The meaning behind Trump’s ill-fitting suits

From exaggerated shoulder pads to throat-choking ties, the Republican candidate’s fashion sense does his public image no favours

The codas, curiosities and scaffolding that goes into making Trump “Trump” is a mysterious world of trickery. Image-making for politicians is a strange, nefarious business at the best of times. 
But the presidential hopeful has based his look on creating a mirage of what he thinks denotes success and health; the orange fake tan that cuts off at the jawline, the yellow hair, the rumours that spread in February 2024 that he wears a girdle to keep that 6ft 3in frame upright.
But as the Republican party candidate continues his campaign, some new elements of Trump’s look – and that of his running mate JD Vance – have come to light. 
As the fashion commentator Derek Guy (@dieworkwear) highlighted on X on Monday night, there’s something very odd about the way Trump wears suits.
A picture taken during Trump’s interview with Elon Musk shows the ex-president hunched over a desk, blindingly bling cufflinks aimed at the camera and enormous shoulder pads gathered up to his ears. Guy goes on to note how Trump’s body shape requires some padding around the shoulder area to balance out his torso, but the result is that when a suit jacket rides up it exposes the illusion he’s trying to create. 
The act of artifice comes easily to Trump. Take for instance his approach to suiting. He sticks to a formula of “baggier the better”, which is curious when he’s had the money to spend on the best tailoring in the business; there were rumours that exceptional Italian house Brioni made his bespoke suits, although they have never confirmed this. 
It’s reasonable that a man of 78 might have a little timber to him, but a suit – particularly one that’s been made bespoke –should be designed to engineer your frame for the better. Trump’s on the other hand are large-fitting and blousy, and he has a penchant for wide-legged trousers. Quite simply, they don’t fit him. 
“You’d think Donald Trump would have exhausted his options for completely ruining his suits,” said Esquire magazine in 2017. “They’re way, way too big for him. The fabric is too shiny…he even tapes his damn ties together. It seems abundantly clear that the President of the United States gets dressed in the dark.” 
Other small elements of standard sartorial etiquette have been overlooked in Trump’s uniform. Republican Chris Christie, who ran against Trump in 2016 and 2024 as the party’s presidential candidate, detailed how Trump feels a long tie slims his frame – but the issue is that it tapers way beyond the belt and waistline, which is a general no-no and serves to drag the frame down. Likewise, the diminutive tie knot he chooses chokes his throat and creates an ageing effect on his neck. 
Elsewhere on the Trump campaign, JD Vance caused much guffawing when he compared a photo of himself and his band of cohorts exiting their MAGA jet to the cast of Entourage. For those unfamiliar with the American early noughties TV series, it features a cast of Hollywood types in devilish suits. Vance’s attempt was less Entourage and more Dfinner for One; critics remarked on the fact that, once again, the MAGA team’s suits didn’t fit properly – buttons on jackets straining to do up – and some members were in mismatched colours in their suit jackets vs suit trousers. 
That’s been the least of Vance’s image problems recently – rumours have abounded that he’s been wearing eyeliner on the campaign trail. Recently Politico studied the fact that he’s veered from the Silicon Valley tech bro wardrobe he wore in his former venture capitalist life to mimicking Trump’s look. Pictures have also gone viral allegedly showing Vance dressed as a drag queen in wig, make-up and dress, which might not quite fit the message of the Trump ticket he’s now running on.
Does what this unlikely duo wear really matter? Yes, because it feeds into their image and how they present themselves to the American public. At a time when they’re fighting off accusations that they’re just plain weird – a surprising curve ball from the Democratic campaign that left Vance fending off rumours that he had relations with his sofa – the ill-fitting clothes and inability to dress in a relatable way feeds into that narrative. They dress like Batman villains, exaggerated caricatures of what makes an “alpha” man.
Of course, clothes are a drop in the ocean when it comes to Trump’s agenda and legacy but they are crucial to his image and we’ll be seeing a great deal of him over the next couple of months. After that? Well, we already know he likes the colour orange.