A ‘Distracting’ Tie and a Nod to Swifties: The VP Debate’s Sartorial Choices

We all said, posted, or thought it to ourselves at some point in Tuesday’s vice presidential debate: Is J.D. Vance wearing a pink tie?

An exact answer to that remains a mystery a day later, with The New York Times’ Styles team writing that Vance’s tie was red—seemingly against what we all witnessed ourselves on TV (there was no audience, after all).

Regardless of the garb’s exact color—hot pink, candy pink, or fuchsia, all of which were among the guesses shared online—there appears to be a consensus among debate watchers that Vance’s tie was distracting at times.

Derek Guy, known on social media as “The Menswear Guy,” said Tuesday that he agreed with that characterization. It wasn’t just the color of Vance’s tie that Guy considered a flop, but also the senator’s decision to wear one that was raw silk and textured. That material and color, Guy said, is more appropriate for “summertime garden parties” than it is a debate stage.

“The tie says, ‘I’m here to have fun,’” he wrote.

The fashion guru also criticized Tim Walz’s tie—a simple, unremarkable dark blue one—as being “a little too plain.” Still, in Guy’s eyes, he said Walz’s tie choice won out on the debate stage.

“Vance’s tie was a distraction, while Walz’s tie helped viewers focus on his message,” Guy wrote to his 1.1 million followers on X. “At something as serious as a national debate, Vance would have been better served by a conservative business tie.”

Laura K. Sawyier, a consultant whose expertise is the psychology of fashion, said Wednesday that the color of Vance’s tie was the first thing she noticed and that she fixated on it throughout the debate. In an email to the Daily Beast, she estimated that Vance’s choice of a pink tie may have been an appeal to women and a deliberate ploy to occasionally distract from what he had to say.

“This non-traditional colorful accessory pulls viewers to focus on the tie, perhaps more than the words,” she said. “Our attention spans are increasingly shorter, and naturally, when we don’t understand what someone is saying, we often focus on their visual features.”

She added on the matter: “So, instead of listening to what the candidates might be saying for a moment, you may have asked yourself, ‘Why did he wear a pink tie?’ And it pulls you away from his responses to the moderator’s questions.

Scott Baradell, a branding expert who’s the CEO of Idea Grove, told the Daily Beast on Wednesday that he felt the candidates “fashion choices were more subtle than striking,” but added that Vance’s pink tie was a “bold move” that added a “touch of modernity.”

Baradell called Walz’s suit a “classic,” but said it was “perhaps a bit too safe, bordering on forgettable in the high-stakes environment of a debate.”

“Fashion in politics is about balancing relatability and authority; last night’s choices fell closer to the buttoned-up than the bold,” he added.

An email to Vance’s team inquiring about his tie’s true color and the reasoning behind it was not answered. Some suggested the pink tie was to commemorate the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but Vance and his team haven’t said as such.

Regardless of reasoning, the tie was a break from the norm for Vance. Since he joined Donald Trump’s presidential ticket in July, he’s almost always opted to wear a plain red tie, white shirt, and blue jacket—a look that’s become synonymous with his running mate since 2016. It would also be a departure from traditional debate fashion, as candidates typically are drawn to red or blue ties for the primetime spectacle.

Walz’s sartorial choices weren’t as bold as his opponent’s, but he still found a way to sneak in a fashion easter egg that had certain corners of the internet buzzing.

It was only seen in glimpses, but Walz was spotted wearing a friendship bracelet on his right wrist during the debate—a clear nod to Taylor Swift and her Swiftie superfans, who obsessed over the kitschy accessory at shows during her Eras Tour.

Swift famously endorsed Harris just after her Sept. 10 debate against Trump. Within minutes, a presale for Harris-Walz friendship bracelets were posted for sale by the campaign at $20 a pop.

While Walz’s debate bracelet certainly appeared similar to the Harris-Walz bracelets being sold online, CBS’ cameras weren’t zoomed in enough to make it out for certain. Whether it was official campaign merch or not didn’t seem matter to the Swifties who noticed the bracelet, however.

“@Tim_Walz wore friendship bracelets on the debate stage and we’re trying to play it cool with the best of them!” read a “Swifties for Kamala” post that received 18K likes.

“It’s so wild to see a vice president on stage debating with friendship bracelets on and thanking Taylor Swift in their closing argument,” posted another account, @AstoundingSwift.