Fashion
Tim Walz Gets His Glow-Up
The vice-presidential candidate steps out of his flannels and into the spotlight.
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In the end, there was no plaid.
Despite former President Barack Obama’s noting, “You can tell those flannel shirts he wears don’t come from some political consultant — they come from his closet, and they’ve been through some stuff.” Despite Senator Amy Klobuchar’s calling him “a dad in plaid.” Despite all of that buildup, when Gov. Tim Walz took the stage on Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention as the party’s nominee for vice president, he did so in an impeccably tailored navy suit, blue tie and pristine white shirt, the de rigueur little American flag pin on his lapel.
Gone were the rumples of his early rally appearances with Vice President Kamala Harris. Gone was the slightly messy hair. He may have been called “Coach Walz” by Bill Clinton in the former president’s convention speech, and the members of the high school football squad Mr. Walz coached back in the day may have made a cameo appearance to cheer him on, but he wasn’t giving coachcore. (Judging by the shape of the old uniforms, that was probably a good thing.)
Instead, Mr. Walz slid right in with the lineup of next-gen dems who had been his opening acts: Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland, Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary. Almost all of them wore the blue suits, white shirts and blue ties that are the effective uniform of the blue state male politician. So far, so not surprising.
Amanda Gorman, Oprah Winfrey and Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland, on Wednesday night.Credit…J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press, Ruth Fremson/The New York Times, Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The poet Amanda Gorman was more trendsetting in her cape-sleeve dress as she recited her new work, “This Sacred Scene.” Oprah Winfrey in a purple Christian Siriano pantsuit, both royal and strategic (it comes, after all, from the combination of red and blue), was more striking.
But Mr. Walz was the star of the night — and his natty suit the fashion statement. Because, even though as the governor of Minnesota he surely wore plenty of suits, just as he must have during his time in Congress, almost all of the narratives since Ms. Harris chose him as her running mate just over two weeks ago, have focused on his regular guy cred.
