The big news of the weekend was yet another assassination attempt on President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Thankfully, the well-dressed officials and celebrities who ducked under the linen- and china-laden tables at the dinner appear to be all right physically, if not traumatized emotionally.
For that reason, I’m a bit hesitant to raise a minor detail, as it can sound trite in such a serious situation. That detail? Fashion. Frugal fashion, to be more specific.
Over on X, Ella Devi, a young fashion influencer recently described by the Daily Mail as a “socialist socialite” who campaigned for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani last fall, made some comments about Erika Kirk’s wardrobe choice for the dinner. Devi pulled no punches, criticizing Kirk for wearing an old style off the clearance rack.
Since everyone seems to think it’s okay to pile on the Widow Kirk these days, Devi apparently thought she’d join the club.
But the insult may not be as effective as she might think. After all, many – including myself – thought that Kirk looked lovely. She was wearing a dress which accented her figure and coloring and was also appropriate for the occasion. The fact that she may have bought it off the clearance rack only deepens respect for her choice. As another X user commented:
I would agree. In fact, intentionally or not, Kirk’s wardrobe choice offers us three tips to keep in mind when selecting our own wardrobes.
Cost Conscious
For starters, as Devi explains, Kirk seems to have gone the budget route. The dress she wore is currently listed online for $295, perhaps still a bit steep for those of us with a normal budget, but when one realizes that the original price was $1,295, it seems Kirk got a steal of a deal at 80% off.
Such bargain-hunting may be beneath fashion gurus like Devi, but famed Hollywood clothing designer Edith Head didn’t believe penny-pinching and dressing well were mutually exclusive. “Today fashionable clothing is for everyone, in every income bracket, because it is as possible to be well dressed on a limited budget as it is on a vast income,” Head wrote in her book “How to Dress for Success.” “What you wear is up to you.”
Common Colors
A cost-conscious wardrobe also considers color, something which Kirk also appears to have done with her dress choice over the weekend, wearing what Head refers to as “the elegant colors.” Head writes:
In the wardrobes of most well-dressed women you will notice a predominance of the marvelous neutrals. Colors that are quiet and unassuming in themselves but permit beauty of line and design to show through because they do not call attention to themselves. They are the quiet beiges, the heathery tones of gray, white, off-white, and of course, basic black. These are colors that are good fashion every year, and they know no season. They are fundamentals in the wardrobes of movie stars and women of fashion everywhere in the world.
Furthermore, Head notes that such neutrals are smart choices for those on a budget because “they form the background for endless versatility through the addition of different accessories.”
Mod Modesty
Finally, Devi’s comment about Kirk wearing a dress that a 70-year-old woman would wear is likely a backhanded crack that Kirk is covering herself in a non-revealing gown. Yet again, Devi may want to reconsider her comment and take advice from one of the world’s foremost fashion designers, Coco Chanel, instead. “Modesty, what elegance!” Chanel reportedly once said, a more refined way of saying, “modest is hottest.”
Perhaps Devi’s fashion critique of Kirk’s wardrobe choice stems from the fact that the latter’s tragic widowhood has become fair game for mockery, a sad reality in itself. But if she’s critiquing solely on fashion terms, she may want to reconsider criticizing the very things some of history’s leading fashion experts openly embraced. In that vein, the rest of us couldn’t be more on point than to copy the cost, color, and modesty cues that Kirk displayed the other night.
Annie Holmquist is the culture and opinion editor for 1819 News. Her writing may be found at The Epoch Times, American Essence Magazine, and her Substack, Annie's Attic.
This culture article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal, a project of 1819 News. To comment on this article, please email [email protected].
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News.
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