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All eyes may be on the bride, but this summer’s wedding guest style trends are tailored for the time of your life. Here’s how to stand out from the crowd without stealing the spotlight.
It’s easy to save the date for a party a year away. But the plot thickens when you realize 2026 is now, and holy Zola.com, your cousin’s wedding is next Saturday. Chuck a few bucks into the soonlyweds’ honeymoon fund; we’re going shopping.
It costs most of us about <a href="https://www.theknot.com/content/wedding-guest-cost">$600</a> to attend a wedding, when it comes to travel, lodging, and gifts. But if you plan on memorializing the moment in photographs, that budget must also include your wardrobe: a dress for the ceremony, a shawl, shoes, jewelry, and a clutch to hold the necessities. And if you’re one of the average <a href="https://www.zola.com/expert-advice/the-first-look-report-2026">150 guests</a> also stopping by the welcome party or next-day brunch, you add those outfits to your tab, too.
To save us from another Pinterest board scroll that turns into random Amazon purchases, The Daily Wire sat down with Jovani Fashion design director Julie DuRocher for a bit of runway-ready inspiration befitting dance floor devotees and bachelorette babes. 
Hey, gorgeous guestie, you’re looking at several wedding weekend events and a long night of chatting up oddball distant relatives and doing “The Electric Slide.” And that’s before you remember that six months ago you selected the herb and parmesan-crusted salmon, not the filet mignon on everyone else’s plates. Better get comfy in a fashionably feted fit.
Decode the invite
Summer &#8217;26 pops off with <a href="https://www.whowhatwear.com/living/wedding/wedding-guest-outfit-ideas-2026">bold florals</a>, fun textural details, chic jumpsuits, and <a href="https://www.whowhatwear.com/fashion/trends/wedding-guest-outfit-trends-2026">bright colors</a>. But while “overdone” maximalism may have trended in the past, this season’s aesthetic feels as easy and minimalist as a &#8217;90s silk slip dress. “People tend to be a little more conservative right now,” DuRocher explains. “I think less is more.” 
But before you go straight for the vintage Calvin Klein, check your invite. Whether it’s an elaborate snail mail “<a href="https://www.minted.com/wedding-invitation-suites?utm_content=18_wed_nco20&amp;utm_medium=sem&amp;utm_source=google&amp;utm_sub=text&amp;utm_campaign=G_S_Wedding_WeddingInvitations_Consolidation_USA&amp;utm_custom_a=WeddingInvitations&amp;utm_custom_b=Consolidated&amp;utm_custom_c=Text&amp;utm_int=b&amp;utm_keyword=wedding%20invitation%20suite&amp;utm_device=a&amp;AudId=kwd-10682754706&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=67598045&amp;gbraid=0AAAAAD8Upgvm6_6M9WDPH7S38FgksY3eH&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwidXQBhAZEiwA4egw6K8U6_b4xVA3-W793dpy9wzKZ9v555bdzelYT2JTY16-migglOy8MRoCV7MQAvD_BwE">invitation suite</a>” or a low-key Paperless Post, it’s your guide to stylish wedded bliss. If a dress code isn’t clearly defined, consider the season, time of day, and event space for clues on what to wear. “Read carefully. The location determines how formal to be dressed,” DuRocher says. A beach might mean you’ll need to pay extra attention to your hair. An outdoor venue signals block-style heels so you don’t aerate the landscaping with stilettos. No matter what, bring layers to handle a blasting A/C or an unexpectedly cool sea breeze.
Bring the party in color
Your most colorful presence is cordially requested. This summer, guests are rocking everything from lipstick reds to midnight blacks. “Greens and pinks, reds and fuchsias — beautiful colors that are summery are wonderful,” DuRocher notes. 
But there’s something for anyone who isn’t the technicolor type. “I wear black to summer weddings,” DuRocher says of her favorite color. But she offers an option that’s just as fierce. “I think all-red is very nice because red is a power color and it makes you feel good.”
Of course, don’t wear white. We love a chic look, but nobody wants to make the same “expensive and gorgeous” mistake as Alexis at her brother David’s wedding on “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/z4z8awApK8I">Schitt’s Creek</a>.” She nails the black and white theme, but her silk floor-length gown muddies the message. “You’re walking me down the aisle in a wedding dress,” David says. “Everyone’s gonna think we’re getting married to each other.”
There are exceptions. “When I got married 100 years ago, the whole bridal party was white, including my mother, my in-laws, my bridesmaids, and my maid of honor,” DuRocher says. Still, unless you’ve cleared your white gown with the bride, stick to way-off-whites like champagnes and beiges in prints. “I think you have to respect that the bride should be the one shining in the light color.”
Mix it up with patterns and prints
For warmer weather, prints and patterns rule. Bring on the bold florals, soft watercolor washes, and intricate wildflower details of <a href="https://www.glam.com/2178298/trends-wedding-guest-looks-2026/">meadowcore</a>. 
Contrasting the buttoned-up energy of cold-weather events, summer fabrics are easy and breezy with plenty of stretch and interesting textures. Burnout velvets and sparkling paillettes add glam without adding weight. “Chiffon dresses, chiffon with ruffles, or chiffon prints are beautiful,” DuRocher explains. “A strapless black dress with a beaded flower belt and pleated skirt on the bottom gives you flowiness, and the structure still shows off your body.”
Smash that stunning silhouette
Unless you’re floating in a sea of ball gowns at a white tie wedding, this summer’s buzziest silhouette feels decidedly streamlined. “A column dress is a very sleek, new look. It’s straight with a slit either in the back or the side of the leg,” DuRocher explains. “It usually goes to the floor or ankle, which is very chic, because then you can show off your beautiful sandals.”
Not feeling the skin-skimming candlestick vibe? No problem. Mid-calf tea-length and fit-and-flare dresses are also on trend. “A fit-and-flare dress is somewhat dressy, but it&#8217;s fun. Usually you can get something with a detail like two beaded bows on the hip, something to give the dress a little pizzazz.”
A go-to for every occasion
This is your sign to jump on the jumpsuit bandwagon. It’s fashionable and comfy, and you can reenact the final scene from “<a href="https://youtu.be/6BH5TWdvviI?t=284">Dirty Dancing</a>” without flashing Table 14. If you’re a little unclear on what the dress code is asking for, jumpsuits understand the assignment. 
“They&#8217;re not always the easiest,” DuRocher admits. Even so, she often opts for this silhouette. “Sometimes the invitation is a little ambiguous. I find if I wear black, and I wear a jumpsuit, it&#8217;s kind of the best of both worlds.”
Just double-check that <a href="https://wildconnectionsphotography.com/bridal-jumpsuits/">the bride</a> isn’t wearing one for the reception because jumpsuits are trending everywhere this season. 
The nitty gritty
Got multiple weddings in a row? Dressmaxx this season by repurposing the same gown for multiple events. Different accessories and layers social media-proof the strategy, but you can also level up your look with alterations. “Maybe it&#8217;s a long dress and you turn it into a shorter dress for a less formal wedding,” DuRocher advises. Go maxi to mini for less than it costs to buy a whole new outfit. 
And don’t forget to shower your plus-one with main character energy. It’s a simpler situation for men (pants, dress shirt, jacket, TBD tie), but the real maneuver is having him try on his usual suit before the minute he needs to wear it. 
“Just to make sure he knows where everything is,” DuRocher says. “[Guys] don&#8217;t like to get dressed way in advance so you just have to have everything ready.” Colors fade, stains happen, and waistbands gonna waistband. When you know what you’re working with, you can replace missing cufflinks or fix sagging hemlines in plenty of time. 
Lastly, your personality is your greatest accessory. As you put the final touches on your look, may this season’s wedding guest dress code guide you on your journey, but never limit your fun.

