Most politicians have more important things to worry about than fashion. But, according to Robin Givhan, fashion editor of The Washington Post, the two areas are more intertwined than many would think.
Givhan delivered the Vivian R. Shaw lecture last night at the Helmut Stern Auditorium in the University of Michigan Museum of Art to an audience of students, University faculty and other Ann Arbor residents. Hosted by the University’s Women’s Studies Department and the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, the lecture focused on the convergence of politics and fashion in what the Pulitzer Prize winner calls the “Washington Catwalk.” She examined the relationship between fashion and personal identity, and how the two shape the conversation surrounding gender in politics.
Givhan, a University alum originally from Detroit, has become known for her weekly column, in which she examines international fashion news, trends and business. She won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for criticism and also recently published the book “Michelle: Her First Year as First Lady.”
Though many view fashion as an industry reserved for the elite, Givhan noted that it’s a sector everyone participates in every day.
“It produces clothes, and what it sells are tools for self-definition and public expression,” Givhan said. “Each of us, every time we reach into our closet and make a decision about what we’re going to wear on any given day, we’re participating in the fashion industry.”
Givhan spoke about her personal experiences and how they’ve contributed to shaping her writing. When she got to Washington in 1995, she said she realized that the capital city is very concerned with fashion.
“Washington is a city that is consumed with how people define themselves in the public sphere,” Givhan said.
Expressing her views on the First Lady’s choice of attire, Givhan said Michelle Obama achieves a balance of looking both usual and extraordinary.
“I think at a certain point, trying to relate to the American public, trying to be average, goes too far, and instead you start looking common, banal, as if you’re no longer the First Lady but instead somebody’s neighbor,” Givhan said. “But she does blend, I think, the pretty with the powerful.”
In addition to talking about fashion, Givhan also discussed the experience of returning to Ann Arbor after years away.
“I was amazed at how different it is, reminds me a lot of those days when everything was really new and I was still trying to figure out if I still wanted to be a journalist,” Givhan said. “It was nice to come back and realize that I made the right decision.”
Givhan also gave some advice for aspiring journalists. Despite the industry’s reportedly grim outlook, Givhan remained positive on journalism’s relevance in society.
“There is always going to be a market for good writers,” Givhan said.