A Brief History of Protest Fashion

What is the appearance of an activist? Historically, organizers and demonstrators have utilized clothing to provide visual significance to various sociopolitical movements globally. Some don uniforms while others choose attire that reflects their uniqueness. Some are more laid-back while others serve a practical purpose. Although there aren’t strict guidelines on how to present oneself at a protest, the role of fashion as a form of messaging has been significant from the early “dressed to the nines” activists during the civil rights movement to the more current slogan-emblazoned T-shirt-wearers in the Black Lives Matter Movement. Fashion at protests has undergone numerous changes, but the messaging has consistently been a clear reflection of the affiliations you have and the values you uphold.

We will begin with the civil rights movement. During the 1950s to 1960s, African Americans in the United States campaigned against injustices and inequality, such as racial segregation and voting rights suppression. To counteract the racial stereotypes — harmful notions that Black individuals were lazy, incompetent, impoverished, and primitive — which exacerbated discrimination, certain leaders in the civil rights movement advocated nonviolent resistance techniques, such as sit-ins, freedom rides, bus boycotts, and marches. These approaches aimed to elevate the movement and showcase the humanity of the numerous participants throughout America striving for complete inclusion in a system from which they were excluded. Fashion needed to play a significant role in conveying that message. A sharply dressed, humble Black figure functioned as an instrument alongside the passive actions of peaceful protest. Women involved in the movement donned well-groomed hair, cardigans, button-up shirts, and stockings beneath skirts featuring conservative hemlines — the unique image that might arise when you envision “Sunday best.” The men followed suit, parading in dark suits atop crisp white undershirts and ties.

In the journal article “Dressing for Freedom,” author Abena L. Mhoon states, “When arrested on December 4, 1966, [Rosa Parks] was described as a soft-spoken, middle-aged bespectacled impeccably dressed woman in tailored clothing. Mrs. Parks’ quiet style and dignified bearing were stressed by protest organizers. Nothing showy or ostentatious was permitted.…Breaking down the social, economic, and political barriers that in the past had prevented African Americans from having access to the American dream would not come about if people did not look serious and business-like.”

Denim was also important in apparel for the civil rights movement. What is now seen as a prized fabric used to represent the fight for Black freedom. Historically, denim overalls and jeans represented the typical attire for Black sharecroppers in the southern countryside, which the Black middle class sought to distance itself from in order to project respectability. “In the early 1960s, the Black popular press was keenly focused on showcasing and perpetuating an image of Black middle-class relaxation and enjoyment,” Tanisha C. Ford states in her article “SNCC Women, Denim, and the Politics of Dress.” Ford states that young activists, such as those in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), appropriated denim workwear to connect with the working classes and to assertively challenge class and respectability politics. It was also significantly more practical for organizers to mobilize in denim, as it was tougher than suit and dress materials.

In terms of fashion, the Black Panther Party represented the opposite of the civil rights movement. Black Nationalist organizations incorporated various elements of African cultural attire, such as headwraps and ankh necklaces, yet younger figures like Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, founders of the Black Panther Party, rejected this aesthetic due to its portrayal of “opportunistic cultural practitioners acting as front men to continue exploiting Black individuals and hinder the genuine revolutionary struggle,” as noted by Mary Vargas in her article “Fashion Statement or Political Statement: The Use of Fashion to Express Black Pride During the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements of the 1960s.” The Black Panther uniform consisted of black leather jackets, powder blue shirts, black pants, shoes, gloves, and the infamous black beret, which was picked after Newton and Seale watched a movie about the French resistance to Nazis during World War II. According to Vargas, “The resisters donned black berets and they felt that it was a strong symbol of militancy, and such militancy was what they wished the Black Panther Party to convey.” In the same way that the civil rights leaders used dress as a way to convey an antithetical image to white people’s preconceived notion around Black livelihood, the Black Panthers used dress to send a message about Black pride and liberation.

As the 1970s approached, women at the forefront of the movement were discarding the clothing limitations of earlier eras and were choosing denim (in various styles, plentiful amounts), wide-leg pants, miniskirts paired with bloomers, and rigid-collared shirts featuring geometric and psychedelic designs. The experimental styles of the 1970s enabled women to question society’s perceptions of what constituted a “feminine” dress. With the increasing number of women in the workforce, there was a rise in the acceptance of work attire: pantsuits, professional separates, and even Diane von Furstenberg’s immensely popular wrap dress, which could transition a woman’s outfit from the office to the streets to an evening out.

In recent years, clothing for protests has become more relaxed. In 2011, during Occupy Wall Street, individuals arrived in jeans, T-shirts, hoodies, and shorts, facilitating mobilization within their cities. This modest way of dressing departed from the notion that participants should come together by wearing a specific uniform. Nonetheless, a key emblem of defiance during Occupy Wall Street was the Guy Fawkes mask. The mask, now a common emblem in various movements, was donned to signify the anti-establishment, or anti-government, feelings of the “99%.” The specific interpretation applied to the masks was created by illustrator David Lloyd and became well-known through the film V for Vendetta, which focuses on themes of oppression, totalitarianism, and fascism.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrators have been required to wear face masks (or alternatives such as shirts and bandanas to conceal their faces) to shield themselves from the virus, along with goggles and other protective equipment to mitigate injury from projectiles like rubber bullets and tear gas.

T-shirts featuring political messages have also become commonplace. The T-shirt stands out as a primary clothing item among Black individuals involved in the Movement for Black Lives. “According to Rikki Byrd, founder of the Fashion and Race Syllabus, the T-shirts are worn not just at protests, but also in many different places.” The shirts typically feature slogans such as “We Can’t Breathe,” or names and visuals of individuals who have lost their lives due to state-sponsored violence. From the ’60s through the ’70s, T-shirts became a widely favored, relatively affordable way to convey a message, due to their ability to be mass-produced and rapidly distributed. In addition to being worn to indicate a person’s support for the movement, they are also utilized for fundraising purposes. An instance is the “They Have Names” T-shirt designed by Kerby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Moss. He contributed money from T-shirt sales to the ACLU. Another instance is a T-shirt created by artists Tatyana Fazlalizadeh and Texas Isaiah that, as reported by the Cut, featured the names of Black cis and trans individuals who were victims of sexual violence. They contributed the earnings to the Trans Women of Color Collective.