A congresswoman's predicament: what to wear? Cori Bush and AOC talk it out

Last night newly elected Democratic congresswoman Cori Bush, who made history this year when she defeated a 10-term incumbent and became the first Black woman elected to Congress in Missouri, tweeted a practical concern about entering the House of Congress. “The reality of being a regular person going to Congress is it’s really expensive to get the business clothes I need,” she said.

Bush, a single mother of two children, gave up her health insurance to run for office, leaving full-time work as an ordained pastor and nurse. She now finds herself having to dress for a place where people are used to inordinate means: in 2018, the median net worth of a congressperson was $511,000, eight times that of the average US household. The majority of her colleagues at Congress are also millionaires – meanwhile, Bush will not receive her first paycheck until after inauguration on 20 January , potentially later depending on how long it takes Trump to acknowledge defeat.

Bush is not the first to have these practical concerns. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib responded to Bush, saying she shops in thrift stores. Ayanna Pressley responded with makeup tips.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez offered to go shopping with Bush. Ocasio-Cortez, who was a waitress before being elected to Congress, has always spoken openly about how borrowing from friends, thrift shopping and a clothing rental subscription her friend bought her got her through her first term in the house.

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“There is so much policing of women … because Congress is not used to anybody who doesn’t look like the norm,” Ocasio-Cortez told Elle after she was first elected – sharing how she was pushed to “[look] a lot more expensive than what [she] can afford”.

She is not wrong. Women are still fired for not wearing heels, a bra, or makeup in the workplace, and those wearing “richer clothes” are thought to be more competent than those wearing “poorer clothes”. Meanwhile, in the UK, a government-funded commission discovered how simply wearing the wrong shoe color can identify someone as working class in lucrative industries, locking them out of opportunities.

Bush has already won herself the ire of people who think she shouldn’t complain about shelling out for a few suits – after all, her salary is higher than the average American. Ocasio-Cortez was also mocked for either re-wearing outfits, or wearing outfits that were too pricey (women can’t win, remember?). Her $200 haircut made headlines, but conservative pundits have little to say about the $70k Trump spent on hairstylists.

Rich, Republican women are also excluded from this fury: Seema Verma, who has spent thousands on clothes, jewelry, lotions and girls nights and charged it to the taxpayer with barely the same amount of public scrutinity. The question, then, is not simply “how dare these women?” but “how dare these poor women?” (the fact that those women fight for higher wages for the working class should not be lost, either).

As for Bush, she does not see herself as a victim. She offered to do a fashion show while she shops, feeding off the joy of her predicament rather than complaining.

While members of the Squad have been dismissed as being too “on Twitter” by people like Nancy Pelosi, it is strategic how AOC, Pressley, Tlaib and now Bush are capitalizing on their outsider status and commonality with everyday Americans by speaking about class, money and social capital without shame.

As Ocasio-Cortez put it back in 2018: “The most powerful position you can be in is when you’re not trying to compromise yourself, and you’re just being unapologetically present, because we earned this seat.”