Style-wise, Flair Falls to Conformity at Oct's Dem Presidential Debate

In a world where despite reality, fashion is derided as petty, most of the candidates treated it so at the debate. The men wore dark suits. Castro, Biden, Booker, Buttigieg, O'Rourke and Steyer wore white shirts, and Rep. Gabbard a white blouse. O'Rourke and Buttigieg wore blue ties. Mr. Castro a red and green diagonal one. Among them, Steyer and Yang chose to stand out as much as the theatrical conventions allowed. I believe the fundraising and poling numbers show them struggling among and straggling from their rivals.
From what I could see Sen. Klobuchar wore a purple suit and blouse with a mid-low collar. Sen. Warren wore a purple jacket also and dark blouse with a similar collar. Sen. Harris conveyed the most flair. She wore a purple jacket with a silver-is blouse and adorned herself with a necklace. In her bearing she was less rigid and constipated than Klobuchar and Warren seemed to be at times. Beside their and Harris' choices of color, Rep. Gabbard's choice of white muted her. It differed from the others. Did this help her?
What are the politics of fashion? They are convention, safe and conformist. Conservative. 
Sadly, there were no Read My Pins, the book from Dr. Madeleine Albright, moments for anyone. As Secretary of State, Dr. Albright polished her reputation by deliberately wearing broaches or pins to communicate the gravity or mood of the day's foreign policy agenda. Fashion is most fun when people take, and ideally is about those risks.
Why? Because few people use their imaginations successfully, where audacity embraces subtlety well. 
Someone smarter than me said that politics is a form of theater. So costuming enters the conversation. Harris checked that box to better effect than anyone else on the stage.
No one was audacious.
Where conformity and conservative style, even among progressives, is a norm, not to wear a tie is something! Mr. Yang chose this tack. And he is competing poorly among his rivals. That tack is mistaken for rebellion. 
Mr. Steyer was new to the arena. He took a slight risk by avoiding solid reds and blues. The tartan surprised me. (If someone cared to they might research how many aspiring for national political office wear tartan.)
People seldom opine, or are even asked, about how the theatricality of politics affects its or public servants' credibility. Maybe they should. Fashion and the choices of style affect everything.

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