Kamala Harris Outfits As Vice President That Totally Missed The Mark

Upon becoming the vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris seems to have made it a point to dress rather conservatively. "She looks like she could be walking into any major law firm, any Fortune 500 company," Robin Givhan, senior critic-at-large at The Washington Post, told Town & Country. This is a wise style of dress for a person in politics — and some may have thought that Harris would be unlikely to mess up in this regard. "The Vice President is strikingly beautiful," MSNBC anchor Tiffany Cross told Who What Wear in an interview about Harris' fashion. "The power of the patriarchy once made it more challenging for beautiful women to be taken seriously as leaders so some women try to tone down their beauty. It's impossible for Vice President Harris to do that."

While Harris has elevated Black designers and worn many American brands and has had an overall measured approach when it comes to her wardrobe, she hasn't always hit the mark with her looks. She has worn controversial designers, opted for far too casual fits, and has been spotted in ensembles the average American could never dream of affording. 

Kamala Harris started off her vice presidency in royal purple. While she has since donned a more subdued wardrobe for her day to day in recent times, she proved she can pull off a bright shade with the best of 'em. It wasn't exactly traditional, but all of the inauguration looks that year were "bold, American, and even a little bit fun," as Vox reported. Where Harris missed the mark on this outfit, though, was the shocking price tag. It serves as one of the most expensive outfits Harris has ever worn, with a probable cost of around $3,995, as the dress and coat were designed by Christopher John Rogers. Of course, most Americans can't afford four-figure outfits, so this look came across as insensitive to some.

As one Instagram commenter noted regarding Harris having worn expensive Dolce & Gabbana fits, "I don't think it's a good idea for Kamala to wear so many new expensive items during her first week in office." Former First Lady Melania Trump drew similar controversy for routinely wearing expensive ensembles. This would have been a great time for Harris to have worn something less luxury and more accessible, but alas.

Just six days into Joe Biden's presidency and Kamala Harris' vice presidency, the VP made another sartorial mistake. As she swore in the first female treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, she was photographed wearing a gray wool pantsuit. While on the surface this look seemed to fit the occasion, some took issue because of the label: Dolce & Gabbana. 

Back in 2018, the luxury brand endured backlash over racially insensitive advertisements. Later, alleged text messages from Stefano Gabbana, the co-founder of Dolce & Gabanna, surfaced, in which he derided China as a country. Although Stefano claimed he'd been hacked, the brand's relationship with retailers in China suffered — as did their reputation with fans worldwide. By 2021, the brand's reputation had not much improved.

As one fan wrote after seeing the brand new vice president cloaked in Dolce & Gabbana: "Someone seriously needs to tell her team about Dolce and their problematic issues with race. I'm stunned she would wear them" (via The Guardian). It didn't help that former First Lady Melania Trump often wore the luxury fashion label.

The February 2021 edition of Vogue introduced Vice President Kamala Harris to the American people. Harris graced the cover of the magazine in a modern, approachable fit: a simple blouse, black jacket, dark-wash skinny jeans, and low-top Converses. Harris is particularly a fan of the sneaker brand. "Low-tops are my favorite," she told Keke Palmer during an episode of the "Baby, This Is Keke Palmer" podcast. "But if I did have a Converse line, I'd probably want a 'Freedom' line. The Converses would have sayings written on them like 'Freedom to be'...'Freedom to march'...and 'I am free," she said (via Buzzfeed).

Unfortunately for Harris, the choice to wear Converses didn't go over well with constituents, many of whom took to social media to lambast the look, as journalist Yashar Ali tweeted at the time. It is believed that Harris and her team did not have the final say on the photograph that was used for the print cover, which reportedly made Harris furious. A less laidback look — showing Kamala with arms folded and wearing a muted blue pantsuit — ended up being used for digital cover.

Vogue commented on the hullabaloo, telling The New York Times, "The team at Vogue loved the images Tyler Mitchell shot and felt the more informal image captured Vice President-elect Harris's authentic, approachable nature — which we feel is one of the hallmarks of the Biden/Harris administration." Most everyone outside of Vogue disagreed, wishing Harris had worn something more befitting of the first female vice president.