics--when Dems do it, it's different.

"If a right-leaning commentator talked like that about a female Democratic politician, it would be easily seen as sexist."

Follows indirect from the first law.

"Are you saying that about the 2019 Democrats (and the suffragists they were emulating)?"

No, but so what? What difference, at this point--etc.

BUMBLE BEE said...

MTG is out and unafraid. Dems scared sh*tless. I'm proud of her.
Give 'em the back of your hand!

robother said...

When one makes a decision to name one's daughter Ashley, one assumes many of her sentences will have "one" rather than the plebeian "you" as their subject.

Caroline said...

Does the phrase "dog whistle" make an appearance in the article? (paywalled)

Mikey NTH said...

She got attention, which is oxygen for politicians.

Wince said...

MTG: "I was wearing a wool coat, actually, and it's one of my favorite coats because I got it in Wyoming when I was campaigning against and raising money to beat Liz Cheney, and I was happy to wear it to the State of the Union because it simply went with my dress," she continued.

PM said...

Meow!

Breezy said...

Yes, ignore the message cuz the outfit was in poor choice.

William said...

MTG is a pistol.

Humperdink said...

Quoting the article: "Elaina Plott Calabro wrote in The Atlantic in December. “She wasn’t greeted. She was beheld, like a religious apparition. Emotions verged on rapture.”

What a load of crap.

Across the aisle, Sinema (D-Yellow Submarine) was mocked mercilessly on Twitter.

tim in vermont said...

Meeow!

madAsHell said...

I remember when the entire Squat showed up in white at Trump's SOTU, and Pelosi tore up Trump's transcript.

These people should just fuck off.

Reddington said...

And in 2020!

Rob C said...

I think if any fashion choice were to intrigue and/or upset people watching / attending the SOTU it was probably the politicians who wore a pin that said "Abortion" on it instead of an American flag.

I think they should move to just having the Sergeant at Arms read out a written SOTU to each house separately and then just publish it. It certainly has become a spectacle of promises and accusations rather than an actual report on the state of the union.

Ampersand said...

The big SOTU fashion note this year was Sen. Sinema's banana yellow ensemble. Wow! She was the only person I could see when they used the panoramic camera angle. I am suspicious of anyone who assigns centrality to their self-presentation. It makes me suspect they have nothing to offer besides what can be seen on the surface.

FullMoon said...

Reminds me of the time Biden showed up for High School history class dressed only in white underwear.

walter said...

madAsHell said...
I remember when the entire Squat showed up in white at Trump's SOTU, and Pelosi tore up Trump's transcript.
--
Peak Spaz moment(s).

walter said...

I retract that.
Nance and the designer ice cream may rival that.
She and Joe should go out for ice cream.

JaimeRoberto said...

I thought commenting on women's wardrobes was misogynistic or something.

boatbuilder said...

"5. When one makes the decision to use the word "one" as the subject one's sentence, one makes a choice...."

Hah! Well done.

William50 said...

I saw it as a subtle reference to the Chinese spy balloon.

cfs said...

I searched and searched for the articles condemning the democrat Congress-women who all wore white to the SOTU address in order to protest against "what?". I truly can't remember. Anyway, I didn't find any articles from the corporate media criticizing such actions.

It's much like the theater of the red "handmaiden" costumes they wore at Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings. All just for "cakes and circuses". Maybe the white dresses were on the same subject. I truly cannot recall. White and blood red, all for the same issue.......that they want to sacrifice on the altar of their godless demons.

rhhardin said...

Consistent use of "one" in sentences has the effect of a trombone solo, Thurber says.

rhhardin said...

White in weddings stands for virginity. ("You're not going to wear white, are you?")

Abdul Abulbul Amir said...

,
Sigh. It’s all about the clothes.
.

tcrosse said...

Dressing in white seemed to work for Tom Wolfe, Steve Martin, and Col. Sanders.

farmgirl said...

Is there a media bias tag?

Old and slow said...