How To Be This Summer’s Most Stylish Wedding Guest

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Upstream

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There are a lot of reasons to be excited about Ralph Lauren’s America 250 collaboration with the United States Postal Service.
First and foremost are the “American Icon” <a href="https://www.ralphlauren.com/rlmag/ralph-lauren-commemorative-stamp.html">stamps</a> around which the collection is built: From Jackie Robinson’s glove to the top of the Empire State Building, these 13 images “celebrate the essence of our country.”
Then, of course, there are the clothes: patriotic hats, polos, and a semiquincentennial edition of the brand’s famous American flag sweater. But most exciting is how Ralph Lauren, both the brand and its namesake, describes the collection in explicitly patriotic language.
“I love America,” Lauren said at the launch of the series, which the brand describes as a celebration of “America’s shared values — freedom, independence, equality, opportunity, and the pursuit of happiness.”
In Commentary this month, Robert Pondiscio <a href="https://www.commentary.org/articles/robert-pondiscio/america-250-lost-opportunity/">laments</a> that America’s 250th anniversary does not feel as celebratory as the bicentennial, largely because we have forgotten our “shared ideals.”
The Ralph Lauren collection suggests that those shared ideals may still have some gas left in them. If nothing else, it means that America’s 250th anniversary, if not as triumphant as its 200th, may be more stylish. Gone are the bell-bottoms and kipper ties we associate with bicentennial kitsch; Americans will greet their country’s quarter-millennial milestone in roll-necks and Oxfords.
America is in the midst of a preppy revival. When Ralph Lauren hosted its <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/style/ralph-lauren-mens-milan.html">first men’s fashion show</a> in 20 years this past January, it was only the latest confirmation of this trend. In recent years, we’ve seen J.Crew claw its way back from the <a href="https://freebeacon.com/culture/rollneck-sweaters-and-the-delicate-brine-of-a-clambake/">brink of bankruptcy</a> and irrelevance as menswear head Brendon Babenzien pushed the brand back to its <a href="https://puck.news/j-crew-is-cool-again-but-is-it-selling/">classic roots</a>. 
J. Press, the original purveyor of Ivy style, is <a href="https://yaledailynews.com/articles/j-press-founded-at-yale-plans-brick-and-mortar-expansion">expanding</a> its brick-and-mortar presence under <a href="https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/a66051557/jack-carlson-new-york-personal-space/">Jack Carlson</a>, the founder of renegade prep shop Rowing Blazers, who took the helm of the 124-year-old retailer earlier this year. And while European luxury brands <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/europes-luxury-giants-are-slipping-as-american-brands-quietly-take-over">grapple</a> with plummeting sales, <a href="https://www.economist.com/business/2026/04/13/from-ralph-lauren-to-the-row-american-luxury-is-booming">Ralph Lauren&#8217;s revenue</a> is up 10% year-over-year.
What makes this trend especially notable is that it’s being driven by Gen Z, a group not known for earnestly embracing tradition. Menswear industry insider R.F. Kenmore points to the popularity of FX’s “Love Story” and the renewed interest in John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette as a clear instance of this phenomenon. On TikTok, Zoomers valorize the “quiet luxury” and “old money” aesthetics embodied by the Kennedy clan, a prep rebranding for the social media age.
Kenmore sees the entire trend as “a bit of a reset,” a response to the “era of streetwear … and COVID sweatsuits” from which we’ve just emerged.
“I personally watched, while working at a large American brand, as consumers rotated directly out of booming knits categories such as tees, sweats, etc., and into button-up shirting and woven pants like khakis, driven by both a return to work and a desire to leave those days behind,” Kenmore told The Daily Wire. “The natural swing was into more structured and iconic-feeling uniforms or outfits.”
O.W. Root, a menswear writer and cultural critic, also sees a commercial fashion logic to the preppy revival. Style swings back and forth. Young people who came up wearing hoodies on Zoom meetings want to wear ties; after stuffing themselves into slim-fit suits for most of the 21st century, men have decided to embrace looser, more traditional fits.
But Root sees something deeper going on here, particularly when it comes to young men.
“What many men really ache for, even if they don&#8217;t know they ache for it, is style that more or less can be recognizable 10 years from now and 10 years prior,” Root says. “Style that follows them through their life, that roots them in their life.”
“Our clothes are our culture, they say something about our values, they say something about who we are, they say something about what we care about and what we believe,” he adds. “The beautiful thing about preppy style is you can wear it when you&#8217;re 17 and you can wear it when you&#8217;re 70, and you will wear it slightly differently, but you will still have a recognizably preppy through line through your life.”
Unlike trends, which come and go, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-fashion-company-millennials-loved-just-got-bought-by-americas-rival?author=Brooke+Brandtjen&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=The+Fashion+Company+Millennials+Loved+Just+Got+Bought+By+America%E2%80%99s+Rival">fast-fashion garments</a>, which deteriorate rapidly, classic preppy items are durable, both physically and aesthetically. As Kenmore notes, this has to do with economic realities as much as with a desire for authenticity.
“People are getting tired of rotating disposable crap through their closets and are finally saying &#8216;enough,’” he says. “This is driving them to buy things that they can have as long as their favorite vintage pieces have lasted.”
But will the prep revival last? Leaf through an issue of GQ and you’re bound to find the hallmarks of early-2000s style — front-zip hoodies and running shoes with boot cut jeans — dotting the pages. If the economy dips, we’re likely going to see a return to mid-aughts business casual — because when money is tight, you need one pair of slacks that can go from the office to the bar.
There are also some concerning signs at the recently ascendant preppy stalwarts. Babenzien, who, as Root put it, “basically spearheaded J.Crew becoming good again,” departed earlier this year. And while he made the brand cool again, that may not have <a href="https://puck.news/j-crew-is-cool-again-but-is-it-selling/">boosted sales</a> enough to keep it out of the red long-term.
Then there’s Brooks Brothers, the pillar of American prep, which recently came under fire for an ill-advised attempt to launch a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/free-expression/is-brooks-brothers-brain-dead-96f7f271?mod=e2tw">streetwear line</a>.
“Brooks Brothers is terrible,” Root tells me. “They&#8217;ve just — and I hate to say use this language, because it&#8217;s so lame, but they&#8217;ve just lost their way. They&#8217;re not servicing any traditional Brooks Brothers customers at all.”
But these setbacks pale in comparison to the strength of the prep revival.
“Brooks will come back,” Root says. “Brooks Brothers is not going to die forever.” Similarly, Kenmore doesn’t think Babenzien’s departure will materially change J.Crew’s direction. Moreover, as he noted, the Ivy style revival has occurred in large part outside major brands. Today’s preppies care less about flashing their Polo horses and buying the newest collections than about acquiring good, timeless pieces and cultivating a sense of style. 
Americans, it seems, want things that last. Things that matter. Things that connect them to what came before. Prep, like all styles, has ebbed and flowed over the years. But this latest resurgence isn’t just about the clothes. It’s about the attitude. It’s about tradition. It’s about America. And like America, it’s not going anywhere.

