At 59, Harris’ appearance is absolutely on point. Her beauty and hair look is strong and glowing, and her suiting delivers a message of timelessness and authority, a leader at ease in her own skin. What Harris is doing with her pantsuit game is a lesson for us all: she walks the line of looking powerful without being distracting. Her image is consistent, which is a huge advantage in political branding (equally so in our regular lives), and that consistency keeps the focus on her words when she is speaking. 

Case in point: the superb Chloe pantsuit she wore to make the most important speech of her career, accepting her nomination as the presidential candidate of the Democratic party. Opting for navy, the classic colour of competence, it steered clear of any distracting messaging and telegraphed ‘I’m ready’.

The pantsuit is her uniform – uniforms are fantastic, as they remove the additional time spent thinking about what we put on in the morning, and can be easily tweaked for the occasion. The navy allowed her patriotic flag pin to pop and was harmonious with the flag-waving room – a boon for the historic photographs. There is clearly a great deal of thought behind how Harris builds her style formula. This kind of polish and consistency does not happen without forethought – the elements are fully planned out.

Reporting from The Telegraph has indicated that a Canadian expat, noted Hollywood stylist Leslie Fremar, may be involved in Harris’ style journey. (Need we remind you Harris has a Canadian connection, having gone to Westmount High School in Montreal.) That Fremar posted a photo of Harris on the DNC stage, taken from the rafters of Chicago’s United Center, seemed to make this likely. If Fremar is on Harris’ speed dial, she probably has an NDA, which is why her potential services to link the Harris team up with key designers and ideas for those flashy state dinner outfits – a Celine column dress with sequins for the last White House correspondent’s dinner was one of Harris’ fashion highlights – and milestone career events remains shrouded.

Harris’ successful uniform formula takes her from (long) days to (longer) nights on the job. We used to associate the political pantsuit with Hillary Clinton, who employed the matching sets to mark her transition from First Lady (and the role’s tricky, highly-scrutinized, more feminine-coded wardrobe) to senator, then to Secretary of State, and finally to presidential candidate. Clinton went quite bold with her colour palette, with a notable exception: her standout suffragette-white choice at the 2016 nominating convention, a visual statement Harris echoed when she took the stage in a white pantsuit after the Biden-Harris ticket won the 2020 election. Harris also wore a pussy-bow blouse, widely seen to signal a reclamation of the word after former President Trump’s infamous use of the word in the 2016 Access Hollywood video leak. 

Harris has been in suits since her rise through the public sector began in 2003, when she won the San Francisco District Attorney race, though she initially added skirt suits to the mix, a natural choice for an elected district attorney, of course, then state attorney-general and then senator. Here, with some sage advice from Canada’s preeminent suit designers, Andrea Lenczner and Christie Smythe from Smythe, is a breakdown of what we can learn from Harris about suiting. 

The Smythe designers – who are always quoted as one voice – know a little something about celebrities and uniforms. One of their jackets became incredibly famous when Catherine, now Princess of Wales, first wore one of their princess-line navy blazers back in 2011 (the style is now called The Duchess) and has gone on to wear many versions of the brand’s staple over the years. “A blazer is more than just an item of clothing; it can serve as a confidence builder, and a symbol of professionalism all at once,” say the designers. “It ignites sartorial strength for the woman who wears it.” So what is the secret sauce? They say: “The magic of a well-tailored blazer lies in its ability to complete a look, making you feel poised and in control, while also signalling to the world that you are serious and competent.” 

Harris is remarkably consistent in her colour palette. She leans heavily into neutrals for her work week. For a colour pop, she favours shades of Democratic blue, with an occasional diversion into purple or burgundy – a la the stunning Christopher John Rogers fit-and-flare coat she wore when  sworn in as Vice-President in 2020. We once saw her bust out a hot pink suit, when she hosted a gala for the 50th anniversary of hip-hop last November. But it was this week, when she donned a tan suit, that she sent fashion writers into a flurry. Tan doesn’t sound radical, does it? But as New York Times fashion editor Vanessa Friedman writes, it could be seen as a nod to Barack Obama, who almost 10 years ago to the day wore a tan suit at a press conference – a break from his steady diet of navy or grey workwear – and was blasted by the right wing press for showing a lack of seriousness. The faux controversy took up an entire newscycle. Harris could have actually been double-trolling, as the Chloe suit, by designer Chemena Kamali, is in a colour called Coconut Brown, invoking the “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree” attack meme that went viral as a positive after Biden dropped out of the race and she mounted her campaign.

We can learn from this: know your best colours, know when you want to stand out, know when you want to use colour to say something subliminally, and deliver that consistency. People are soothed by consistency, and sometimes you can speak louder with neutrals.

I personally have Smythe pieces that date back to the mid-2000s that look as good, and as fashionable, today as they did twenty years ago. Harris is unafraid to rewear her pieces. A good suit should be an investment that will last. As Lenczner and Smythe explain: “A great suit masterfully blends principles of classic tailoring and contemporary style. As a designer the challenge is to make each suit both modern and enduring, allowing it to be a versatile investment in a woman’s wardrobe.” They also hammer home one of our all-time favourite pieces of advice here at the Zoomerist: “Once you find a great suit, you must invest in having it tailored to your body.  Nothing fits perfectly right off the rack, but a great tailor who can hem a pant, pinch a waist and adjust a sleeve will take a suit to the next level and make it look like it was made for you.”

When choosing a suit, you need to work out what most flatters your body, reflects your personality and conveys the message you want to send. Harris leans into square shoulders. She favours prominent lapels, which provide punctuation to the jacket. She has two main styles of pants, tapered with a crop, or flowy with a bit of a flare. The options are endless. Fashions do change, but if you choose a classic label, like  another Harris favourite Altazurra, you get the same mix of modern and timeless that she does. 

Making a pantsuit your own is the way to express your personal style. Harris leans into softer touches like the aforementioned pussy bow blouse as well simple crew necks   and is known for wearing pearls – a nod to her sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha at her alma mater, the historically Black Howard University. For her vice-presidential portrait, she donned a double-stranded set from Irene Neuwirth. She almost always wears Manolo Blahnik mid-heeled pumps, except when she is wearing her favourite off-duty black Chuck Taylors; at this point, Harris is never off-duty, but when she is on camera in her home life, exiting a plane, or after hours, she pairs the sneakers with a blazer and a soft blouse. 

Here is some advice from the Smythe designers for how to work out your own accessory signatures: “Accessories and tops (or lack thereof) enable you to personalize a perfectly tailored suit both for the occasion and to express your style,” they say. You can also change up the same suit moving from day to night. “For 9 to 5, a crisp white blouse, a stacked heel and a strong watch means business. For 5 to 9, a perfectly tailored vest, a modern mule, leather clutch and silver jewellery bring on the night. Beyond 9, we adore minimalism: a blazer with no underpinning, a top knot and a thin strappy heel.”

Always asking questions,

—Leanne Delap