'Clothing is a powerful tool': How right-wing fashion has changed in the Trump era

Conservatives often mock the physical appearances of liberals and progressives, and vice-versa. While the right stereotypes Millennial left-wing activists as having purple hair and a lot of tattoos, liberals and progressives point to the stereotypical American flag shirts worn by people on the right.

But in an article published by The Guardian on October 15, journalist Einav Rabinovitch Fox describes a trend on the right that is different from stereotypical conservative attire: "fascist" fashion.

"Fascism is back in style," Fox reports. "Forget the old symbols: swastikas, nooses, Confederate flags, skinheads' shaved heads and combat boots. Extremism has a new look, and it is as fashionable as ever. Today's extremist styles are more diverse and more subtle. Beyond t-shirts that advertise blatant racism, polo shirts with coded symbols create a shared in-group identity and signal support of violence to other believers."

Fox adds, "Tradwife-style prairie dresses and beauty regimens promote conservative visions of family. Clothing is a powerful tool to spread fascist ideas to promote authoritarianism and recruit new members to this cause."

According to Fox, the "the far right's weaponization of fashion" has a long history, going back to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the late 19th Century.

"Fascist movements have long understood the power of aesthetics," Fox explains. "In 1920s Italy, Benito Mussolini harnessed black shirts and the ancient Roman symbol of the fasces — a bundle of sticks with an axe, which stands for power and authority — to build his power and his brand. German clothier Hugo Boss, a card-carrying Nazi, designed the uniforms of the Schutzstaffel (SS) paramilitary and the Hitler Youth. Hate came with a slick, tailored look."

Fox continues, "In the U.S., the white robes of the Ku Klux Klan and burning crosses have long been trademarks of white supremacy. In the 1980s, the original fascists' skinhead successors appropriated and repurposed bomber jackets, shaved heads and combat boots as their distinct form of military-ish chic. Now, welcome to fascist fashion 3.0."

According to University of Georgia professor Monica Sklar, these 2025 fashion express one's sense of identity.

Sklar told The Guardian, "The idea is not being quite a subculture but to be embedded in the power structure. Instead of coding things to move away from the masses, this fashion is coding things to move into the masses."

Read Einav Rabinovitch Fox's full article for The Guardian at this link.