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The Preppy Comeback

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American fashion company Everlane is being sold to Shein, according to a <a href="https://puck.news/everlane-is-selling-out-to-shein/">report</a> published Sunday. Millennial darling Everlane was purchased for a reported $100 million after allegedly suffering financial hardships in recent years. The future of Everlane was initially thrown into question after the company’s majority owner began seeking out an interested buyer in recent months. For those who were hoping that the company would maintain its reputation as an ethical, sustainable slow fashion brand, the news that Shein purchased Everlane is disappointing.
Founded in China, Shein is an online retail business that has surged in popularity in the last few years. Valued at <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/shein-said-face-investor-pressure-072626679.html">$100 billion</a> in 2022, the company is known for placing profits ahead of ethics, as it has allegedly used sweatshops and child labor to keep its costs low. Shein’s acquisition of Everlane likely indicates the end of Everlane’s pro-consumer production methods. 
Founded by American business partners Michael Preysman and Jesse Farmer, the San Francisco-based Everlane first marketed itself as a direct-to-consumer menswear retailer. Upon launch, it garnered a huge fan base, as many people praised it for countering the status quo of fast fashion. The company’s website had a unique feature that allowed buyers to view the price points for each of the materials used in a piece of clothing so that they could feel confident about the value of what they were buying.
In an era when fashion brands are increasingly resorting to shady offshoring agreements, Everlane’s vow to offer consumer transparency was a welcome change. In contrast, Shein has gained a reputation for having questionable manufacturing standards and allegedly violating labor laws. Last year, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-files-fifth-anti-ccp-lawsuit-four-days-suing-global-fast-fashion-giant">investigation</a> into Shein over its negligent labor practices as well as concerns over the “sale of unsafe consumer products” that contain toxic materials. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg67w73nxqxo">Investigations</a> have revealed that the company has subjected its employees to 75-hour workweeks, poor wages, and unsafe factory environments, while also <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4glzzdd88lo">employing</a> children in its supply chain.
Shein and Everlane couldn’t be more diametrically opposed. While Everlane focused on working with designers and industry professionals to integrate recycled synthetic fibers into its clothing, Shein has typically resorted to using a blend of cheap, low-quality synthetic fibers. In May 2019, Everlane released DayGlove ReKnit shoes, which received acclaim for being created from recycled plastic bottles. Consumers praised the product for being innovative, stylish, and sustainable.
On the other hand, Shein has been criticized for stealing its designs from smaller, independent designers; manufacturing clothing that is primarily made of cheap polyester; and contributing to freshwater pollution through the overuse of microplastics. The sale of Everlane to Shein shows that American fashion companies are being devoured by foreign megacorporations with different ethical standards. 
Many brands that were once based in America have outsourced their production to countries with significantly lower labor costs after facing pressure due to changes in automation and the rapid production schedule of fast fashion. American textile manufacturing was at its peak in the 1970s, but it has since declined by <a href="https://www.globaltextiletimes.com/textile/the-changing-landscape-of-the-us-textile-industry-today/">more than 80%</a>. Although the U.S. is one of the largest markets for textiles, about 98% of the apparel consumed in America is actually produced in a foreign country. 
Between the high labor costs in America and the rise of cheap Chinese manufacturing practices, it is becoming increasingly doubtful that the American textile industry will have a comeback. This has allowed Shein’s &#8220;quantity over quality&#8221; business model to consume the clothing industry.
Since its founding in 2008, Shein has become the largest e-commerce fashion retailer in the world. A portion of Shein’s financial success comes from <a href="https://www.businessofapps.com/data/shein-statistics/">creating</a> its own supply chain in Guangzhou, utilizing a network of hundreds of Chinese suppliers. This allows it to produce massive quantities of products at an extremely rapid pace — quickly enough that it can move in tandem with the micro trends that crop up on social media.
Slow fashion brands don’t have that luxury and often can’t mass-produce affordable products during the short time span when they are in vogue. Shein’s ability to produce cheap, trendy clothing that millennials and Gen Z can afford has given it an edge in the market and a reliable, returning consumer base. 
The rapid growth of Shein and the subsequent consolidation of Everlane doesn’t merely have negative economic impacts for America, but it also has negative cultural implications. Shein is the fast food of fashion. It is low-cost, low-quality, and easily disposable. Disposable clothing is representative of a disposable culture. In the past, people would buy well-made, high-quality clothing with the intention of keeping it for decades. If zippers broke or seams tore, people would fix them or stitch them up, preserving the pieces with the hope that they could wear them for years and eventually pass them down to their children.
The materials Shein uses notoriously rip, tear, or simply fall apart after just a few uses. Its products have no hope of lasting for more than a few months, let alone a few years. Everlane was one of the country’s last slow fashion brands, and its buyout is a sad reminder that we can’t restore American culture if it keeps getting sold off. 
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Brooke Brandtjen is a writer and journalist from Wisconsin who focuses primarily on culture, politics, and religion. She is a senior contributor at New Guard Press, a publication she joined while attending Hillsdale College.

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The Fashion Company Millennials Loved Just Got Bought By America’s Rival

