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US 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.