Clothes Make the Man

“I love it,” said Donald Trump, admiring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s attire at a high-stakes meeting at the White House on Monday. Donald Trump was referring to Zelensky’s outfit when Zelensky emerged from his vehicle wearing a blazer-style jacket, collared shirt (no tie), pants, and combat boots. Rather than donning his favored camouflage, Zelensky chose his next favorite color: all black. As reported in a fashion statement from the WSJ: The patch-pocket jacket, crafted from army canvas fabric, came from Viktoranisimov, the Ukrainian label whose clothes he’s worn exclusively for most of this year, according to a representative for the brand.

Trump, Like a Proud Grandfather

The US President gave Zelensky a good once-over, gesturing at his get-up like a proud grandfather, reports the WSJ’s fashion section. It displayed a bit of deftness, shifting the Ukrainian president’s military style to one of a more civilian bent, while still preserving the military reference.

A Hint: Not All Is Well

At the University of Buffalo, one professor of political science likened Zelensky’s looks to Winston Churchill’s WWII-era “siren suits.” A siren suit was a one-piece outfit noted for its ease of slipping on and slipping off. These roomy garments were meant to overcome the anxiety of “what shall I wear” when seeking shelter and modesty during WWII nighttime air raids.

Does this portend a change of tone in the Ukrainian president’s outlook? Perhaps Zelensky wanted to showcase his willingness to bend a bit to convention for the good of his country, continues the U/Buffalo professor. The WSJ’s Sam Schube notes that Zelensky maintained military basics, keeping his brown and olive-green T-shirts, fatigues, and combat boots.

(Zelensky’s) defiantly not-business-casual wardrobe seems intended to broadcast a straight-to-the-point humility—an assertion, perhaps, that wartime isn’t the time to observe formalities. Occasionally, as in his February meeting with Trump, it (had) worked against him.

In the WSJ, Sam Schube describes the Jacket as “unfussy.” Vents in the back and in the sleeves subtly suggest a willingness to not totally comply with the wishes of the White House for a suit and tie. Could Zelensky be signaling a cautious willingness to meet partway?

At NRO, Rich Lowery reflects on the notably critical press of Donald Trump’s Art of the Deal as it pertains to maneuvering and ending the Russia/Ukraine conflict.

One theory claims that Trump’s basic instincts spring from his own idealism that war is stupid because it kills people and destroys things that people could use to build things and make them rich.

President Trump reportedly has been talking to allies about the possibility of extending a new American security guarantee to Ukraine as part of an agreement to end the war.

On Sunday, it was revealed in a news conference in Brussels that the importance of America agreeing to work with Europe to “provide security guarantees for Ukraine.” Among Ukraine’s biggest goals is an iron-clad guarantee.

The tone of the press on Ukraine and Trump’s attempted dealmaking has been notably critical. It’s odd, thinks Mr. Lowry, to have a U.S. president who is trying to bring an end to a major European conflict to be treated like a moron or a foreign tool for his trouble. If Trump were a Democrat, even if he might not succeed, he’d be considered an admirable man of peace trying to stop a destructive war.

When asked by a reporter if he remembers the last time he saw Donald Trump, Zelensky answered with grace, tempered with some Ukrainian humor:

“I remember,” responded Zelensky, before tossing back a crack of his own:

“And you’re in the same suit. You see, I have changed, you have not.”