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The European empire of luxury fashion appears to be waning. French conglomerate LVMH, which houses Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, and other giants, has reported seven consecutive quarters of declining sales. Yet some American players, seemingly the underdogs of luxury, are bucking the trend.
Labels such as The Row, Coach, and Ralph Lauren have thrived against this backdrop because they have ditched logomania and blatant displays of wealth for craftsmanship, subtlety, and nostalgia. They have recognized that the most coveted styles today are not necessarily the priciest but those that whisper wealth with impeccable tailoring, quality fabrics, and compelling storytelling.
Coach was founded in Manhattan in the early 1940s, when horses and buggies still traversed the city, hence the brand’s emblem. Taking on a classic American ethos, Coach became known for both function and elegance, with supple leather and durable hardware. Coach later became a leader in &#8220;affordable luxury&#8221; during the 1990s, striving to be accessible but well-made, a truer status symbol. Unlike its European counterparts, Coach isn’t trying to be an unattainable luxury. Its price point conveys some value, with the bag’s build and story doing the rest of the work, defining effortless American style.
A great feature of American commercial culture is adaptation, which our capitalist system luckily encourages. If at first you don’t succeed, try again. If you fumble the bag, just stop dumping them in outlet malls. In the 2000s, Coach developed a reputation for over-saturating the market with inventory and opening too many outlet locations, diluting its prestige. BuzzFeed noted in a 2014 <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/sapna/has-coach-become-too-much-of-an-outlet-brand">article</a> titled “How Coach Became Coach Class” that this product strategy made it harder for Coach to “transform into a cool, aspirational lifestyle brand in the U.S.” But Coach is on the up-and-up again, and it has rediscovered its roots.  
Coach successfully rebranded by evoking its 1990s heyday (a whole secondary market exists today just for vintage bags). If you’ve checked out TikTok recently, you might have noticed that young women are trying to find their “whimsy.” After years of being dismissed as somewhat cheap and cringeworthy, Coach is experiencing a revival driven by Gen Z women. Modernity has left many young female professionals burnt out, disillusioned with dating, and digitally overloaded. So, Coach came through with girlhood refreshment: bag charms. It even developed a more environmentally friendly offshoot brand targeting Zoomers, using leftover leather and funky shapes and colors. It called it Coachtopia, reminiscent of the Barbie movies that many Gen Z girls once binged in our youth.
To be sure, the American old money aesthetic is still the fashion zeitgeist. But it’s not Jackie Kennedy that young women imagine when they think of quiet luxury; it’s Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. The blockbuster series &#8220;Love Story&#8221; has dazzled Gen Z, with influencers across the country mimicking Kennedy’s simple neutral ensembles as though they’ve had a fashion epiphany. Kennedy’s style was no fuss or frills, just staples that accentuated her best features and accessories that became her signature: black sunglasses, a tortoise headband, and a black Birkin.
Another American luxury brand that consistently sells despite never being spotted on a SoHo billboard or in paid influencer videos is The Row, the brainchild of the early 2000s it-girls Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. After building a massive media and merchandising empire for pre-teen girls, churning out endless cutesy content and spunky style into the new century, they launched a luxury brand that called back to the 1990s’ relaxed, understated fashion.
In the hit Netflix series &#8220;Emily in Paris,&#8221; main character and marketing extraordinaire Emily Cooper is flummoxed by the intransigence of Muratori, an Italian cashmere label that refuses any external marketing help despite struggling with revenues. Based on the real-life Brunello Cucinelli, the fictional company prides itself on its legendary quality discovered through word-of-mouth, and which it fears formal advertising would compromise. The Row is a contemporary, American version, rejecting the flashy PR and obvious insignias for clothes that speak for themselves and an organic fan base of true believers. It’s the epitome of &#8220;if you know you know,&#8221; an exclusivity that requires not just money but knowledge and interest in real refinement. 
With pieces retailing in the <a href="https://www.therow.com/collections/women-new-arrivals?page=2">thousands</a>, it would be shocking to many how few identifying markers The Row has. But <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/37a13d71-f247-47ba-b1b7-907ce825a70f">according to the twins</a>, it’s the luxe fabrics that are the giveaway for the special clientele who love it. The “90’s bag,” a small <a href="https://www.therow.com/products/90s-bag-tawny-brown-ans">buttery leather pouch</a> with a short strap, was and is still a sensation. With The Row, an American force in the fashion world, you can acquire a capsule wardrobe that withstands the test of time as trends come and go.
But the undisputed king of that genre, or founding father, we should say, is Ralph Lauren. His brand is about American heritage, which means living well as much as dressing well. And nowhere can that be better achieved than in the land of the free. For Ralph Lauren, America is his muse. He captures the pioneering spirit and rugged cowboy culture of the Old West; the scholarly, Aristotelian sensibilities of the Ivy League; and the intrigue and glamour of old Hollywood in one quintessentially American fashion line.
People may collect luxury goods with interlocking C&#8217;s or G’s as part of a race to prove something to their peers. But Ralph Lauren’s clothing doesn’t insist upon validation. Its value is evident in the details: the thoughtfulness of the inspiration, the fabrics that tell the American story from denim to tweed, and the sharp silhouettes that say, “I’m going to relish today.” 
American labels are still at a major disadvantage in the luxury sector, which is dominated by Europeans. But if the latest positive performance from Coach, The Row, and Ralph Lauren means anything, maybe it’s that our secret sauce is, well, meaning.
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Caroline Downey is a columnist and video personality at National Review. She is also a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum and a 2025-2026 Novak fellow with the Fund for American Studies.

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Europe’s Luxury Giants Are Slipping As American Brands Quietly Take Over

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***
Actress Sarah Paulson <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-met-galas-dumbest-political-stunts">stepped</a> onto the Met Gala carpet on the traditional first Monday of May wearing an oversized U.S. dollar eye mask with holes poked into it so she could see if we got her tone-deaf smoke signal. As cult-favorite designer Matières Fécales described it on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DX8EF__gk3q/?img_index=2">Instagram</a>: “She is wearing the ‘Blinded by Money’ leather mask and the Destroyed Tulle Debutante Ballgown … A reflection of the greed and corruption that comes with extreme power.”
So, whose greed and corrupt power was being reflected? Paulson’s? Was she blinded by her own oversized dollar? Let’s just say, the message didn’t quite have the intended effect.
“The only way to deliver this statement earnestly would be by not going,” posted one <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DX8EF__gk3q/?img_index=2">commenter</a> about Paulson’s rebellion against an event she probably had marked on her calendar for a year and paid <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-much-met-gala-ticket-2026/">$100,000</a> to attend. 
“This is literally the Capitol from ‘The Hunger Games,’” posted one <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DX7-TlDiNT9/?img_index=4">Instagram</a> user, with others suggesting a guillotine might have added that special something.
 
