Seeing photos and videos of the riot on the Capitol from Wednesday, it was not lost on many that a solid majority of the insurrectionists who broke in and rampaged looked like they were on their way to a demented Comic-Con—although their convention would instead be called Tragic-Con. Or perhaps they’d gotten lost on their way to the set of Vikings, Game of Thrones, or an upcoming superhero remake. Capes, fur pants, horned helmets, painted faces, a man dubbed Q Shaman, arrested now, whose resemblance to the 90’s Brit-funkster singer from Jamiroquai became a much needed laugh-to-keep-from-crying meme. I am not in any way playing down the absolute danger and madness of these humans. What I do find fascinating though is how what we put on our body changes the way we walk into the world. (A great article by Vanessa Friedman here about the transformative power of costumes.) When we drape ourselves, what power are we hoping to gain? What message are we sending out to those who see us? Did the woman I spotted in news clips on the Capitol grounds with the Wonder Woman headgear feel she could magically deflect bullets because of it? Wednesday’s danger-parade of delusion was a sociological pageantry both terrifying and fascinating in its trappings. (The vile t-shirts, I can’t even begin to parse here. Not to mention it would take another many paragraphs to describe my disgust that I know what the seditionists were wearing because they felt untouchable and entitled enough to post endless photos and videos of themselves on social media. Their white privilege paraded in a way no one who attended peaceful protests for BLM would have lived long enough to display.)

I can absolutely attest to my own psychological shift when I put on an outfit. What in my early and into teen years was dressing to fit in broke out in college as a way to find my own self. An individual sense of style. The nineties of my young adulthood was an amazing time of thrift stores—and thank gawd, given the state of my finances. I could carve out my style for under $20 and that aesthetic of quirky has lasted with me into today. Somewhere along the way, I grew into the confidence of it. Without a doubt, what I wear out the door tells the world volumes. A year ago today, Dennis and I were in day three of our move from NYC to Cali. I logged it daily here on this blog site under the banner Jumpsuits Across America. There was a reason those jumpsuits became my transitionary uniform. On one level, jumpsuits hold a utilitarian message. Their history as a work uniform dates back to 1919. Men and women alike rocked the jumpsuit (I’m looking at you Rosie the Riveter) bringing a sense of equality that wasn’t found anywhere else in society. For me, when I was figuring out how to pack to get from one side of the country to the other, I didn’t want to think about mix&match. I also wanted to see the span of this land without telegraphing any geographical markers. No declarative t-shirts or funky-ass culottes (yeah, I’ve got those). My jumpsuit collection managed both weirdly and magically to match up with our location.

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As we’ve all gone inside since March, there’s no doubt the nature of dressing has altered, perhaps forever. There are many other things to think about right now rather than how one’s look is being received and how strong you feel inside of that. The absolute best style statement in the moment is that mask on your face, and nod to the Nancy Pelosi’s of the world who bring color and individuality to that action. I’m not gonna lie, I most definitely take a minute to find the face covering that complements my outfit when I’m taking a trip to the grocery store or dad’s, but I’m also happy that each of them was bought or given (or made, hello, bra) from a place that supports foundations and small artisans–or in the case of the bra, used to support a portion of my upper body. So again, to the idea of whether clothes make the (wo)man or the other way around. To me, if you have a strong sense of self, then you’re less likely to need a costume to get your point across. If you live in a universe where your only way of feeling your own power or getting your message out is by putting on a fur helmet with horns, taking off your shirt, and picking up an American flag with a pointed tip that you wield like a spear, then you may want to take a serious look at your communication skills and/or sense of inner fortitude.

Some individuals below

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