It wasn't terribly subtle or at all mysterious. It was a dig at the Biden administration about the Chinese spy balloon. Good lord, could it be any more obvious? Yeah, religious purity my ass. Lots of people I like and respect are concerned about proper dignity and decorum. I once would have agreed with them. Now I say to hell with it! Watching these clowns lie and insult the intelligence of anyone with a pulse for year after year, all while holding themselves up (in the case of the senate) as The World's Greatest Deliberative Body (isn't that the phrase I've heard used?) is enough to make me vomit. If they aren't dishonest halfwits, they are scheming thieves, and frequently they are both. I've had just about enough of them. Any disrespect or derision offered up is okay with me.

wildswan said...

It's attitude.

"in my red high heels"

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

The hack-D press - who sold us lies about Russian collusion for 3.2 years --- says what?

walter said...

Should have sent in Howie Mendel with the inflated glove gag.

Quaestor said...

When one makes the decision to use the word "one" as the subject of one's sentence, one makes a choice....

Ome, at least, always takes a singular verb.

traditionalguy said...

She reminds me of Zell Miller fighting the John Kerry style bullshitters 20 years ago. Zell and MTG both come from the north Georgia Scots Irish area where fighting is like breathing. Good luck trying to intimidate her.

wendybar said...

Now do Ayanna Presley. Or ALL of the Democrat women at Trump SOTU who all wore white. What a stupid article.

Birches said...

Seems silly to write a whole article on Marjorie Taylor Green when all anyone could talk about was Kristin Sinema. I liked the yellow dress; a lot of people hated it.

Birches said...

Definitely not jewel toned either.

rwnutjob said...

A lot of people on the right think she's crazy as a shit house rat & are ashamed to be associated with her. At least she fights unlike Romney who gave Santos shit for lying when they met on the floor. Seems he never called out Biden for his lies. The Mittens moniker is appropriate

John said...

I must be terribly out of touch with the nuances of fashion. Like Ann, I don't bother watching I'd rather read about it the next day. I did see the picture of MTG, but the implication of a holy and pure symbol for the nation escaped me. Rather, I was reminded of the "Big White" balloon that had been so much in the news as it sailed merrily across the nation until it got close too close to where the President had spent his summer vacation on the South Carolina shore.

Christy said...

A guest on the Megan Kelly podcast suggested MTG was channeling Sharon Stone in Casino. Kelly laughed, "She wishes."

I am less and less bothered by undecorous behavior in individual Congressthem.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

There's a video of her carrying around a white balloon before the SOTU speech. Of course her outfit is a nod to the Chinese spy balloon.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/D7eRpIx04qo

Ron Winkleheimer said...

My guess is that she planned to bring the balloon to the SOTU, but found out it wouldn't be allowed, so she wore an all white outfit instead. Can I get a job at the WaPo? I'm obviously more qualified than the person who wrote that stupid hit piece.

MadisonMan said...

Writes Ashley Fetters Maloy
What happened to Robin Givhan?

Achilles said...

The WAPO is as stupid publication written for stupid people.

mikeski said...

MTG strikes me as similar to Kramer on Seinfeld or Phoebe on Friends; it would be annoying to have to deal with them on a daily basis, but it sure is fun watching them from a distance, in discrete doses.

Douglas B. Levene said...

MTG is a POS— I’m not ever going to forget her Jewish space lasers crack — but in this case, she was merely following the precedent set by the Democrats.

n.n said...

Fashion is a religious experience? Raise the Rainbow banner. Sequester the chi... carbon. Go PP on you h/t Andrea (it's a Google thing... enunciate!). #HateLovesAbortion

n.n said...

The WAPO is as stupid publication written for stupid people.

They're emphasizing braying through em-pathetic appeal. Pin the tale on the Ass, it's literally last.

Ann Althouse said...

"What happened to Robin Givhan?"

She has a more general role at WP now, but it happens that she also wrote a column about what Taylor Greene wore to the SOTU. I ran across it as I was in the middle of reacting to the Maloy column, and I considered changing, but you can see my reaction was Maloy-specific.

Weird that WaPo doesn't safeguard against two columns on the same micro-topic.

Jeff said...

They don't hate MTG for her clothes, her right-wing views, or even her "Jewish space lasers" theory -- They hate her because she is demanding an audit of where all of our Ukraine money is actually ending up. That's all there is to it.

First Tenor said...

Just imagine if certain men had worn white suits...the horror!

Known Unknown said...

I note that we didn't have all of this navel-gazing bullshit before women become wholly integrated into the workforce.