What to Wear at Midnight and the Morning After (If You’re the First Lady of New York)
A Swearing-In, Styled: Rama Duwaji, Zohran Mamdani, and What They Wore When Power Changed Hands
At 12:01 a.m. in New York City, a few dozen feet underground, an intimate gathering at the Old City Hall station signaled the quiet transition of power from Mayor Eric Adams to Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani.
Closed since 1945, the station, one of New York’s original 28, remains an unusually beautiful time capsule of Romanesque Revival style: vaulted ceilings, painted glass tiles, ornate skylights traced with floral motifs. Built in 1904 as the final stop on the southern line, it once offered a moment of calm at the very end of the route—beauty tucked quietly beneath the city, for anyone and everyone.
It’s a dazzling space for any occasion, but it feels particularly poignant now, as we face the dawn of a new era. The capital-P People—those who make this city the greatest in the world—take center stage again. We voted for a candidate who intends to serve each and every one of us, and his first moments doing so unfold in the place that carries our collective heartbeat: the subway.
While I can’t speak for the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who passed through the MTA last night dressed in the fruits of their arduous labor— deciding what the hell to wear to a New Year’s Eve party, I do have some tea on two very fabulous people aboard one particular train pulling into Old City Hall.
You may remember that just last month I wrote here that Rama Duwaji doesn’t need a stylist to transform her because the style is already immaculate. Still, I wondered aloud: Wouldn’t it be fab if she had someone to translate her?
Well… the thing about synchronicity is… that person is now me.
When Zohran’s Senior Advisor and my longtime friend Zara Rahim rang me up to see if I had New Years plans it felt like kismet. And one thing about me: I stay ready to pick up calls from the universe (and also calls from Zara Rahim).
WHAT DID THE FIRST LADY WEAR AT THE MIDNIGHT SWEARING-IN, YOU ASK?
Rama wore a vintage Balenciaga coat from Albright Fashion Library and archival earrings from New York Vintage, both rented during a single marathon day spent diving into the racks and cupboards of the city’s best small, circular fashion businesses.
Thrifting is something Rama does often—she’s an exceptionally savvy shopper—so renting second-life fashion felt like the most authentic way to approach a moment of this magnitude. In both process and result, it’s abundantly clear she has no intention of showing up as anything other than herself in this new role.
And while there are moments to get freaky with it (sorry, still gagged over the New York Magazine spread and interview b e y o n d), others feel closer to home. We contain multitudes!!!
This look is honest. Real. Regal in the punkest way.
C’mon formal shorts!! Those are from The Frankie Shop, and the boots are *ON LOAN* from Miista.
I’m just going to have to get comfortable with the fact that people on the internet do not understand what being lent a SAMPLE that has been borrowed before and will be borrowed again means but, you know what, that’s okay.
I love that she’s added a new chapter to garments that have already lived many lives—and that their next wearers will get to share in this piece of history.
And as for the Mayor…
Well. That’s a swag all his own. His fashion is… shall we say… simple. He wears suits from Suit Supply and the same two pairs of boots. He’s got work to do, and fashion isn’t exactly top of mind.
…but tea on the tie? That’s something special.
A handwoven silk moment with a jacquard motif from Assam in Northeast India, created by 26-year-old New Delhi–based designer Kartik Kumra under his label, Kartik Research. If you’re unfamiliar…change that.
Kartik Research is making some of the most beautiful menswear on the market precisely because it’s committed to restoring humanness in design. You see it in the loomwork, the embroidery, the weave itself. This tie reflects the old-world craftsmanship that runs throughout a collection rooted deeply in the artisanal textile heritage of Kumra’s native homeland.
It’s preternaturally beautiful.
And that’s because it’s made with love.
Again with the synchronicity!!
The power of manifestation is a wild and precious thing. It’s at the heart of what makes this moment feel so special. Anything is possible. You just have to dream it.
Please hold: I have some grapes to attend to…
The Morning After: The Mamdani Era Dawns
One of the best parts of working on New Year’s Eve is starting the New Year without a hangover.
Mashallah!
My head is clear. My mind is squarely fixated on a minor obsession with the deep red color of Rama’s nails as she held the Qur’an upon which the Mayor took his oath last night.
I’m inspired.
“Gloves or no gloves…? Gloves or no gloves…?”
This is my mantra, repeating ad infinitum as I cross the Brooklyn Bridge into Lower Manhattan under a fresh dappling of snow early this morning.
The mantra serves as a calming tool as I ruminate on the First Lady’s look for the Mayor’s public inauguration ceremony and block party later today. As a native Californian I, famously, do not own a pair of gloves but I’ve grown to appreciate the drama of them more than the necessity.
As one can imagine, there are anxieties around expectations for a stage of this scale for a stylist. Dressing for the political arena is its own kind of beast—but a couple of factors made the parameters far more flexible (and favorable) than most stylists could hope for:
1.) The First Lady is 28 years old and plays by her own rules.
2.) She has taste and a sense of style that predates this inauguration—and plans to preserve both.
And that’s on hell yeah.
Of course, there is one uncompromising reality with which any First Lady must contend:
It is really fucking cold in New York City on January 1st.
There is a reason a coat is customary. And perhaps that’s the only traditional thing about the look—but as ever, she did it her way.
Rama chose a design by Palestinian-Lebanese designer Cynthia Merhej of Renaissance, Renaissance—an adaptation of one of Merhej’s favorite looks from the Fall/Winter 2023 collection, reworked with the First Lady’s own twist.
“It encapsulates her perfectly: elegant yet whimsical,” the designer said of the locally-sourced wool and faux-fur coat. “…it was made in Lebanon by Lebanese women… my mother, our seamstress Nona, the patternmaker Souad, and my cousins Kristy and Jess who [brought] the piece to New York with them… a testament to the superhuman strength of women and our community…”
On her first official day as First Lady of New York, Rama is wearing a small, independent woman designer from the Middle East. That representation resonates. It reverberates. Because fashion communicates. It sends a message. This, we know.
“I admire and respect Rama’s conviction for choosing this moment to raise up her community. The fact she is choosing to wear designers from the region is humanizing us and showing the incredible culture and creativity we have here. It brings a lot of hope, hope that things can and are changing in a broader sense. I was surprised she knew about the brand but when I saw her universe it made total sense that we are aligned, and the fact she chose to wear us when she could have any other big name right now says so much about who she is and what she stands for.”
What I love about Renaissance, Renaissance is that it’s a project rooted in heritage. Following in the tradition of her mother and great-grandmother, Merhej is the third generation of couturiers in her family. Her work evokes femininity, power, and freedom—a pragmatic couture for the modern woman.
Collaborating with Rama and Cynthia on this design was such a thrill. References and renderings flew back and forth, all in service of subtly subverting expectations of how a First Lady can—or “should”—present.
And I think we finally found the answer:
However the fuck she wants to.
The inauguration was a true vibe, but as I listened to my mayor quote Jadakiss on a podium in front of City Hall or, really, in front of the whole world, snow flurries began to fall from the sky…
I should have made her wear the fucking gloves.
Happy New Year, Brainiacs.
xGKJ
This was one of the juiciest things I have ever read. Thank you for all of the details, told with authenticity and zest for this incredible moment. Rama is truly an inspiration. Did Mira Nair use a stylist? She looked incredible, too, but I know she also has her own inimitable style.
This is such a cool breakdown thank you so much!!! Congratulations on having the coolest styling charges in NYC, it's clear from your writing that your clients are so lucky to have you! :)