TAMPA, Fla. – Elementary schoolers have Halloween. College students have theme nights and frat parties.
And Republicans have the National Convention, where every four years, they get to pull out their most sparkly, American flag printed, historically accurate garb and play dress-up.
Lest anyone forget their loyalty, Republican delegates and guest take he floor swathed in red, white, and blue — with an extra heavy dose of red — wearing outfits that boast loudly of their love for America and their conservatism.
One man wore a pale yellow suit with the pants tucked in so he could show off a pair of American flag cowboy boots. The Californian said he’d had them custom-made for him in Italy about two years ago. They are convention-wear only, he said.
Julie Smith’s sequined American flag jacket gets a bit more wear. The blue jacket, covered entirely in sequins, has a large American flag emblazoned on the back — also drawn in sequins.
“I wear it whenever anything patriotic is going on, or whenever I happen to be somewhere that’s a red, white and blue theme, even,” she told The Daily Caller.
On rare occasions, she admitted, “I’ll just wear it because everybody’s having a fun party and I just want to be flashy.”
The jacket is a hit at the convention, Smith said. Asked if she got many compliments, she told TheDC, “I must’ve gotten thirty already today.”
Oscar Poole, a restaurateur who owns a rib joint in North Georgia, is also getting lots of compliments on his bright yellow suit, with red epaulets. Wednesday, he wore it with a red, white, and blue Republican elephant tie, and a stars and stripes Uncle Sam hat.
“I have a business in North Georgia — a restaurant. And these are our business colors. And we use them on signs and cars and various things to get attention,” Poole said. “And it seems to work out pretty good at these conventions too.”
The outfit, which has gotten Poole’s photograph in various publications over the past couple of days, is not just a novelty. Poole said he wears it “fairly often, but not every day.” In particularly, he said, it’s something he brings to political events, but he also wears it for restaurant functions.
Then there were the historical outfits.
Marilucile Counce came to the convention dressed as Martha Washington. She sported a floor length white dress with small red and blue stars dappled over it. A navy blue apron was tied around her waist, and a shawl matching the dress was held on by a Republican elephant pin. On her head was a navy blue mob cap with white lace trim. She made the outfit herself.
“I want people to get interested in realizing their government is not what our founding fathers intended for it to be,” Counce said, saying it was a political statement meant to highlight the fact that government was too big and that there have been too many transgressions against the Constitution.
Anita Dougherty’s period costume was less about making a political statement, and more about having fun and saying thank you.
Wearing a white curly wig topped with a large feather, and a dress with a white bodice and a red and blue skirt, Dougherty, who is attending as a guest, explained: “When I found out I was going to be coming I wanted to make a historic dress, because I feel very strongly about our representative government.”
“I’m just very grateful to be a citizen of this country, and I wanted to express my gratefulness for our founders, and liberty is what we all look for,” she said, pointing to a sash she wore that said liberty.
Dougherty says she expects to wear it again, possibly for Fourth of July or another patriotic event. It’s not her only costume, however. She also has “some Renaissance costumes, some from the Spanish Court,” which she wears to Renaissance fairs.
The prize for best outfit coordination goes to the delegation from Texas, easily spotted in a crowd by their white Stetsons, all of whom have worn matching outfits for the first two days of the convention.
Wednesday, the outfit was a blue button down shirt with a Texas embroidery along with the pocket, topped with the hat.
“They asked us to submit the hat sizes and a generous sponsor provided them to the delegation,” explained Vergel Cruz and Elizabeth Dillon.
The hats are worn every day. Tuesday’s outfit was a Texas flag shirt. Thursday, they will dark suits, with a Texas flag tie for the men, and a scarf for the women.