Embroidering the Presidency: Dress, Decoration, and American Political Identity
Lecturer: Summer Lee
Live Lecture Date: Saturday, November 20, 2027 1PM Eastern
Live Lecture Registration: October 28, 2027 – November 18, 2027 1PM Eastern
Format: Live Lecture and Recording
Drawing on surviving garments and documentary evidence, this lecture considers how embroidered presidential dress negotiated the relationship between European sartorial traditions and emerging American ideals of political authority. From the Revolutionary period to Lincoln’s 1865 Brooks Brothers coat, it reveals how embroidery remained embedded within the material culture of the presidency, even while American statesmen increasingly emphasized the “simple dress of an American citizen” as a visual expression of republican ideals.
