In the beginning it was just a T-shirt: basic, olive green; the kind worn under military attire or taken out of the closet for workouts and weekends. Sometimes it was more brown than green. Sometimes there was a cross over the heart, with a coat of arms in the middle.
But in the past four weeks, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has thrown off his former navy suits, white shirts and ties – the politician’s uniform – for the T-shirt and worn it to his country in his daily videos; in his speeches to the European Parliament, to the British Parliament, to the American Congress; in his weekend interview with DailyExpertNews (and have been tweeted a lot Zoom conversation with supporters Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis). It has become something more: a symbol of the strength and patriotism of the Ukrainian people, a multitude of values and purpose packed in an overview that everyone knows.
Together with the photos of bodies lying lifeless in the streets and bombed out theaters and apartment buildings, it will be one of the defining images of the conflict. It is a metaphor in dust for the growing story of a Russian Goliath and Ukrainian David, of hubris and heroism, set with blood and weapons.
The T-shirt recalls the origins of Mr. Zelensky as an ordinary man; a connection between him and the civilian soldiers fighting in the streets; a sign that he shares their hardships. He could have kept his formal attire as Commander-in-Chief, as Churchill did when he visited the bombed-out sites of Coventry in World War II in his black homburg, overcoat and bow tie. That Mr. Zelensky chose to use the most accessible piece of clothing instead – the T-shirt – is as clear an expression of solidarity with his people as his rhetoric.
Indeed, when he spoke to Congress and the economist… Peter Schiff tweeted then: “I understand times are tough, but has the president of the… #Ukraine do you have a suit?” suggested that by wearing a T-shirt Mr. Zelensky had disrespected US lawmakers, it was Mr. Schiff who missed the point.
The T-shirt was not a sign of disrespect for those to whom Mr. Zelensky appealed; it was a sign of respect and loyalty to those he represented; a reminder of what happened just outside its doors (the cross was the insignia of the Ukrainian army, by the way). By wearing their uniforms, rather than the uniforms of the people in the room, he made the surreal real, much like the video he later showed of bombs raining down on his cities.
To say that Mr. Zelensky, a former actor, clearly understands how clothing speaks to character and can be used as a form of propaganda, does not mean that he humiliates his position or role in the history of the moment.
After all, clothing, like music and films and literature, has long been used to convey political messages and influence opinion. It happened in the 1950s (and beyond) with the CIA secretly distributing “Doctor Zhivago” to destabilize the Soviet Union; and during the Cold War with the covert use of rock ‘n’ roll to get rid of the Berlin Wall. It was illustrated by Fidel Castro’s preference for the army green military shirt and cap as his uniform, and the Mao suit as adopted by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party, both choices intended to confuse the leaders and their people. . Also, George W. Bush landed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in full military drab flight suit to declare victory in the Iraq War.
And whether or not Congress recognizes the T-shirt, nearly anyone looking can. Clothing is one of the ways we connect with people in circumstances we can’t imagine because it makes them familiar. Think how many images of extremists have become known through the clothing in the photos: the ‘woman in the white you’, standing on a car during the Sudanese protests in 2019; the ‘man in the white shirt’, who stood in front of the tanks as they rolled into Tiananmen Square in 1989; the “woman in a red dress”, who was sprayed by Turkish soldiers during an anti-government demonstration in Istanbul in 2013. More than examples of individual heroism (although they are), they become examples of the heroism that is possible in all individuals .
War between Russia and Ukraine: important developments
Signs of a stalemate amid stalled conversations. After nearly a month of fighting, the war seems to have reached a stalemate. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for renewed peace talks with Russia despite little sign of progress after four days of negotiations last week.
We relate to them through their clothing. The strength of the photos lies in the way they capture a seemingly ordinary person – someone wearing a piece of clothing hanging in the closet of almost everyone watching, regardless of their country or circumstances – in an irregular situation. It enables everyone to see themselves, to see.
With his unobtrusive T-shirt, in his generic white-walled office, next to the Ukrainian flag, Mr. Zelensky has combined these two traditions into one. He is both the man in the olive green T-shirt and the father of the nation.
And in his clothes, as in his actions and his words, Mr. Zelensky has set himself against the man on the other side: President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, famous for his elaborate, gilded palaces and his love of luxury label; are Cartier sunglasses and Patek Philippe watches.
Even as he addressed the crowd at a rally in Moscow on March 18 to celebrate Russia’s annexation of Crimea and “universal values,” Mr Putin wore a Loro Piana puffer that costs more than $10,000 (not long after, a change.org petition was launched to demand that the Italian brand, owned by LVMH, give up their apparent customer) and a Kiton cashmere turtleneck sweater, brand insignia of wealth and removal. It’s an example that inspired similar choices among its acolytes, with Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov spotted in what GQ said were Prada combat boots.
It is a power dialectic edict in dust; the elite versus the everyman; thesis and antithesis. Marx, of all people, would understand.