Rosalynn Carter, White House trendsetter

Rosalynn Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 96, was rarely on a list of best-dressed first ladies. She was not generally referred to as “stylish” or “trendsetting.” She did not play the White House dress-up game, at least not as designed by predecessors like Dolley Madison and Jackie Kennedy. Most of the time she seemed to actively reject it.

But that doesn’t mean Mrs. Carter didn’t fully understand the power and political uses of clothing, or how to use it strategically during her time in Washington. In fact, it’s possible to see her time as first lady as a blueprint for an alternative approach to image-making that’s still used today.

Beginning with Mrs. Carter’s statement, after Jimmy Carter was elected in 1976, that the only item she would take with her to the White House from Georgia was her sewing machine. As a symbol, it was a succinct message to anyone listening that this was indeed a recession-era government that would prioritize the economy and accessibility. It was also a nod to her own working-class roots as the daughter of a seamstress. And it set the tone for what came next – the government’s biggest clothing scandal.

That took place during the 1977 inauguration, after the Carters made history by becoming the first couple to walk instead of ride in the inaugural parade. (Mrs. Carter’s high-neck, teal fabric coat by Dominic Rompollo, a New York designer, knee-high leather boots and leather gloves all look strikingly modern.)

Instead of wearing a new dress to the inaugural balls, Mrs. Carter wore the same caftan-like, high-necked, gold embroidered blue chiffon dress from Mary Matise that she had purchased and worn during Mr. Carter’s 1971 inauguration as governor of Georgia.

Shock and horror were the general reaction. Clothing used at the inauguration! Despite the fact that Mrs. Carter had added a new gold-trimmed cape to spice things up, also by Mr. Rompollo and purchased through Jason’s, a store in Americus, Georgia, The New York Times labeled the dress “old” and called Mrs Carter a ‘sentimentalist’ because she wore the gown again. The new first lady’s support for Seventh Avenue was called into question as the fashion industry scorned her, as did her ability to represent the United States with appropriate glamor on the world stage – despite the fact that glamor was never the the Carters’ sales product. place. The morale of the home front was more like that.

To this end, the inauguration attire and the values ​​it represented set the precedent for Mrs. Carter’s time in the White House. She continued shopping from the store – another favorite boutique had been A. Cohen & Sons, also in America – and she decorated the White House for Christmas with pine cones, peanuts and eggshells.

But she also continued to break the sartorial rules, becoming the first first lady (yet another in her litany of firsts) to establish an office in the East Wing, not to mention the first to carry a briefcase to work every morning. A suitcase!

Perhaps realizing that such an obvious sign of her more active advisory role in government could be as surprising to the general electorate as shopping in her closet, Mrs. Carter made sure to pair that potentially controversial office accessory with more traditional shirt trousers, often detailed with pie-crust collars or other more classically feminine frills, often in colors like lilac and fuchsia – clothes are more often associated with well-behaved housewives than with policymakers. Nina Hyde of The Washingtonpost calling them “beautiful and neat, comfortable and appropriate, and always American-made.”

They looked modest, in every sense of the word, which was also the ethos of the Carter administration.

The Carters were, of course, replaced by the Reagans, whose approach to executive showmanship was pretty much the opposite of “humble.” Mrs. Carter’s dressing style was relegated to cautionary tale status in the political playbook. The conventional wisdom was that the American people simply didn’t want their first hostess to look so much like them after all—at least not after she (or her husband) was elected.

But just as history has grown kinder to the Carter administration, and Mr. Carter himself has become something of a model for an ex-president, it is also true that Mrs. Carter’s style as first lady suddenly looks unexpectedly relevant. After all, current East Wing resident Jill Biden is also known for her folksiness, penchant for shirt waists, lack of interest in telegraphing her fashion choices, and tendency to appear in the same thing twice. Or three times.

In fact, she’s celebrated for it, even if the watching world no longer calls it wearing old clothes. They call that sustainability. And Rosalynn Carter did it – yes – first.