A short glance at First Lady fashion reveals that Inauguration Day is as much about championing American design as it is about revealing character and future ambitions via colour symbolism. No doubt there will be plenty of sartorial stories today. In addition to what and who Dr Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will wear, there is also the line-up of additional participants – from Lady Gaga who will perform the National Anthem, to Jennifer Lopez and Chrissy Teigen and Amanda Gorman, the first National Youth Poet Laureate who will recite The Hill We Climb. Of course, the invited guests will include former First Ladies – Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton – as well as family and friends of the 46^th President.  It’s not a stretch to suggest that perhaps Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, will be among the best-dressed audience. The Duke met Dr Biden over eight years ago quickly forging a connection – and Biden travelled to London to attend the first Invictus Games in 2014 and both the new President and his wife have been consistent supporters of this project. But I digress.

Dr Biden’s style is already commendable. She has shown a preference for Brandon Maxwell, Gabriela Hearst and Oscar de la Renta (now designed by Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia), and no doubt has been inundated with designers who have offered their services for today’s Inauguration. This is in contrast to 2017, when Zac Posen, Marc Jacobs and Sophie Theallet publicly refused to dress Melania Trump. The latter opted for a baby blue Ralph Lauren dress and bolero, a clear echo of Jacqueline Kennedy’s outfit in the same shade in 1961.

I doubt either Dr Biden or Kamala Harris will wear Ralph Lauren. While the label and designer is synonymous with defining American fashion – it feels too mainstream. Indeed they have already shown their support to independent designers this week. Biden wore a matching coat, dress and mask from Jonathan Cohen in Delaware yesterday, while Harris wore a Kerby Jean-Raymond camel coat by New York designer Pyer Moss.

No doubt both will look to Michelle Obama for inspiration. She championed diversity in her political views and her wardrobe. Her striking lemongrass coat and dress by Isobel Toledo at her husband’s Inauguration in 2009, was daring in colour and detail, while her off-the-shoulder ballgown by Jason Wu – though too bridal in my opinion – gave Wu’s career a huge boost. Barack Obama was obviously blown away by her outfit as detailed in his recently published memoir A Promised Land: “Michelle was a chocolate-brown vision in her flowing white gown, and at our first stop I took her in my arms and spun her around and whispered silly things in her ear as we danced to a sublime rendition of ‘At Last’ sung by Beyoncé.”

Prabal Gurung was another of Michelle Obama’s favourite designers  and I can see Harris in one of his glamorous trouser suits. Celebrating over a decade in fashion, Gurung has never shied away from politics, openly criticising Trump’s presidency. His current SS21 collection, one of his best yet, is dedicated to New York’s “eclectic misfits and dreamers.”

Like Michelle Obama, the accessible and genuine Harris will no doubt favour a high low aesthetic – already demonstrated in her recent (controversial) cover shoots by Tyler Mitchell for US Vogue. In her preferred image, Harris wore a powder blue suit by Michael Kors Collection and in the cover selected by Vogue she is pictured in a relaxed black blazer by Donald Deal, casual trousers and Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers. More tailored, Harris impressed in a white Carolina Herrera trouser suit when she delivered her first speech as Vice President elect in Delaware in November. She would be in trusted hands if she were to choose Carolina Herrera for today’s swearing in. I’d like to see her in a rich burgundy hue.

It will be interesting to note whether Harris and Biden develop their own style signatures like their predecessors. For example, Barbara Bush was never seen without her red lipstick and pearls and always tried to wear red, white and blue during her terms as First Lady. Meanwhile her daughter-in-law, Laura Bush, was a conservative dresser, who focused more on promoting children’s literacy and education – though she did like the occasional colourful evening gown.

Betty Ford was known for her colourful scarves and high-collars, while Nancy Reagan loved red so much (she called it “a picker upper”) she had a shade named after her – Reagan Red. Mamie Eisenhower had a preference for bubble gum pink, while Rosalynn Carter favoured long sleeves, high necklines and recycling her outfits. Carter caused a furore when she wore the same dress to her husband’s Inaugural Ball as she had done in 1971, when he was sworn in as governor of Georgia. To her credit, Carter was an early advocate of sustainability, and she even brought her own sewing machine to the White House.

I think we can safely surmise neither Melania Trump nor Jacqueline Kennedy owned a Singer sewing machine but they both knew what they liked – column dresses, clean lines and couture. Kennedy worked with her personal couturier Oleg Cassini during the so-called Camelot years at The White House, and thereafter reverted to her love of Givenchy, Valentino and Chanel. Ethel Frankau of Bergdorf Custom Salon worked from Jackie’s sketches and suggestions to create the matching gown and cape she wore to her Inauguration Ball which made a splash, setting trends for decades to come. (I’d love to see Harris in one of Tom Ford’s caped evening jumpsuits this evening).

Likewise, Melania Trump developed a close working relationship with Hervé Pierre, though she has worn every designer from Dior to Alexander McQueen to the New York-based Alice Roi. She has made several fashion faux pas in the process – who can forget that Zara jacket, the Manolo stilettos while visiting Hurricane Henry victims or the tone deaf colonial-style pith helmet while on a visit to an orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya? I am sure Trump had an Inauguration outfit ready for today, perhaps from Michael Kors Collection, another of her regular go-to designers, and may have learned as Michelle Obama did, that dressing for the cold Washington DC weather is a priority. It’s supposed to be a wet and nippy seven degrees, with temperatures dropping to minus four. Many of the guests will need their Uniqlo Heattech thermals – the fashion insider’s secret weapon for staying warm.

Dressing for winter can be tricky – bulky coats don’t photograph well. Patricia Nixon was considered a trailblazer – she wore a fur hat and bright pink coat trimmed with fur to husband Richard’s inauguration, while Hillary Clinton’s chic cream ensemble in 2017 nailed warmth and style. The clothes Michelle Obama wore for her husband’s second term swearing-in – a Thom Browne coat dress with long suede boots – looked ideal for cold weather, while still feminine and polished. 

Some First Ladies have saved their best outfit for the Inaugural Ball – such as Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson. She had a more casual style throughout her term in office though wore a striking lemon gown for the evening event. Many First Ladies have worn designers from the state in which they lived. I’m questioning whether Biden might choose Irish designer Louise Kennedy as a nod to her husband’s ancestors? Kennedy certainly has the credentials having dressed President Mary Robinson and a host of diplomatic wives, who have all loved the timelessness of her collections.

As for colour, Pantone’s “illuminating yellow” might be one of the shades considered by Biden or Harris for their evening ensembles, if not white. Pastel colours in general speak of hope and spring, jewel colours of wealth and entitlement. About Michelle Obama’s iconic lemon grass outfit, designer Isabel Toledo revealed in her memoir Roots of Style: “The colour of this dress was a very gentle, subtle tone of sage, but I called it ‘lemongrass’ to express an emotion more than a colour. I hoped this tone would evoke the idea of rebirth and renewal. This colour expressed a warmth and a pacific, calming emotion and symbolised a new day.”

As a new day dawns in world politics and the US celebrates five days of events with the theme “America United”, I’m sure the First Lady and Vice President will not disappoint with their carefully considered outfits. Here’s to four years of inspirational dressing and diplomacy.