How Lizzo Embraced The Political Power Of Fashion

Throughout her September appearance in a episode of Vogue's 73 Questions video series, Lizzo explained that she felt her stylistic choices have often been politicized. "Being a big, Black woman, wearing what I wore on stage was instantly political and yes it made a statement," the 32-year-old singer instructed them magazine at the time. Though she admitted it was "annoying at first," the singer has since embraced the statement-making power of style, more and more so in the weeks ahead of the presidential election.


For Halloween, she dressed up as fly that broke the world wide web once it landed on incumbent Vice President Mike Pence's head while in a debate with California Senator Kamala Harris, donning goggles and sheer wings. Earlier that week, she brought attention to the fact that 40 percent of Residents of the United States failed to vote in the 2016 election by wearing a sculptural crown of hair spelling out the glaring percentage. And once accepting the award for Top Song Sales Artist at the Billboard Music Awards earlier that month, she wore a monochromatic, off-the-shoulder minidress designed by Christian Siriano dotted by the word "vote" in bold, all-caps lettering. "I've been thinking a lot about suppression," she mentioned in her acceptance speech, "and the voices that resist to be suppressed."


It came as little surprise once, on Election Day (November 3), Lizzo pulled out her most powerful and breathtaking look of all. She appeared in a post to her Instagram feed wearing a group kind of half-jumpsuit: the correct side of her body was draped from shoulder to heel in a American flag; the left was totally bare, save for a heeled shoe and sparkling nail polish.


whenever I think of this nation I don’t think of its laws I think of its people," she wrote in an enthusiastic caption, her words blistering and true. "I think about how we were raised to be patriotic of violence, propaganda & war. I think about how this nation is owned by the oppressor and why the oppressed are locked in a valley of capitalism. However I also think of the young people who reject to be [spoon-fed] mistruths. I think of the elders who bucked against hateful prejudices even whenever it felt impossible.... Because of you, I’m still hopeful."


"I believe in a nation that teaches the true history so we can better understand where we live and why we can do better. I believe in a nation that listens to the whines of the protester and doesn’t politicize death," she added, before concluding with a plea voters to prepare their voices heard. "We people, all of the people, deserve it. Today’s the last day to vote. Live in line, stay decided and thank YOU for voting."