Jill Biden Chose an Inauguration Outfit to Symbolize "Trust, Confidence, and Stability"

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla)

published 20 January 2021

The last few months have shaken American democracy, but Joe Biden will be inaugurated as the next president of the United States at noon today, and Dr. Jill Biden will officially become the First Lady. Wearing an ocean blue tweed blazer and matching silk mask, Biden marked a new era in American politics in an outfit by New York-based designer Alexandra O'Neill, the founder and creative director of Markarian. The incoming First Lady took a page from Michelle Obama in championing up-and-coming American designers.

In a press release, Markarian said: "The color blue was chosen for the pieces to signify trust, confidence, and stability."

Dr. Jill Biden is no stranger to the power of a dress. At then President-elect Joe Biden’s victory address, the First Lady wore a short-sleeved Oscar de la Renta dress with embroidered flowers in a nod to Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, and Jackie Kennedy, who frequently wore the designer. By subtly invoking these women, Biden threaded herself into the fabric of First Ladies past. Her inaugural ensemble had no less significance.

Zoe Guy is the digital fellow at Marie Claire, where she covers pop culture, hot celebrity gossip, movies and TV. She’s obsessed with Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of The Age of Innocence, anything written by Jesmyn Ward and stan Twitter.