The political leanings of a county are clearly visible in the hemlines of the clothes sold in its local department stores.
April 26, 2026
Original Paper
Fashion as Political Discourse: An Analysis of Clothing as a Medium of Sociopolitical Expression
SSRN · 6630278
The Takeaway
Mainstream retail catalogs from 1952 to 2020 show a strong link between Democratic vote shares and expressive fashion trends. When a region shifts left, the clothing becomes less traditionally modest and more experimental. Most people treat fashion as a personal choice or a superficial trend. This data suggests that the political climate of a nation is physically encoded in the items people buy at Sears and JCPenney. The visual culture of a community serves as a silent, real-time indicator of its ideological shift.
From the abstract
<p>This paper examines fashion as a form of political discourse, investigating whether changes in U.S. political climate are reflected in mainstream clothing trends from 1952 to 2020. Drawing on the concept of fashion as a visual language, the study hypothesizes that conservative political environments align with more traditional and gender-normative styles, while liberal environments correspond with more expressive and inclusive aesthetics.</p> <p>Using archival Sears and JCPenney catalogs, the