President Obama wears a uniform of dark blue or charcoal suits with white or light blue medium-spread barrel cuff shirts and darker ties. The suits are mostly well-cut from Hart Schaffner Marx, a traditional American clothier, but they still look off-the-rack. Overall, President Obama looks just like another businessman – conservative and better than many of his poorly-dressed colleagues in Washington, but nothing special.
Bush 43 wore custom suits from Oxxford, a very traditional and high-range American tailor. Like the incumbent President, Bush II looked very conservative with his wardrobe of point-collar shirts and patterned ties, but was not exactly “exceptional” in any way.
Number 42, Bill Clinton, was a victim of his times, and fairly poorly-dressed. As reported from the New York Times, his suits were loose-cut to provide comfort, and had wide and low lapels and a low buttoning-point. The suits fit with Clinton’s personality, but also looked extremely sloppy. In fact, since the President liked his suits ventless, he often looked as if he was wearing a flour sack. Clinton’s point-collar shirts and loud ties did not help correct this sloppy image.
Since leaving office, President Clinton seems to have changed his style to be the exact opposite of that during his Presidency. Now, Clinton wears very well-tailored three-button (and often three-piece) European suits, complete with a very wide spread collar and a bright-colored tie knotted in a large half-Windsor. Formerly sloppy and humble, the former President now looks neat but also extremely elitist.
George H.W. Bush seems to be the last president to actually dress well.
Bush I’s style seems to have been inspired by his early days at Yale. He embodied the Ivy League look. His suits, always well-fit, were bought from J. Press, a menswear company founded on the Yale campus, and were distinctive for their three-roll-two structure (although the suit had three buttons, the top button was meant to be only decorative and mostly hidden). His shirts had point-collars and double cuffs – another reflection of his Yale heritage – and his ties were distinctively American. More importantly, the elder President Bush often wore a white linen pocket square – a great finishing touch to the already spectacular ensemble.
Most importantly, President George H.W. Bush was distinct from his time. At a time when lapels and ties were wide to “project power,” President Bush wore slim. Despite President Reagan’s full Windsor knots were popular, Bush always sported the traditional four-in-hand. In the late 80s and early 90s, when all aspects of menswear turned to favor power, the 41st President of the United States never shifted much from his Ivy Leagues – a dedication to timeless style.
Now that his career in politics is over, the former President is still embodying Ivy League style, but with more display of personal taste. Look at his brightly-colored socks – a subtle yet effective way to personalize an otherwise conservative ensemble.
George H.W. Bush was the last well-dressed President of the United States.