Apparently, it wasn't just Nikki Haley's promise after the New Hampshire Republican primary that she would continue fighting that upset Donald J. Trump; It was also his clothes.
Or rather his “costume that probably wasn't that elegant,” as the former president said. And while he's often prone to exaggeration, in the case of the dress Haley wore Tuesday night, Trump's description turned out to be pretty accurate.
The dress was indeed elegant, but not that elegant. It appears to be from the Teri Jon brand, a New York-based line that Haley has long favored. She wore Teri Jon when she was ambassador to the UN in 2018, on Fox News in 2022, and at her daughter's wedding in 2023.
Founded by a woman named Rickie Freeman, Teri Jon is sold in department stores across the country, including Saks and Neiman Marcus. The dress Haley wore in New Hampshire sells for $580, which is expensive, but not too much. Knee-length, in blue floral jacquard with a slightly A-line skirt and flared sleeves, the cut vaguely resembles a sort of 1950s hostess style; It looks conservative but not too conservative.
Exactly the kind of style, for example, that might appeal to Republicans with a taste for old times. Teri Jon describes her clients as “Professionals. Mothers. Daughters. World travelers. Housewives. Sisters. Party people”.
And while Trump clearly intended his sartorial critique as an insult to Ms. Haley (perhaps an implication that he knows what's stylish (or his wife, Melania, does) and his rival doesn't), the dress was in fact a quite effective representation. of how Ms. Haley has used her image as part of her campaign strategy.
That starts with the fact that she even wore a dress to give her speech, instead of, say, the standard female politician's pantsuit or even the Ralph Lauren American flag sweater she'd been sporting on the road.
Gender, especially expressed in clothing, has been part of Haley's political platform since she announced her candidacy for president, whether it's her high heels, which she's been referencing in her speeches for years (and which she named in the third debate of the Republican primaries) or his penchant for citing so-called Thatcherisms (from the conservative former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher) such as “'If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.'”
And in the semiology of clothing, a dress often suggests “woman.” Mr. Trump, precisely, should understand subconscious messages. After all, he is the man who, as president, announced that women in his administration should “dress like women.”
Mrs. Haley simply used the suggestion for her own purposes. That suggests there will be more wardrobe changes as the race moves toward South Carolina.
