From the fashion to the flags, Joe Biden’s inauguration presents a vision of a unified America | Elizabeth Wellington

The inauguration of President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris gave us the visual cues we need to believe the our country’s worst days are over, and that Americans are on the cusp of a new era of dignity, unity and respect for the American tradition.

It’s time to breathe a sigh of relief.

The mood was tasteful and understated and fashion was an important part of how we understood the symbolism of the day. And this year it took on a deeper meaning because the night won’t be filled with fairytale balls. What was on the dais was America as she is without the pomp and circumstance, sobering and real.

First Lady Jill Biden attended her husband’s swearing-in ceremony in a fitted, slate blue — almost teal — coat by emerging designer Alexandra O’Neill for her New York-based label, Markarian. The coat was paired with a matching dress that featured a sheer, chiffon bodice, matching gloves, and of course, a mask. The outfit was quintessential first lady feminine with a touch of shimmer, while the blue put her squarely in the Democratic camp, though with a soft, not aggressive shade.

Vice President Kamala Harris opted for a royal purple coat by an emerging Black designer, Christopher John Rogers. Later in the day, Harris wore a blue blazer to swear new senators into the U.S. Congress in her first official act as vice-president. In HBCU circles, that particular shade of blue is also known as Bison blue so Harris’ choice of primary shade can be read as an homage to the vice-president’s alma mater, Howard University. The vice president pulled her daytime looks together with a string of statement pearls, an expected and much-talked about sartorial shout out to her Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sisters. Her shoes were by another Black designer, Sergio Hudson.

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Harris, the first woman, first Black woman and first South Asian woman to assume the role of vice president, wore purple as a nod to Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress back in 1969. This royal purple was Chisolm’s campaign colors, when she campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. But purple — a mixture of red and blue — also signifies bipartisanship. So we can read Harris’ tailored violet look as a symbol of her commitment to work across political divisions.

Harris wasn’t the only dignitary in unifying purple. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton arrived with a purple knot scarf wrapped cozily around her neck. Former first lady Michelle Obama wore plum — red with a generous dollop of blue — ankle-length coat and matching trousers, also designed by Hudson, and got a lot of Twitter love for it.

“There was a real conscious choice not to wear polarizing colors,” said Gwendolyn Shaw, an associate professor of art history at the University of Pennsylvania and curator of the National Portrait Gallery’s current exhibit, Every Eye is Upon Me: First Ladies of the United States. “There was a sense of merging red and blue into one to visualize the bringing together of the country. These two hues have been used to politically separate us into tribes. This was a visual end to that.”

Tuesday evening the the new vice president delivered a speech highlighting American excellence in front of the Lincoln Monument in a graceful, floor-length black coat and matching cocktail dress in satin also designed by Hudson. The lights surrounding the monument reflected off the color of of Harris’ blouse creating an inaugural evening look that was both majestic and solemn.

The deep hues of the day — President Joe Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff both went with dark suits by king of American fashion, Ralph Lauren — made for a somber mood. The masks were a reminder that the country is still living under the dark, dangerous cloud of COVID-19. Former presidents sat separately from each other in what was an intentionally small affair. And outside of the Capitol, much of D.C. remained on lockdown, a reminder of the insurrection that took place only two weeks ago.

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The monochromatic looks and serious tones matched the words of Biden’s speech, which urged us to unite and “fight the foes we face: anger, resentment, hatred, extremism, lawlessness, violence, disease, joblessness and hopelessness. With unity, we can do great things, important things.”

There were moments when colors popped. Bright yellow coats worn by Senator Amy Klobuchar and Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, were rays of sunshine and hope. The president’s granddaughter, Natalie Biden’s cotton candy pink coat was festive, as was Lady Gaga’s broach, which was inspired by Pablo Picasso’s Dove of Peace. Jennifer Lopez’s winter white outfit dripped in Chanel jewelry.

Presidential inaugurations are watched, studied, analyzed, and discussed incessantly because these first glimpses provide insight on how the administration plans to act on behalf of the nation, Shaw said.

But the optics of the 46th presidential inauguration are even more important this year. Our nation is divided and we are still on edge from the attack on the Capitol by domestic terrorists wrapped in the American flag. Now, only two weeks later, our flag has been reclaimed. On the National Mall, 191,500 of them wereplanted torepresent those of us who couldn’t attend the inauguration, which was unifying and beautiful.

And, while we watched former presidents mark the moment, we were also keenly aware of who was missing. After a rambling speech, Donald Trump departed Washington in Air Force One for the last time on Wednesday morning with Melania Trump at his side in Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana, the high-end European designers that defined her term as first lady and stood in antithesis to her husband’s staunch America-first policy.

The Trumps’ departed to The Village People’s “YMCA” and Frank Sinatra’s iconic “My Way” with Melania glued to her his arm like silent eye candy, a stark contrast to what would follow during the Biden/Harris inauguration.

Back at the Capitol, the enduring images were women in positions of power. Among them: Harris’ history-making moment, sworn in by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina to sit on the Supreme Court; the talents of Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez; and Gorman’s powerful poem, “The Hill We Climb.”

The inauguration foreshadowed that new America, said Terri Boyer, director of the Anne Welsh McNulty Institute for Women’s Leadership at Villanova University. “Pretty much every role on the dais, except for President Biden, was a woman. This inclusive America is the future of America.”