GEORGIA MORTILLARO
Special to The Leader
As we all very well know, fashion is one of the most important aspects of the political landscape.
Just mere weeks from the Election Day itself, I’ll be rating the merchandise of the 2024 political candidates.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Designs: When you look at Kennedy’s website, the first thing that comes up is the multitude of hats displaying “Make America Great Again.” Oh, wait, sorry. I mean, “Make America Healthy Again.” When you look deeper on the website you don’t really see an original idea. “Make Love Not War” and “Make America Healthy Again” are plastered in green text on white shirts. There are also a few “Kennedy Jr. 2024” shirts. (Does he realize he dropped out of the running?)
There are some exceptions like a few tie-dye shirts and shirts with American Sign Language (ASL) on them. My personal favorite would be the tie-dye “Make America Healthy Again.”
Qualities: All the shirts are mostly cotton and run from sizes small to 4XL. The website showcases a multitude of tops like crop tops, tank tops, hoodies, baseball tees and more. There are a few pairs of bottoms like sweatpants, athletic shorts and leggings.
Prices: The most popular products on the website are shirts, hoodies and hats. A basic shirt ranges from $30-$35. Hats go from $28-$30. Classic hoodies go from $60-$77.
Rating: 2 stars out of 5. Nothing really interesting. Points deducted because he’s not even running anymore. Why does he still have “Kennedy Jr. 2024” stuff?
#Droppeditlikeitshot.
Kamala Harris
Designs: The first thing you notice when you look at the apparel section is the multitude of designs: floral, camo, shirts with young photos of her, signatures and more. There’s a shirt for every type of person, even the people who want to quietly rep her brand without ruffling feathers at the family reunion. The shirts do seem to represent more of her ideology than the fact that she’s running — out of the 32 items of apparel, only 11 items mention her and Walz running. The 11 “Harris & Walz” items include hoodies, shirts and baby onesies. A percentage of money from the “Harris & Walz” shirts is donated to the Harris victory fund.
Qualities: There is a notably smaller section of clothing with only 32 pieces, all of them 100% cotton and ranging from small to 3XL. The clothing line carries shirts, hoodies, tank tops, onesies and a pair of socks. She features different designers’ and artists’ works on her clothing.
Prices: The prices of a basic shirt range from $30-$55. Hats go from $40-$47 and classic hoodies go from $75-$85.
My personal favorite item would be the “Harris pride tee” featuring Kamala Harris waving a pride flag.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5. The line features interesting and unique designs and a smaller selection but pretty designs overall. It is not too loud and not quiet (similar to her politics). However, it has the highest prices out of all three.
Donald Trump
storefront.
Designs: Ah, it’s time. When you stumble upon this website the first thing that hits you is the barrage of colored hats. The red “Make America Great Again” tends to be the first one. When you look more, you see a few more hats and a few shirts — the one that caught my eye the most was the Donald Trump Eras Tour shirt. Copying the design of a popular musical artist who has openly denounced you, hey, it’s a choice. I will say, he has the most diverse section, whether you’re Black, white, Catholic, Jewish or Latino, there is a specific special shirt waiting for you. I do appreciate how the website has separated all the specific types of shirts. There’s a section for the “fight fight fight” apparel, then for the “official Trump-Vance 2024” and the “never surrender.” Most of the apparel is the classic “Make America Great Again.”
Qualities: This is the largest section out of the three but has the smallest range of shirts, only having golf shirts, t-shirts, hoodies and long-sleeve shirts. They also have the smallest size selection, only carrying small-2XL. All 100% cotton shirts.
Prices: The price of a basic shirt ranges from $26-$36, hats are all $40 and classic hoodies are $35.
My personal favorite would have to be the bright pink “Women for Trump.” We may have our rights taken away but we get a shirt!
Rating: 2 stars out of 5. There is barely any variety in the type of apparel and the smallest size selection of all three. But there’s a shirt for most types of people which is nice? But who cares what I say. As Trump says, “You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media writes as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of *ss.”