The Trump White House has a knack for costuming - don't let it distract you

Team Trump believes in the power of image. The new president believes that a single photograph, re-tweeted ad nauseam, can form the basis of a narrative. He believes the actors in his White House drama should look the part, whether patriotic or powerful. Fashion is costuming.

In a striking case of character assassination by tailoring, Sean Spicer, the president's freshly appointed press secretary, stepped to the podium over the weekend for a briefing wearing a grey pinstriped suit jacket that looked as though it had been hurriedly borrowed from a man twice his size. The sleeves were sloppy; the collar didn't fit; the fabric looked cheap. The tie was poorly knotted. The shirt collar was so snug that his neck overflowed its boundaries. Spicer's attire was not just a tad ill-fitting. It was distracting and sloppy. It epitomised the cliché style of the used-car salesman. Spicer's clothes wholly undercut a message that was already riddled with falsehoods.

All that had changed by Tuesday. When Spicer returned to the press briefing room for a televised news conference, he was wearing a dark suit that fit. Not perfectly, but better. The tie was neat. He even had a white handkerchief tucked into his breast pocket. It was a visual do-over, one that suggested he was better prepared, more focused, more dignified. By Wednesday, Spicer seemed to have found his sartorial groove.

The Trump White House has been busy with optics over these past few days. The president still does not button his suit jacket and still wears his ties too long, but in recent days he has added a pocket square to his wardrobe - a nonessential flourish that gives his appearance more polish.

The president embraces the pocket square. Photo / Matt McClain, The Washington Post

Even Steven Bannon, sworn in as counsellor to the president, seems to have publicly parted ways with his button-downs, polo shirts and field jackets. He is kitted up in a suit and tie - an Establishment look for the former executive chairman of Breitbart News, where white nationalist views flourished on his watch.

Meanwhile, senior aide Kellyanne Conway has been using her high visibility to underscore patriotism of the loud, chanting variety: USA! USA! USA! As she routinely steps in front of cameras to defend, interpret and parse the president's statements for the public, her fashion choices stand in lieu of having an American flag unfurl behind her. For the candlelight dinner with donors the day before the inauguration, she wore a one-shoulder, floor-sweeping gown in bright red.

For the Saturday swearing-in, she chose a red, white and blue Gucci coat - a self-promotional victory lap in the guise of irrepressible patriotism. Indeed, Conway chose to wear an Italian brand on a day when the man she helped elect president was exhorting "Buy American. Hire American." And then, when she appeared on Monday morning television and thrust "alternative facts" into the cultural lexicon, she accessorised her ensemble with a glittering Ann Hand brooch that was inspired by the presidential seal, only this one including the Trump name. It was the kind of elaborate insignia that one might assume means something significant when, in fact, it is just sparkle.

Appearance matters, particularly at the White House. In some small way, the unruly, inartful, messy nature of politics is tempered by the dignity and solemnity of the place. There is something laudable about dressing in a manner that shows respect for everything that the White House represents. President George W. Bush understood that when he decreed jackets and ties for men entering the Oval Office. And in 2009, when President Obama loosened those rules, it caused a stir in official Washington.

It also makes sense that if one wants to be taken seriously by a wildly diverse populace, it helps to embrace the universal style markers of professionalism, seriousness and authority. People also tend to stand up straighter and be more focused when their attire is more formal and elegant. And, in the case of Spicer, no one wants to regularly look at a guy whose public style is akin to a visual pummelling.

But image is always secondary to substance. It may briefly distract from a narrative or add to it. But surely, it can't change it.