Fashion is Political: Halloween and Political Idealization
Photo by Aanika Sawhney
This past Halloween weekend, I saw lots of scary things. One being my roommate, dressed as the continuing resolution that is the 2025 Budget Bill, which has still not been passed by Congress. Though I thought she looked great in all white and a handmade ribbon sash to complete the “bill look,” it scares me that this government shutdown has continued long enough for my roommate to be able to turn it into her costume, using fashion to humorously personify it.
Democrats and Republicans are divided over the continuing resolution, trapping federal workers without pay and slowing down the rest of the nation. This current government shutdown is shy of surpassing the longest government shutdown by a few days — the last being 35 days under President Donald Trump’s previous term.
Successful costumes exist in context of a memorable cultural moment, and often, this focuses on celebrities or pop culture. The government shutdown satisfies this requirement in a particularly cruel way because so many people are directly and indirectly impacted across the nation. In the DMV area, thousands of furloughed federal workers and their families are surviving without a salary, and some local food banks have popped up specifically to address their needs.
Halloween costumes are a normalized opportunity for physical representations of political commentary in public. This includes parts of the population unable or unwilling to participate in the most prominent platform of this phenomenon: protests.
A few of my other friends also wore bright white wigs to dress up as the Founding Fathers. Seeing them, I was reminded of another look that may never not be recognizable. Floppy comb over hair, orange facepaint missing circles around the eyes and a bright red hat complete with pursed lips recreated the familiar image of our nation’s president.
What does it mean for kids and adults alike to be dressing up as our president? Alongside Trump costumes, I’ve also seen outfits of former Presidents Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris.
The holiday’s celebration welcomes opinions and irony, gives people a free outlet for expression ranging from anger to pride. The movement of Trump impersonators who don’t like him mirrors the crowds of loyal followers who might embody him in the same way while trick-or-treating, despite having completely opposite stances on him and his administration.
The trend first spiked during Halloween before the 2016 election, and left me with funny memories of my classmates running around saying, “You’re fired” before the typical “Trick or treat.” Days later, on election night, the costume was suddenly a lot less funny and I went to bed wondering if America would have a female president after all. That year, Clinton costumes were rampant, too, and kids in short bobs even knocked on doors paired with Trump as their rival.
Dressing up as politicians, regardless of whether the wearer is embracing them or making a joke, reveals the American bad habit of reducing politics down to a few characteristics. Shortcuts to understanding people in our lives or in entertainment media are natural — like your tallest friend or a celebrity known for her pretty eyes.
However, the idolization of politicians — Alexandria Ocasio Cortez remembered first by her bold red lip or Clinton in her pantsuits to crack the glass ceiling — comes with an oversimplification of their identity, which warps the relationships voters have with their elected officials.
In Trump's case, his cult of personality is the basis of his political success and has redefined the Republican Party. When citizens are more enamored with the way he presents himself than the policy he puts forward, they choose to be misinformed, intentionally or not. Voters on both sides of the aisle are guilty of bolstering Trump in this trivial way.
Yet, it is serious; he is the United States President.
Dressing up as a politician is powerful because you choose to depict yourself as them. Reflecting the impacts of Trump’s championed “Big Beautiful Bill,” that was passed earlier this year, holds more weight than a botched spray tan and an obnoxious red hat. Unfortunately, the reality is these policies aren’t what the American people see in Trump’s caricature.
Fashion can be detailed and telling, and at the same time, it can facilitate an echo chamber of beliefs. Regardless of being in support of or against his administration, these Halloween costumes illustrate the bigger picture of the public’s perception. “We the people” continue to be the catalyst for irreversible damage by not taking Trump and his influence seriously.
Aanika Sawhney is in Washington, D.C., reporting for the Medill News Service, covering Immigration and Demographics. Her columns use her real experience and on-the-Hill observations to establish the intertwined nature of what we wear on our bodies to historical and ongoing world politics.