ADVERTISEMENTUS rock band ZZ Top stormed the charts in 1983 with a song about a “Sharp Dressed Man,” lyrics that this week could apply to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy is currently in The Hague attending this year’s NATO summit in a bid to ensure continued Western military support for his country, which, more than three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, is still trying to repel Moscow’s forces.
And this time around, the Ukrainian president looks more formal than he has been since Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine started in early 2022.
Gone are the army fatigues Zelenskyy has worn since then; in their place is a blazer (albeit with military overtones), dress pants, and a dress shirt, sans necktie.
But why the switch? There are several possible reasons. But first, let’s take a quick look at why Zelenskyy ditched the more usual presidential attire of suit, dress shirt and tie in the first place.
Between his election to the Ukrainian presidency in 2019 and the Russian full-scale invasion, Zelenskyy dressed much like any other head of state: he was clean-shaven and wore tailored suits, dress shoes, shirts and ties.
But after the 2022 invasion, Zelenskyy opted for a sartorial switch, favouring instead sweatshirts, cargo pants and work boots. He has also worn a military-style vyshyvanka — a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt that is part of the country’s cultural heritage.
The choice of clothes partly reflects the fact that he is Ukraine’s commander-in-chief and is also a sign of solidarity with Ukraine’s armed forces.
“Zelenskyy dresses demonstratively. But the only message he wants to convey with his clothing is: ‘In my country, there is a war,'” Ukrainian fashion historian Zoya Zvynyatskivska told The Kyiv Independent newspaper.
“Everyone wants to forget. Everyone wants to move on. But he keeps reminding them.”
The Trump factor
One occasion where no one was allowed to forget Zelenskyy’s choice of clothes was a disastrous meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on 28 February.
That meeting started badly…and then got worse. Trump and his Vice President JD Vance were in confrontational mode, berating Zelenskyy in front of journalists for not being grateful enough for US military support for the war effort and for “gambling with World War III.”
Zelenskyy was encouraged by Trump’s team prior to the Oval Office meeting to wear a formal suit, something he declined to do, a decision that reportedly offended Trump.
When Zelenskyy arrived at the White House, Trump greeted him with “You’re all dressed up today.”
And Zelenskyy’s combat attire was raised again by a journalist in the Oval Office.
“Why don’t you wear a suit? You’re at the highest level in this country’s office and you refuse to wear a suit,” Brian Glenn, chief White House correspondent for Real America’s Voice TV channel asked.
“Do you own a suit? A lot of Americans have problems with you not respecting the office,” Glenn continued.
Zelenskyy replied simply: “I will wear (a suit) after this war finishes.”
Royal reception
Another reason for Zelenskyy’s more formal attire in The Hague may be related to the Dutch royal family.
Prior to the start of the summit, NATO delegates were welcomed at the Huis ten Bosch royal palace for an official dinner with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima.
There, Zelenskyy sported a military-style black jacket and dress shirt, perhaps seen as more appropriate to the setting than the olive-green sweatshirt and combat pants he tends to wear.
But this type of black jacket, Zelenskyy has worn in public at least twice before.
The first time was in April when he headed to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis. In keeping with the solemnity of that occasion, Zelenskyy chose to wear a formal dress shirt underneath the jacket.
It was seen again just two days ago, when he was invited to a private meeting and lunch with King Charles III at Windsor Castle.
Zelenskyy wore the jacket again for that meeting, but interestingly, it was absent the first time he met the king at Sandringham in March. At that meeting, Zelenskyy chose only to wear a black sweatshirt.
High-stakes summit
A final reason for Zelenskyy’s more formal choice of clothing may be the importance being attributed to this NATO summit.
Several media outlets have already called it the most consequential meeting of NATO allies in the alliance’s 76-year history.
Defence spending, the threat from Russia and Trump’s commitment to European security are all seen as hot-button topics this year, and several delegates will be wary of upsetting the famously unpredictable Trump.
However, Trump may well go into this summit in a more benign mood than usual. He’ll be riding high on the back of what he sees as a successful ceasefire deal ending 12 days of fighting between Iran and Israel and trumpeting that Iran’s nuclear facilities have been “completely and totally obliterated.”
Prior to his arrival in The Hague, Trump shared a series of gushing text messages he’d received from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praising him for his military action against Iran and putting pressure on the alliance’s allies to raise defence spending to 5% of GDP.
“Mr President, dear Donald, congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do. It makes us all safer,” one of the messages read.
Zelenskyy’s position at the summit and whether he will be able to secure continued American support for Ukraine remain unclear, but he would certainly be mindful of that February meeting at the White House and be more inclined to dress to impress.
Clothes may not make the man, but this time around, they may make all the difference.
