There’s a running gag on the popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother where Barney Stinson keeps asking Ted Mosby to suit up, and the protagonist just ends up wearing a blazer. It would appear that running gag is now part of American politics where Volodymyr Zelenskyy when the Trump administration arm-twisted the Ukrainian President to up his sartorial game before meeting the leader of the “free world”. Except the sartorial rebel – who has been wearing a sweatshirt to show solidarity with his troops in Ukraine – refused, turning up in a black jacket over a collared black shirt and no tie.

The White House Wardrobe Request

The Wall Street Journal reported that ahead of the Oval Office meeting, the White House pressed Zelenskyy to dress more conventionally: suit, tie, and the whole Capitol Hill starter pack. For Trump’s team, it wasn’t about fabric but fealty. A suit signals hierarchy; a tie signals submission to the script of American presidential theatre.But Zelenskyy has spent the last three years rewriting that script. His wartime wardrobe is not an accident of comfort but a deliberate symbol. Sweatshirts, fatigues, and henleys have become part of Ukraine’s frontline diplomacy, reminding the world at every summit that Kyiv is not hosting cocktail parties but fighting for survival.

The Jacket as Counter-Narrative

President Donald Trump meet with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office at the White House, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Zelenskyy’s black jacket at the White House was a carefully chosen middle finger wrapped in compromise.Colour & Cut: Deep black, military-inspired canvas fabric, shaped like a blazer but stripped of luxury.Details: Shirt-style collar, button closure, four front pockets, practical design.Pairing: Black trousers, sometimes combat boots — less Wall Street, more wartime chic.It was more formal than his sweatshirt-and-combat look, but still unmistakably not the suit-and-tie costume Trump’s aides wanted. The jacket itself has appeared before — notably at a NATO summit — underlining that this is part of a strategy, not a whim.

Visual Diplomacy

Clothes in politics are rarely just clothes. Winston Churchill had his wartime boiler suit. Jawaharlal Nehru turned the achkan into a jacket now worn by diplomats worldwide. Narendra Modi made even pinstripes carry a monogrammed message.Zelenskyy’s blazer is his version of that playbook. It tells two audiences two different things:To the West, it signals seriousness, diplomacy, and respect for the occasion.To Ukrainians, it signals continuity with his wartime image, proof that even in Washington’s gilded halls, their president hasn’t swapped uniforms for tuxedos.This is visual diplomacy — adapting to the stage without abandoning the role.

Trump’s Optics Over Substance

If Zelenskyy was playing with subtlety, Trumpworld was not. During an earlier Oval Office meeting in February, Trump mocked Zelenskyy’s casual wear, while Vice President JD Vance scolded him for not saying “thank you” enough for US support. The fixation on clothing and gratitude reveals a mindset less about alliance and more about obedience.Washington couldn’t force Moscow to retreat, but it could try to make Kyiv wear a tie. The irony? The world noticed the jacket far more than it would have noticed a generic navy suit.

Power in a Jacket

The black jacket represented three overlapping messages:

When asked by a conservative reporter why he refused to wear a suit, Zelenskyy replied: “I will wear costume after this war will finish. Maybe something like yours, maybe something better.” That quip captured the defiance: clothes, like peace, would come on his terms.Lyndon Johnson once said politics is about power — “and power is where power goes.” Zelenskyy’s jacket was power stitched in black canvas. It let him walk into the Oval Office without playing dress-up for Trump. In a city obsessed with costumes, he reminded everyone that the man in the jacket, not the man in the tie, was the one fighting a real war.