State of the Union: US senator’s bold fashion choice at president’s State of the Union address

A US senator has attracted attention for her bold fashion choice for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Arizona’s Senator Kyrsten Sinema chose a canary yellow fitted frock complete with dramatic ruffled sleeves and slit.

The senator teams the outfit with sleep hair and her signature glasses.

While the fashion choice was in keeping with the senator’s colourful style among more somberly dressed politicians, some members of the public weren’t impressed with her choice, taking to Twitter to express their views.

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“Kyrsten Sinema got confused and thought this was the Grammys,” one commented.

“Anything for attention. Looks like CarolBurnett’s Gone with the Wind dress,” another tweeted.

Another compared the outfit to Sesame Street’s Big Bird.

“Kyrsten Sinema seeking attention at the #StateOfTheUnion,” they commented.

“Why did Kyrsten Sinema wear her Big Bird floaties to the State of the Union? Was she expecting a water landing?” another said.

“Not sure about that outfit Kirsten [sic] Sinema decided to wear to the State of the Union Speech,” Roshan Rinaldi captioned a photo of Big Bird seated among guests in an auditorium,” another tweet read.

“Did the airbags on Kyrsten Sinema’s outfit deploy during the State of the Union?” one joked.

“Why did Kyrsten Sinema dress up like it’s Bee Movie?” another said.

“Who wore it best?” another commented, adding a photo of the Teletubby LaLa.

Others defended the senator’s choice, labelling the dress “totally gorgeous.”

While the dress is certainly a dramatic choice for an event like the State of the Union address compared to the sea of more muted tones chosen by other attendees, it is in keeping with the senator’s usually fashion choices.

She has previously worn wigs, knee-high boots and once chose a denim vest to wear to the Senate chambers. For those who are fans of Senator Sinema’s fashion choices, they can purchase them from her on Facebook Marketplace.

Senator Sinema wasn’t the only politician to attract attention for her outfit choice on the day. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was called out for wearing a cream coat with a fluffy fur collar.

She was quickly compared to Cruella de Vil from Disney’s 101 Dalmations.

Female politicians have long been subjected to scrutiny over their appearances and fashion choices, with former Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard regularly criticised for her choice of outfits during her time in office from 2010 to 2013.

Her treatment culminated in her iconic ‘misogyny’ speech in 2010 directed at then Opposition Leader Tony Abbott during which she declared she would “not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man, I will not. Not now, not ever.”

Gillard later said of her speech that it was “anger” that drove her into the 15-minute tirade.

“After every sexist thing directed at me that I’d bitten my lip on, now I was going to be accused of sexism – the unfairness of that,” Gillard said of that moment. “That anger propelled it.”

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