Why DNC Women Wearing Suffragette White Was Symbolic for 2024’s Democratic National Convention

Among the style trends featured at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, monochrome white apparel was seen throughout Chicago’s United Center during the political event, which began Monday and concluded on Thursday. Thursday evening, however, saw several delegates wearing suffragette white, a color and sartorial statement with significant historical context for the 2024 DNC.

The monochrome white trend at the 2024 DNC kicked off most prominently on Monday when Ashley Biden, the daughter of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, wore an all-white suit courtesy of Gabriela Hearst.

On Thursday, during the final night of the 2024 DNC, Kerry Washington opted for a sustainable crocheted short-sleeve polo and skirt set courtesy of Santicler in the monochrome white color motif. Thursday’s proceedings at the 2024 DNC also marked the historic occasion when Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for President of the United States.

Throughout United Center, delegates and convention attendees wore white — a sartorial statement with historic roots in the suffragette movement in the United States. White became a powerful way for the early 20th century suffragists to draw attention to their movement for a more equal democratic process, one in which women could finally participate with the right to vote.

While other colors in the global suffragist movement included purple, green and yellow, white became a way for suffragists to stand out, particularly in photographs that were circulated via newspapers covering the suffragists in the latter half of the movement at the time.

“White is one of the colors but it didn’t become so prevalent until very late, partly because suffrage parades were very colorful,” Einav Rabinovitch-Fox, a lecturer at Case Western Reserve University’s Department of History, previously told WWD.

“Because they were so savvy and understood the media, they themselves sent photographs to newspapers. Alice Paul was very good at saying, ‘We need to create this visual contrast.’ White was useful for them to do that,” Rabinovitch-Fox said, referencing one of the most prominent activists in the women’s rights movement. “Streets were very dark, so if you see a bunch of women in white dresses or light dresses, the contrast [in photos] will be great. They understood that. White is just a more practical color.”

Since the early 20th century, there have been several incarnations of the use of sartorial white during various political events and occasions. When Vice President Harris became the first woman elected to the office in 2020, she too wore a white suit, saying in her historic acceptance speech, “while I might be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last.”

Rabinovitch-Fox further explained the power clothes and color motifs can bring to a political space. “White makes you stand out. As a woman you stand out in Congress, for sure. But a group of women wearing white in Congress, that’s a statement of power.” Seeing a sea of white at United Center on Thursday highlighted yet another historic moment in which suffragette white was worn as a sartorial message.