<div id="attachment_1089531" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1089531" class="wp-image-1089531 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2274057518-864x576.jpg" alt="US actress Sarah Paulson arrives for the 2026 Met Gala celebrating &quot;Costume Art&quot; at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, on May 4, 2026." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2274057518-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2274057518-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2274057518-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2274057518.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images</div>
Paulson wasn’t the richest person in the room. (That was probably honorary chairman <a href="https://www.thecut.com/article/jeff-bezos-snuck-into-the-met-gala.html">Jeff Bezos</a>, who donated $10 million to the cause from his <a href="https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/">$282 billion</a> coffers.) Maybe the actor was just throwing a tantrum about her own measly <a href="https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/actors/sarah-paulson-net-worth/">$12 million</a> net worth. Showing up in an $8,000 look from a designer whose name translates to “fecal matter” sure set the tone for the rest of the night, as <a href="https://translate.google.com/?hl=en&amp;sl=auto&amp;tl=fr&amp;text=fecal%20matter&amp;op=translate">matière fécale</a> hit the fan in style.
With a few friends or a corporate card, you could reserve a table for <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-much-met-gala-ticket-2026/">$350,000</a>. Maybe fashion houses used to pick up that kind of tab during the Gala’s golden era, but in 2026, with Amazon, Spotify, Meta, OpenAI, and Snapchat shelling out for the best seats, the Met Gala bested last year’s $31 million haul, raking in a record <a href="https://fortune.com/2026/05/05/met-gala-record-42-million-silicon-valley-jeff-bezos/">$42 million</a>. 
Clearly, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/05/04/lifestyle/met-gala-urine-bottle-protest-targets-jeff-bezos/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=social">bottles of fake “urine”</a> hidden inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art ahead of the event, alerting Met staffers to the alleged working conditions of Amazon delivery drivers, where workers are forced to use empty water bottles in lieu of breaks, did nothing to sway revelers.
As stunt perpetrator Everyone Hates Elon posted to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DX1iP3CCLL-/?img_index=1">Instagram</a>, “Jeff Bezos&#8217; company Amazon is literally being sued for forcing workers to urinate in bottles. Amazon avoids MILLIONS in tax and Bezos is one of the world&#8217;s richest men. The Met Museum is taking the P*SS by having Jeff honored as their Gala host.”
Moving on from bathroom topics, the dress code for the night was “Fashion As Art,” which was interpreted like a game of telephone where nothing made sense by the end. Some seemingly tried to pull off tributes to <a href="https://x.com/ModernGurlzz/status/2051504522841710620/photo/1">actual works</a> of fine art (Apologies to Georges Seurat, Jackson Pollock, Gustav Klimt, et al.), but others took inspiration from left field. 
<a href="https://variety.com/2026/music/news/bad-bunny-met-gala-old-man-1236737691/">Bad Bunny</a> transformed into a wrinkly, sun-spotted elderly man with a cane. <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1431643/met-gala-2026-cardi-b-has-fever-reveals-shes-sick">Cardi B</a> arrived in an awkwardly lumpy Marc Jacobs look; she should probably get checked out by a doctor. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DX7s8aZhEjt/">Lena Dunham</a> looked as “Famesick” as her latest memoir in blood-red, feathered <a href="https://people.com/lena-dunham-sparkles-over-the-top-sequin-dress-met-gala-2026-11966511">Valentino</a>. 
Simulated nudity was “art” for everyone from <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DX9qxRgDfJb/?img_index=5">Kendall</a> and Kylie Jenner, whose matching bodices boasted prosthetic nipples, to <a href="https://www.elle.com/fashion/celebrity-style/a71204460/best-naked-dresses-met-gala-2026-photos/">Kim Kardashian</a> in an orange fembot look and Hailey Bieber with a gilded torso. Naked-look dresses were strategically worn by Gigi Hadid, Zoë Kravitz, and Irina Shayk. Celebrated trans model Alex Consani just showed his actual nipples in a see-through corset.
Don’t forget about the alleged abusers flitting about. Katy Perry may have been dressed like she’s qualifying in astronaut fencing for the next Olympics, but her all-white <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/katy-perry-met-gala-2026-stella-mccartney#:~:text=This%20year's%20%E2%80%9CCostume%20Art%E2%80%9D%20theme,representative%20for%20Perry%20told%20Vogue.">Stella McCartney</a> was stained by recent <a href="https://www.complex.com/style/a/abel-shifferaw/katy-perry-astronaut-mask-met-gala-2026">assault accusations by Ruby Rose</a>. All of us rolled our eyes at <a href="https://pagesix.com/2026/05/05/celebrity-news/blake-livelys-met-gala-2026-entourage-post-justin-baldoni-settlement-included-her-family-member/">Blake Lively</a> showing up in frothy sherbet Versace without a care in the world — the same day she settled her attempted two-year-long legal takedown of Justin Baldoni. 
Per Met Gala rules, <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1431657/met-gala-2026-how-beyonce-nicole-kidman-broke-rules-brought-daughters">guests must be 18</a> to walk the carpet. You could frame Beyoncé’s 14-year-old daughter Blue Ivy and Nicole Kidman’s 17-year-old daughter Sunday Rose tagging along with their moms like a dress-up version of Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. But just like they say, “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Good_Happens_After_2_A.M.#:~:text=Nothing%20Good%20Happens%20After%202,to%20you%2C%20please%20give%20today.">nothing good happens after 2 a.m.</a>,” nothing good happens when you’re hanging around <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DX7zFNupFsm/">Sam Smith</a> looking like “<a href="https://genius.com/Sam-smith-and-kim-petras-unholy-lyrics">something unholy</a>” in Christian Cowan. 
If you ignored all of the guests, you might be able to enjoy Broadway star Joshua Henry’s joyful show-opening performance of Whitney Houston’s “<a href="https://youtu.be/hCjBNYbN_1I?t=265">I Wanna Dance With Somebody</a>.” (Look away from <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DX7oyzMDixR/">Anna Wintour clapping to her own beat</a> like an off-balance flamingo in sunglasses.)
To shed some light on the ballooning opulence of the most elite costume party you’ve never been invited to, the first-ever Met Gala in <a href="https://time.com/6972918/met-gala-history/">1948 cost just $50</a> per ticket and was meant to raise funds for the Costume Institute’s latest annual exhibit. Today, the Gala remains the museum’s <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/departments/the-costume-institute">main cash cow</a>.
But with all the fanfare outside the gallery walls, you might not even realize what treasures await a museumgoer once he walks through the door. Starting May 10, you’re invited to look past the Ozempic waifs of the Gala and feast your eyes upon the “Costume Art” exhibit designed to “<a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/the-scene/met-gala/met-gala-fashion-exhibit-reclaim-body-types-art-history/6497579/">reclaim the body</a>.”
If, as celebrity gossip journalist Rob Shuter alleges, the jet set didn’t zip out the back door immediately after getting that red-carpet shot, fame-starved glitterati could peruse a collection of fashion for “<a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/the-scene/met-gala/met-gala-fashion-exhibit-reclaim-body-types-art-history/6497579/">the corpulent body. The disabled body. The pregnant body. The aging body</a>.” You, too, can go look at a high-end designer’s “body-positive” idea of yourself for <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/plan-your-visit?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=39536&amp;mkwid=s&amp;pcrid=610449093567&amp;pmt=&amp;pkw=&amp;pdv=c&amp;slid=&amp;product=&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=14507362235&amp;gbraid=0AAAAADmlGN7Wdo1ZgqV1drBVCivyYUPqi&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwqubPBhBOEiwAzgZX2jpdaTfmR-CCINU2O4WClqHxD8dJ8ovlk3_2elv1YhEhXl90ADha1RoCj18QAvD_BwE">$30</a>.
If the museum has even a shred of artistic sensibility left in its creative department, there will be souvenir keychain bottles of yellow liquid labeled “Met Gala &#8217;26” available in the gift shop for $99 — a smug shout-out to us 99%. 
As <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DUyNTUwF24H/">Chloe Malle</a> finds her footing as Vogue’s new head of editorial, and the Met Gala gets “Bezos-ed,” we wonder how many years this bloated behemoth has left. Should we humanely put her out to pasture, or pull the plug on fashion’s hottest mess?
Livestream co-host and model <a href="https://youtu.be/hCjBNYbN_1I?t=473">Cara Delevingne</a> remarked, “Holy moly, what a show. Aren’t we lucky to witness that?” Lucky isn&#8217;t the word I would choose.

The 2026 Met Gala Celebrating “Costume Art” – Inside

Fake Urine, ‘Famesick’ Celebs, And $100k Tickets: Inside The Grotesque Hypocrisy Of The Met Gala

