--- description: Democratic women of Congress are wearing white to the State of the Union to show unity in the fight for people's rights. Here's what to know. title: Why Democratic Congresswomen Are Wearing White at the State of the Union image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3601c0c08347a608/698a09c8b21a9cef885031b3/WomenWearingWhiteStateoftheUnion2020.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why Democratic Congresswomen Wore White Again to Send a Message at the State of the Union  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 12, 2023 7:41 PM CUTPublished: Feb 5, 2020 1:47 AM CUT  Representative from Minnesota Ilhan Omar and Democratic members from the House of Representatives wearing white attend the State Of The Union address at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Feb. 4, 2020. Representative from Minnesota Ilhan Omar and Democratic members from the House of Representatives wearing white attend the State Of The Union address at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Feb. 4, 2020.Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 12, 2023 7:41 PM CUTPublished: Feb 5, 2020 1:47 AM CUT The [Democratic women of Congress](https://time.com/5494280/democratic-women-house-of-representatives/ "undefined") arrived [wearing white](https://time.com/5518859/state-of-the-union-2019-white/ "undefined") yet again as a way to show their unity and a commitment to defending the rights of women and disenfranchised groups at the 2020 State of the Union address. One hundred years after the ratification of the [19th amendment](https://time.com/3986075/19th-amendment/ "undefined"), which gave some women the right to vote, this year, the Democratic Women’s Caucus organized the style statement. They announced their decision to wear white as a show of solidarity in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon ahead of the State of the Union address. The decision to wear white is an homage to the [white outfits often worn by suffragists](https://time.com/4643297/colorized-suffrage-photos/ "undefined") during their fight to get women’s votes recognized.  Representative Norma Torres, a Democrat from California, second left, holds up a copy of the constitution as U.S. President Donald Trump, not pictured, delivers a State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images  Democratic lawmakers dress in white as they arrive ahead of a State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images “The DWC is leading Democratic members in wearing suffragist white to send a strong, unified message of persistence in fighting for the people,” the DWC said in a statement shared with _TIME_. “Proud to join my fellow @HouseDemWomen today as we #WearWhite to show support for the ongoing fight to achieve equality for women across the country.” Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tweeted with a group photo before the address. > [](https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi/status/1224856079634440194)  Representative from Michigan Rashida Tlaib is seen before the start of the State Of The Union address by US President Donald Trump at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2020. Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images The DWC, which is made up of the 90 Democratic women of the House, emphasized that their show of unity signified their commitment to fighting for for economic opportunity, access to health care and reproductive freedom, as well as policy change and equality for all. The fashion statement was used to splashy effect last year during the [2019 State of the Union address](https://time.com/5518859/state-of-the-union-2019-white/ "undefined"), as well as in 2017 during a presidential address to Congress; both were organized by the House Democratic Women’s Working Group in service of supporting women’s issues.  Democratic members of the House of Representatives at the 2019 State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb 5, 2019 in Washington, DC. Zach Gibson—Getty Images:  Female lawmakers dressed in suffragette white at the 2019 State of the Union Address. Aaron P. Bernstein—Bloomberg/Getty Images:  Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Alma Adams, D-N.C., wore "suffragette white" to the State of the Union address to show solidarity for women's agendas on Tuesday, Feb 5, 2019 in Washington, D.C. Tom Williams—CQ Roll Call/Getty Images: Notably, Hillary Clinton wore a white pantsuit to the 2016 Democratic national convention, where she became the first major party female nominee for president. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5777514/women-wearing-white-state-of-the-union/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5777514/women-wearing-white-state-of-the-union/"},"headline":"Why Democratic Congresswomen Wore White Again to Send a Message at the State of the Union","datePublished":"2020-02-05T01:47:51.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T19:41:40.000Z","description":"Here's what you need to know","url":"https://time.com/5777514/women-wearing-white-state-of-the-union/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics","fashion","onetime","clickmonsters"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3601c0c08347a608/698a09c8b21a9cef885031b3/WomenWearingWhiteStateoftheUnion2020.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3601c0c08347a608/698a09c8b21a9cef885031b3/WomenWearingWhiteStateoftheUnion2020.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-TRUMP-SOTU","caption":"Women wearing white State of Union 2020","creditText":"Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5777514/women-wearing-white-state-of-the-union/","name":"Why Democratic Congresswomen Wore White Again to Send a Message at the State of the Union"}}]}] ```