Usha Vance Takes Us Back To The '70s With Wide-Leg Suede Pants (And We Wish She Hadn't)

Usha Vance has suffered a few fashion flops since becoming the second lady. In fact, Usha's clothing often functions as a tell of her uneasy alignment with the MAGA elite. What exactly is she doing there, one might ask, besides trying to be a supportive spouse and partner? But it seems her situation within the upper echelons of the Republican Party is a strange one. And her style, much more muted and conservative, doesn't jive with the political Barbie aesthetics of many of the other women around her. As such, Usha's had some style flops along the way. Even by early 2025, shortly after her husband became vice president, Usha had already worn several outdated outfits. She took a while to find her footing.

Usha is one of the more complicated figures of MAGA. A Yale graduate – where she met her future husband, JD Vance — Usha is the daughter of immigrants who hail from India. She went on to study at Cambridge University and later clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. A registered Democrat for much of her adult life, Usha found herself in the riptide of the Republican Party when her husband joined forces with Donald Trump, becoming his running mate in July 2024. Since then, Usha's become a unique figure in that world, and her fashion fails carry with them more weight than the average MAGA woman.

Usha Vance joined First Lady Melania Trump and the American Red Cross in early December 2025 at Joint Base Andrews to assemble care packages for service members deployed overseas. While there, Usha wore a black top and wide-leg, caramel-toned suede pants. The pants, reminiscent of '70s fashion, wasn't one of her best moments, and Usha stood out because of the dated look.

While fashion can be dismissed as superficial, it can also prove a useful indication of a person's deeper alignments and values, and this instance of Usha's flared pants is one such moment. In a world of Mar-A-Lago face, a plastic surgery trend sweeping the Republican Party, Usha takes no part, resisting the lip injections and artificiality of many of the other women within the party. The slick heels and bodycon dresses, a style popular amongst many MAGA women, is one that Usha flatly rejects, as well. While its laudatory that Usha sticks to her own style, there seems to be a growing disconnect with her ideological stance and that of many of the other members of her husband's political party. Even their own marriage seems less and less harmonious; it's hard to ignore the glaring red flags in JD and Usha's marriage, and there have been several moments that had people sure that the couple were heading for divorce. Usha's fashion fails might be an indication that she's less and less focused on fitting in with the MAGA world.