Jeff Bezos

Met Gala

The Met Gala is always a ridiculous spectacle, but this year may have taken the cake as the absolute worst of the worst.
The theme this year was “Costume Art,” and the dress code was “Fashion is Art.”
Observers noted that one red carpet attendee was being touted with a title that sounded like a “South Park” parody, but instead was 100% real. Aariana Rose Philip arrived and was described as “a black transgender disabled model with quadriplegic cerebral palsy.”
“When people see my mannequin, I want them to see a beautiful, sexy lady,” Philip <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/aariana-rose-philip-2026-met-gala">told</a> Vogue ahead of the event. “I want them to see a supermodel and a legend. I want them to see that disabled and black trans people matter always, and that we should’ve been in these spaces for a long time.”
<div id="attachment_1089497" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1089497" class="size-large wp-image-1089497" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Aariana-Rose-Philip-864x576.jpg" alt="Aariana Rose Philip" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Aariana-Rose-Philip-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Aariana-Rose-Philip-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Aariana-Rose-Philip-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Aariana-Rose-Philip.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue</div>
Actress Sarah Paulson is also being criticized for her $1 bill mask, which is supposed to be a criticism of “the 1%.” Her stunt was seen as especially hypocritical considering Paulson’s <a href="https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/actors/sarah-paulson-net-worth/">estimated</a> $12 million net worth.
Even the libs were annoyed by the “American Horror Story” actress’s stunt, with many noting how it cost about $75,000 just to attend the fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Gown designer Matières Fécales <a href="https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a71216914/sarah-paulson-met-gala-tone-deaf/">said</a> of the look: “Fashion is Art and at its most daring, Political. [Paulson] is wearing the ‘Blinded by Money’ leather mask and the Destroyed Tulle Debutante Ballgown. The collection was a reflection of the greed and corruption that comes with extreme power.”
<div id="attachment_1089499" style="width: 859px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1089499" class="size-large wp-image-1089499" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Sarah-Paulson-849x576.jpg" alt="Sarah Paulson" width="849" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Sarah-Paulson-849x576.jpg 849w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Sarah-Paulson-300x204.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Sarah-Paulson-768x521.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Sarah-Paulson.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 849px) 100vw, 849px" />Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue</div>
The outfit was compared to the infamous “Tax the Rich” dress that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) wore to the Met Gala in 2021. 
Meanwhile, MTV touted Hunter Schafer, a man who identifies as a woman, as the “Pretttiestt girl in the whole world!”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Pretttiestt girl in the whole world!
📍 Hunter Schafer at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MetGala?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MetGala</a> <a href="https://t.co/p4DYlYx07U">pic.twitter.com/p4DYlYx07U</a>
— MTV (@MTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/MTV/status/2051443532078907630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Snow White” actress Rachel Zegler was also at the event, causing a spectacle. She wore a white dress and a blindfold inspired by the painting &#8220;The Execution of Lady Jane Grey&#8221; by Paul Delaroche. Viewers pointed out her strange mannerisms while walking the red carpet, including opening and closing her mouth without making any sounds, which was thought to be symbolic of crying for help.
<div id="attachment_1089501" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1089501" class="size-large wp-image-1089501" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Rachel-Zegler-864x576.jpg" alt="Rachel Zegler" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Rachel-Zegler-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Rachel-Zegler-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Rachel-Zegler-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Rachel-Zegler.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Angela Weiss / AFP</div>
Leftists were annoyed that the Met Gala was sponsored by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, but many pointed out that the richest celebrities in the world had no right to call out Bezos for his massive wealth. 
Hundreds of “piss bottles” filled with fake urine were distributed throughout the Met by the British political activist group Everyone Hates Elon. The move sought to highlight allegations that Amazon employees don’t receive adequate bathroom breaks.
“Jeff Bezos’s company Amazon is literally being sued for forcing workers to urinate in bottles,” the group <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DX1iP3CCLL-/?img_index=1">shared</a> on Instagram. “Amazon avoids MILLIONS in tax and Bezos is one of the world&#8217;s richest men. The Met Museum is taking the PISS by having Jeff honoured as their Gala host. When they celebrate Trump’s billionaires, let’s ridicule them instead.”

Sarah Paulson

The Met Gala’s Dumbest Political Stunts

Celebrities

Entertainment

Hollywood

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
The worst part of a new pair of shoes is breaking them in. You basically know you’ll end up with blisters on the back of your feet. It’s going to be great when you get home from work, if you ever do, and flip those bad boys off. Maybe the next time they’ll be comfortable — if you ever muster the will to throw them back on. Let’s face it, these days sneakers can even be considered business casual. Stylish dress shoes just aren’t worth it.
That is, unless you take the advice of President Donald Trump. The man turns 80 in just over two months, and he’s still working what sometimes feels like endless days. I assure you, none of it is in sneakers. He never got the memo about them qualifying as business casual, and if he did, he would have used a Truth Social post to fire whoever wrote it.
A lot of people wonder: How does he do it? <a href="https://youtu.be/fkY7W6kCRY4?si=cmCQuE1WcWmaLt1G">It’s gotta be the shoes</a>.
Thanks to some shoe-leather reporting from the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/style/fashion/trump-florsheim-shoes-tucker-carlson-jd-vance-bessent-448567ab?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqf4AI6VdGE65moXS4NHxB_DydGEbd4CW-TAaqii9rliV-oOiwEJKZ9WWcUT14s%3D&amp;gaa_ts=69cf2b14&amp;gaa_sig=aPJgK3qPf9xdcmiBVIe1uY2o7KaohQ41R-a8FmBhbDat1Xmuj2eKdiXj9WHrDVBfDQBT1a1YUwCg7Eo_qOwyjA%3D%3D">Wall Street Journal</a>, Trump’s secret was revealed. It’s a $145 shoe from Florsheim. 
Nope, the New York billionaire isn’t sporting $1,090 Guccis. He’s rocking a Wisconsin-based shoe brand founded in 1892. And he loves its shoes so much he insists the top men around him are wearing them too. 
At a December meeting with two men who may both be president one day, JD Vance and Marco Rubio, Trump leaned over the desk to alert them both that they had disappointed him.
“Marco, JD, you guys have sh*tty shoes,” Trump said before asking their size and outfitting them with Florsheims. He’s reportedly taken to doing it with many men around him, including the wealthy Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. 
If it’s good enough for the Cabinet, it’s probably good enough for me. But specifically, what shoe is it? 
A visit to the Florsheim website found that nearly all the dress shoes are $145. Trump says you should wear a black shoe. I recently heard Michael Knowles <a href="https://www.florsheim.com/shop/styles/shoes/dress/page0.html?pt_asset=SubMenudress&amp;view=category">order a Daily Wire employee</a> to do the same. And I know from the Kingsmen you wear Oxfords, not brogues; a man doesn’t need an adorned shoe.
So I imagine Trump is outfitting his team with the same black plain-toed Oxford I selected. It came in the mail last week, and let me tell you something: I skipped right past the worst part of a new pair of shoes. On day one, I felt like I’d broken in the leather for years.
I put them on at 7:45 in the morning when I laced them up to leave the house, and found them still on my feet after I got all three of my kids to sleep just after 8:00 at night. I’d like to say they were so comfortable I forgot I was wearing them, but that would be a lie. I couldn’t stop thinking about how good my feet felt. And, just like Trump, I couldn’t stop pushing them on my coworkers. I made two men in my office touch the inside of my shoe; at least one made a purchase on the spot. The next morning, he told me he dreamed about the shoes.
Once you take them off for inspection, it becomes quite clear what’s going on. The inner lining of the shoe is partially lined with a thick, soft padding. Apparently, it’s a proprietary Florsheim material called Suedetec, which is strategically placed inside the shoe to navigate the usual pitfalls of a new shoe.
The certainty that there is no break-in period prompted me to pull the trigger on one of the hardest-to-break-in men’s clothing items: a pair of loafers (still $145) for black-tie occasions.
Most people looking for comfort end up wearing Crocs or Uggs. But in Florsheims, you can dress for comfort and still look like a president. Don’t want to look presidential? Fine, how about imitating the greatest pop star of all time (before he lost his mind)? Yes, that’s right. They’re the same shoes Michael Jackson did his moonwalk in.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlorsheimFriday?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlorsheimFriday</a>: Did you know that Michael Jackson taught himself to dance wearing our shoes and sported them for the rest of his career? <a href="https://t.co/GWBOb9N2dL">pic.twitter.com/GWBOb9N2dL</a>
— Florsheim Shoes (@FlorsheimShoes) <a href="https://twitter.com/FlorsheimShoes/status/875800939118153728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 16, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Still not your cup of tea? How about wearing the same shoes as the greatest heroes in American history? Perfect, because Florsheim was the principal manufacturer of shoes for the U.S. military in both World War I and II. The company, founded by a Jewish German immigrant in Chicago, had a promotion that for every pair of shoes it sold, it gave a pair to the military. 
In my first official product review, I’m happy to put my stamp of approval on the official shoe of the Oval Office.

Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Tulsa

I Bought Trump’s Favorite Pair Of Shoes. They May Be The Key To His Success.

Clothes

Donald Trump

The following is an edited transcript from &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1894-not-playing-games-trump-launches-investigation-into-minnesota-libs?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">The Michael Knowles Show</a>.&#8221;
* * *
Michelle Obama went viral yesterday — on Martin Luther King Day of all days — for comments about shopping habits and race.
The viral description making the rounds, however, reads, &#8220;Michelle Obama says she is mindful to try to avoid white-owned brands&#8230;&#8221;
The question is whether what she actually said matches that description.
Let&#8217;s find out. Watch:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Michelle Obama says she is mindful to try to avoid white-owned brands and others also should be <a href="https://t.co/5MqY5gaxUv">pic.twitter.com/5MqY5gaxUv</a>
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) <a href="https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/2013356579802767412?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Credit: @EndWokeness/X.com
At a superficial glance, just hearing her words verbatim, you’d probably have to say the viral description isn’t entirely fair. Nowhere does she explicitly say “don’t shop at white-owned brands.” Nowhere does she say “shop at black-owned brands and not white-owned brands.”
And in defense of Michelle Obama — and I don’t generally defend her — that’s not literally what she said.
She said that if she sees a black-owned brand and she likes their stuff, she’ll choose that brand. But she stops herself. She doesn’t say, “and I won’t buy from anyone else.” She doesn’t say, “I only do it because it’s black-owned.”
But here’s the problem: she injects race into the decision. She’s saying, “If I like their stuff, and if it’s black-owned, then I especially want to buy it.” And when she says, “If you have the money to buy Chanel, you have the money to buy everybody,” she very carefully stops short of finishing the sentence. She doesn’t say “black-owned brands.” She says “everybody.”
What she’s doing is trying to privilege the black-owned brand while avoiding the explicit consequence of that choice. She wants to be a racial identitarian when it comes to the positive act of buying — of supporting a business — but she doesn’t want to be a racial identitarian when it comes to the negative act of not shopping somewhere else.
She never says, “Don’t shop at white brands.” Instead, she says you need to shop at black brands, and everybody needs to shop at black brands — but maybe not less at white brands.
It’s a kind of gobbledygook. And that’s why, ultimately, I think the viral description is basically fair, even if it’s not perfectly precise.
It’s like the IQ bell curve meme. At one end, people say she told people not to shop at white stores. In the middle, it’s “she said to shop at black stores but also shop at white stores.” And at the other end, what she’s really saying is: shop less at white stores. Her minor premise is wrong. She says if you have the money to buy Chanel, you have the money to buy everybody.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1894-not-playing-games-trump-launches-investigation-into-minnesota-libs?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show</a></h3>
That’s simply not true. Money is a finite resource. Just because you can afford one expensive brand doesn’t mean you have infinite money. And even if you did have infinite money, you have finite closet space. You have a finite number of dresses you’ll wear. A finite number of days in the week. Where are you going to wear all these clothes?
This is the core problem with diversity ideology. If you privilege one thing, you necessarily disadvantage another. 
This is exactly the problem with affirmative action. Everyone says, “Oh, it’s great, we should help out black people.” And yes, for the vast majority of Americans, that sounds good. Who doesn’t want to help?
But affirmative action in practice means something very concrete. There are a finite number of spots at a university. A finite number of jobs. When you give an advantage to black people simply for being black, you are necessarily disadvantageous to someone else — often white people, or Asian people in the case of college admissions. There is discrimination happening. There is an injustice that comes with that, too.
The same logic applies here. When you say, “I’m going to shop at the black brand,” you are necessarily saying that, at the margin — the last dress that fits in your closet — you are not going to shop at the white brand. You are choosing not to go into that shop, not because you dislike the dress, but because of the race of the person who owns it.
That is discrimination on the basis of race. That’s what Michelle Obama is saying — without saying it. She doesn’t want to go all the way, but there is no other conclusion you can reach from her premises.
This ties directly into why people don’t really talk about Martin Luther King Jr. the same way anymore. Part of it is that the modern Left rejects him because he was too conciliatory and too egalitarian. But the other reason is that the practical politics don’t match the rhetoric.
Dr. King famously said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” 
And yet his successors say that in order to achieve that dream, we need affirmative action, DEI, and diversity ideology. Which, in practice, means judging people — especially white people — by the color of their skin.
Taken to its extreme, it means not shopping at white-owned businesses. And even if you agree with MLK’s premise, you are completely undermining it with these practical consequences.
So no, I don’t begrudge Michelle Obama for shopping at black-owned businesses. That’s fine. But if you’re going to say it, say it with your whole heart. Finish the sentence.
Tell people explicitly: shop at black businesses. Don’t shop at white businesses. Define what counts as ownership — 50% plus one ownership? Board seats? Stakeholders? I don’t know. But say it clearly.
And if you’re not willing to say that, then just buy the dress you like.

2025 Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival

Michelle Obama And The Logic Of ‘Mindful’ Shopping

Affirmative Action

Blacks

Business

Corporations

Michael Knowles

Michelle Obama

Opinion

If you’ve been scrolling X lately, you may have noticed that the fashion industry has gone off the rails to a point beyond parody. The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-wool-survive-garments-spun-from-gay-sheep-receive-an-nyc-fashion-debut">latest news</a> out of New York City includes a new fashion line – dubbed “I Wool Survive” – of garments spun from the wool of “gay” sheep.
Gay sheep sweaters. Yes, really.
The world we now live in is like a Babylon Bee article come to life. It’s a place where runway shows become places for celebrating the bizarre, which only helps to prove why brands with the tiniest ounce of sanity are so vital.
Daily Wire host Michael Knowles has always said that proper dress conveys respect – for tradition, for values, for the good of society. And now in an era where clothes are marketed based on how loudly they can signal your – or your sheep’s – identity group, respect is becoming a rare breed.
Introducing the Michael Knowles <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/collections/michael-knowles">collection</a> of luxury sweaters, created by the same New York artisans who craft Michael’s personal wardrobe. Together, they’ve produced a line of knitwear built on a shockingly controversial idea: clothing should be about quality.
So while the fashion world is busy applauding a sweater that was made in partnership with the gay hookup app Grindr, Michael is going in a totally different direction and offering luxurious, well-crafted, American-made sweaters.
Each garment is made from either 100% pure cashmere or 100% fine merino wool. The four sweaters in Michael’s collection are timeless. They’re the kind that look just as at home in an Ivy League library as they do at dinner with your in-laws. These sweaters are the antithesis of disposable fast fashion, and are a far cry from this latest runway spectacle.
If you’re looking for a gift, this collection is an easy win. A great sweater is something a man will keep for years. A novelty garment makes headlines, but a real one lasts forever. These sweaters don’t make a political statement. They simply convey that dressing well has become its own form of rebellion.
The Michael Knowles Collection is available now, exclusively at <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/">The Daily Wire Shop</a>. Four sweaters <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/collections/michael-knowles">on sale for 15% off</a> for Black Friday. All timeless. All knit in America. All wonderful gifts.
Get them at <a href="http://store.dailywire.com">store.dailywire.com</a> today.

