No Ties, New Glasses, Brown Shoes With Navy Suits: All the Style Takeaways From Last Night’s Presidential Debate

Fashion, even really, really bad fashion, matters more in politics than we’d all like to admit. And nowadays, like everything else in the political sphere, even our fashion police are partisan. Donald Trump taping his ties together is proof of the ineptitude that makes him unfit to lead the nation—unless it’s a wink to his Everyman fans who see a kindred Scotch’ed-together soul. And at the Democratic debate several candidates attempted to use style as a way to silently send a message.

Let’s see what’s behind podium number seven of ten. (And a programming note: we’re talking only about the second night of debate because nothing worth discussing, stylewise, happened during the first.)

Ties no longer required

The entrepreneur-turned-presidential hopeful Andrew Yang is Silicon Valley’s choice for the Oval. Last night he put his bonafides on display—and brought the Valley’s laid-back style to the debate stage. While all the other male candidates during both nights of debate wore a full suit and tie, Yang made the relatively dangerous choice of flaunting decorum and eschewing both a tie and the top button of his shirt.

He’s the presidential field’s brainy bad boy, and Yang manages to espouse a litany of values with that one undone button. The Valley, in the minds of some, is synonymous with innovation and an ingenious—and tech-minded—approach to the problems ailing a nation. And they did it all dressed-down in T-shirts and shorts—anything but a suit. Yang’s tiny bare chest (on trend!) is a signal that he’s not some Washington drone but instead a candidate willing to think outside the box, which is exactly how I’d describe his proposal to give every American $1,000 every month. (Personally, I’m all for this—think of all the shirts I could buy and wear without ties!) I reckon Yang’s strategy would be a lot more effective if in recent years Silicon Valley companies hadn’t stolen our data, allowed foreign powers to influence our elections, and permitted neo-Nazis to run rampant, but whatever!

The Reverse Clark Kent

One small topic of discussion last night: Jay Inslee, governor of Washington and one of forgettable men currently polling at less than a single percentage point, wore a pair of glasses after going without them in the first debate. A quick scroll of Inslee’s history on Getty reveals that this isn’t the first time he’s worn glasses to a public event, but he’s much more likely to go without them.