Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Stands Up for Harry Styles and Gender Fluid Fashion
U.S. Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez took to Instagram to praise Harry Styles’ recent Vogue cover after the British singer was criticized for wearing a dress. The L'OFFCIEL star became the magazine’s first solo male cover this month with an image of him blowing up a balloon while wearing a Gucci gown and tuxedo jacket. An American conservative commentator called the feature an "attack" on Twitter, saying, "Bring back manly men." After the discussion around Styles' wardrobe gained some steam, Ocasio-Cortez took to her own social media to show support. “It looks wonderful,” the Representative said in an Instagram story Q&A. “The masculine and feminine elements are balanced beautifully—the hair and jacket styling give me James Dean vibe, too.”
"Some people are mad at [the cover because] some folks are very sensitive to examining and exploring gender roles in society,” AOC explained, referencing the extensive trolling that has ensued from those who dislike Styles’ wearing of a dress. “Perhaps for some people it provokes some anger or insecurity around masculinity/femininity/etc. If it does, then maybe that’s part of the point. Sit with that reaction and think about it, examine it, explore it, engage it, and grow with it."
For Styles, whose recent “Golden” video sparked a near-universal desire to buy a billowing white blouse, eliminating gendered barriers in clothing is key to self-expression. “It’s like anything—anytime you’re putting barriers up in your own life, you’re just limiting yourself,” he explained. “There’s so much joy to be had in playing with clothes. I’ve never really thought too much about what it means—it just becomes this extended part of creating something.” The singer cited fashion barrier-breaking icons like Prince, Elton John, David Bowie, and Freddie Mercury, as well as his own relationships with Gucci’s Alessandro Michele and personal stylist Harry Lambert as points of fashion inspiration.
Like Styles, Ocasio-Cortez believes in the power of fashion to enable self expression and provoke deep thought. She concluded her Instagram story with a series of rhetorical questions. “What’s the point of creating things if they don’t make people think? Or feel or reflect? Especially as an artist or creative? Who wants to see the same thing all the time? And never explore their assumptions? Anyways [Styles’ outfit] looks bomb so."
The congresswoman is no stranger to using her own clothing to make deliberate statements. Her signature red lip, which she shared application instructions for on Vogue’s YouTube channel, is an homage to her home in the Bronx. She reminded us of the suffragettes uniforms by wearing white to her swearing in ceremony, at two State of the Unions, and on the cover of Vanity Fair. Plus, earlier this week Ocasio-Cortez donned a tailored teal suit, a visual reference to the Green New Deal, to join the Sunrise Movement in demanding the incoming Biden administration properly address climate change.
Both AOC’s outfits and her admiration for Styles’ gown reveal her understanding of clothing’s importance in today’s world. While AOC’s policies often deal with more relatable problems than expensive Gucci gowns, her praise for Styles’ cover reflects her core belief in the freedom of all people to express themselves how they see fit.