Gay Sheep

NYC Has ‘Gay Sheep’ Sweaters. The Michael Knowles Collection Has Dignity.

Daily Wire Shop

“Gay” sheep made their fashion debut on the runway in NYC as the “I Wool Survive” collection premiered, featuring pieces made from the wool of alleged male sexually-oriented sheep.
The event aims to promote a German farmer and his plight to rescue “homosexual” sheep. Michael Stücke, who is gay, oversees a flock of these rescued rams at an organization he dubbed Rainbow Wool. The rescue’s website claims that as many as 8% of rams are sexually oriented toward other males, which leads to them being slaughtered for being non-procreative.
“Sadly, gay rams are often sent to slaughter because they can’t fulfill a farm’s ‘breeding role.’ We rescue them before that happens, giving them a safe home where they can live and love freely,” the Rainbow Wool <a href="https://rainbow-wool.com/">website</a> says, touting their inhabitants as “the world’s first gay flock of sheep.”
The “I Wool Survive” fashion collection was created to advance this cause and bring more attention to the issue. Celebrity designer Michael Schmidt teamed up with the gay dating app, Grindr, to create the collection and host a fashion show at the Altman Building in Manhattan on November 13. 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Rainbow Wool | Launch EN" width="500" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0doFeaBRtZo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Stücke said in a press release that the 36-piece collection “proves that being gay is part of nature itself.”
“The wool from these rams isn’t just material — it’s a message spun from animals who live freely and are loved,” he added. 
Grindr’s senior vice president of brand marketing, Tristan Pineiro, explained why the company was interested in attaching its name to the collection.
“It’s a great, feel-good story, but there’s also a message at the heart of it,” the marketing exec said, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/fashion/2025/11/20/grindr-fashion-show-gay-sheep-wool/">per</a> The Washington Post. “It’s not just a fluffy story.”
“The sheep are a kind of metaphor for all of us,” Pineiro went on. “Because they’re gay, they get discarded. They get thrown aside because they don’t conform to what they’re supposed to.”

Gay sheep

‘I Wool Survive’: Garments Spun From ‘Gay Sheep’ Receive An NYC Fashion Debut

'I Wool Survive': Garments Spun From 'Gay Sheep' Get An NYC Fashion Debut

Animals

Germany

Homosexuality

LGBT

New York City

Legendary fashion designer Giorgio Armani has died at the age of 91.
“With infinite sorrow, the Armani Group announces the passing of its creator, founder and tireless driving force: Giorgio Armani,” the company said in a statement.
“In this company, we have always felt like part of a family. Today, with deep emotion, we feel the void left by the one who founded and nurtured this family with vision, passion, and dedication. But it is precisely in his spirit that we, the employees and the family members who have always worked alongside Mr Armani, commit to protecting what he built and to carrying his company forward in his memory with respect, responsibility, and love.”
Armani had missed his last three fashion shows due to being ill, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2025/sep/04/giorgio-armani-celebrated-italian-fashion-designer-dies-at-91">per</a> The Guardian, but was slated to attend the company’s 50th anniversary celebration later this month.
Born in 1934 in Piacenza, Italy, Armani launched his fashion career by dressing window displays before shifting into menswear design in the 1960s.
“I got into fashion almost by accident and then it slowly grew in me until it completely absorbed me, stealing my life away,” he said of his career, as the outlet noted.
By 1975, Armani launched his own label, taking the stiffness out of traditional tailoring in favor of more fluid styles that became staples of power dressing in the 1980s. Hollywood celebrities helped make the brand a cultural sensation, with Richard Gere in “American Gigolo” being one famous example.
The Armani brand turned into a global empire with everything from suits to fragrances to haute couture garments. It’s still a major player in the fashion industry today. The company earned $2.7 billion in profits last year, which represented a 5% decrease from the previous year.
Hollywood embraced Armani and now they are mourning him, too. Julia Roberts shared a photo of herself posing with the late designer and added the caption, “A true friend. A Legend,” alongside the broken heart emoji.
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&#8220;Producer Arnon Milchan sent me to the Armani store with a credit card to get a suit for the premiere,&#8221; actor Russell Crowe <a href="https://x.com/russellcrowe/status/1963605279897272583">wrote</a> on X. &#8220;That began a love affair with Armani suits that continues to this day.&#8221;
“Mr Armani has made a deep contribution, to fashion, to design, to popular culture. His energy, vision and finesse has made a mark acknowledged around the globe,” the “Gladiator” star added in the lengthy tribute. “I adored him.”
Spice Girls alum Victoria Beckham said on Instagram stories, &#8220;The fashion world has lost a true legend in Giorgio Armani—a visionary designer whose legacy will live on forever. I feel honored to have called him a friend.&#8221;
Fellow fashion industry great Donatella Versace wrote on Instagram, &#8220;The world lost a giant today. He made history and will be remembered forever.&#8221;

Giorgio Armani

Fashion Designer Giorgio Armani Dies At 91

Death

Julia Roberts

World

Vanity Fair may go ahead with a magazine cover featuring First Lady Melania Trump in the coming months — but only if the feat can be pulled off before all the disgruntled employees walk out the door.
According to a <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/08/24/2025/vanity-fairs-new-cruise-director-will-have-to-choose-between-his-reporters-and-his-friends">report</a> published by Semafor on Sunday, the magazine&#8217;s new global editorial director Mark Guiducci had indicated a desire to put the first lady on the cover — but as The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/media/article-15032959/Vanity-Fair-Melania-Trump-cover.html">reported</a> a day later, his staffers may not be entirely onboard with his plan.
&#8220;I will walk out the motherf***ing door, and half my staff will follow me,&#8221; one editor told the outlet.
Another staffer who did not give a name appeared to be in agreement, adding, &#8220;We are not going to normalize this despot and his wife; we’re just not going to do it. We’re going to stand for what’s right. If I have to work bagging groceries at Trader Joe’s, I’ll do it. If [Guiducci] puts Melania on the cover, half of the editorial staff will walk out, I guarantee it.&#8221;
One employee told The Daily Mail that the outrage was likely to amount to little more than a few loud complaints and protests, saying that it wasn&#8217;t likely many would actually sacrifice their careers to make a political statement about who was on the magazine&#8217;s cover.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=summer&amp;utm_content=editorialsummersale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
&#8220;It’s all talk. If they put her on the cover, people will protest and gripe about it, but I don’t see anyone quitting such a prestigious job over that. Honestly, there will be people who push back, but it’s ultimately Mark’s decision. He’s the one who will sink or swim over that choice, not the rest of us.&#8221;
The first lady may not mind if she never makes it to the cover, however, if her <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/08/26/media/vanity-fair-employees-lash-out-over-proposed-melania-trump-cover/?utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter">last comments on the subject</a> still stand. When the magazine passed over her for a cover during Trump&#8217;s first administration — despite featuring former First Lady Michelle Obama on several occasions — she brushed off questions about it and said that it wasn&#8217;t important.
&#8220;Look, I’ve been there on the covers — on the cover of Vogue, on the covers of many magazines before,&#8221; Trump said, referencing her days as a model and then as Trump&#8217;s wife prior to him running for president. &#8220;We have so many other important things to do than to be on the cover of any magazine. I think that life would not change for anybody if I’m on the cover.&#8221;

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