Tim Walz is dressing the part — and it’s exactly what Harris needs

But the VP candidate has a rare ability, Guy said.

“Tim Walz is one of the few politicians who looks good in casual wear and also looks natural in it,” Guy told Business Insider.

When other politicians try to craft a working-class image — like when Donald Trump Jr. wore un-creased hiking boots — they can risk looking phony, but Walz doesn’t face the same dilemma given his background.

And even when he’s dressed up in a suit, Walz is dressed down, said Anne Higonnet, an art history professor at Barnard College who teaches a class on clothing and political power.

She called Walz “more rumply” than the average politician.

In addition to potentially resonating with swing state constituents who wore Carhartt before it became trendy, Walz’s clothing has also proven popular with the Gen Z crowd that Harris’ campaign is targeting, Guy said.

“It’s not that he wears it in the way the guy in New York or San Francisco wears it, but he wears it in a more authentic way,” Guy said. “He is the reference point for the looks that those guys in San Francisco and New York are copying.”

Case in point: Campaign merch fashioned after a campaign camo cap sold out in 24 hours, Time reported.

Two distinct tickets, two distinct styles

While the Harris-Walz ticket is challenging traditional images of power in terms of both gender and class, Donald Trump and JD Vance are doing “the absolute traditional version,” Higonnet said — in the MAGA vein of a 1980s power silhouette and red tie.

“The first two people who are in [the presidential race] are dressing in a more conservative image of authority and then the people who have suddenly come into the race are actually dressing ‘change,’ ‘the possibility of change,'” she added.

While both Walz and Vance hail from rural middle America, Vance has also relied on a beard and careful tailoring to make himself look more authoritative, Guy said.

Accordingly, Walz has already started knocking his opponent for his perceived elitism, including jabs at Vance for attending Yale Law School and working as a venture capitalist.

Walz’s class messages are as straightforward as his clothing — and now, that folksy appeal has been stitched into the presidential race.