Living in an all-girls uni house, I’ve been thinking a lot about female icons and women’s pop
culture that inspired me growing up. Always the young girl with strong moral opinions based
largely on Disney movies, and a simultaneous passion for fashion (I’ve been known to pair
polka dot tights and caterpillar welly boots), the one and only Elle Woods from the 2001 film
‘Legally Blonde’ instantly sprung to mind. Elle was such a key figure in the lives of all girls
growing up and around the 2000s because she was able to balance an often media-mocked,
feminine ditziness and silliness that in reality informs young female friendships, whilst
making serious political statements with her legal success. All whilst wearing a bright pink
suit. An outfit to perfectly represent her feminist message, to make her and her ideologies
stand out, and a costume that has ever since that first watch cemented itself to my memory.
Thus, Elle Woods is a perfect example of how fashion always has and always will be used to
mirror the political sphere, whether a conscious personal declaration, or a semi-
subconscious socio-cultural movement.
A similarly fierce and fashion forward young woman in current pop culture is Chappel Roan.
We’ve all heard her hit song ‘Hot To Go’ in the clubs and on the radio and probably seen a
paparazzi snap of her recent red carpet looks, often inspired by the archetypal Medieval
Princess. Below are her 2024 MTV VMA outfits, notably including features such as the cross
necklace, chainmail/ metalwork, and rich red colouring. Many viewers compared the central
style to French heroine Joan of Arc, frequently depicted wearing a suit of armour, and
famous for her courage in battle. And she’s not the only one!
After studying a range of paintings from the Middle Ages, the following may be described as
the key qualities of Medieval fashion:
The colour red, and other bold colours
Velvet
Fur
Silk
Headdresses
Embellishment
Metalwork and chainmail
All of which are creeping back into the runways! Vogue listed tomato red in their trend
predictions for 2025 and fur coats line the racks in Urban Outfitters right now. Headdresses
are less common in quotidian wear, but perhaps they are the next surprising modernised
Medieval trend to emerge given the fad of fuzzy snoods and balaclavas for winter, as well as
pashminas and headscarves for summer festivals.
Fashion and politics have always been inextricably linked. From the controversial Yves Saint
Laurent 1967 women’s pantsuit to a Black Lives Matter t-shirt worn in the aftermath of
George Floyd’s murder, what we wear reflects a wider political affiliation. This message does
not even have to evoke a specific, explicit policy, just the very image we create for ourselves
by what we wear day to day influences other’s perceptions of us and our identity, itself a
political concept. For example, I present myself as a woman, probably recognisably a
student, and a follower of online trends without consciously or purposefully doing so. Just as
politics influences our fashion, the world of fashion has a reverse impact on the global
political sphere.
Therefore, with the rise of medieval fashion there is evidence that medieval politics is
returning. Scholars have been noticing that in the 21 st century, even though we are in an era
of technological and industrial advancement, global systems that are meant to create a
sense of enduring austerity and world peace aren’t meant to last. I believe we are regressing
into a decentralised, destabilised world of different sovereignties very similar to the Middle
Ages. In the academic publication of ‘U.S-China Rivalry in a Neomedieval World’ written by
Timothy R. Heath, Weilong Kong, and Alexis Dale-Huang, it is explained that ‘we define the
neomedieval era as a historical period, beginning around 2000, characterised by weakening
states, fragmenting societies, imbalanced economies, pervasive threats, and the
informalisation of warfare’.
Currently, these characteristics may be applied specifically to American politics
consequential of Trump’s rule. On the first day of his second term, the President withdrew
the United States from the World Health Organisation, cited on the White House website as
due to ‘the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic’. Whilst this move has
huge consequences on healthcare administration in the US, it also supports the Neo-
Medieval theory by intentionally removing a large geo-political power from an authoritative
global institution.
Italian philosopher Umberto Eco writes that some other signs of Neomedievalism are a
surplus of information and the acceptance of existentialism. All of which run rife in modern
life. Following Eco’s directions, we can begin to spot these signs everywhere. Excess
information in 2025 can be connected to the prevalence of uncensored social media
ingrained in daily life, from the minute we wake up to the minute we go to sleep. TikTok,
Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) bombard the casual scroller with thousands of opinions,
advertisements, and advisements everyday, with little to no censorship or alert to
falsehoods. The conceptual rise of existentialism is harder to uncover, given its inherent
sense of quiet acceptance of life’s lack of meaning and authority’s meaningless power.
Perhaps it began with the world shutting down in 2020, taking a step back from the real
world for months, even years at a time, as we all shifted suddenly to socialising and working
solely through our screens. An article from Frontiers detailed a rise in existential anxieties
over the past five years, while Guardian writer Sharlotte Thou describes the devastating
psychological consequences occurring since doomscrolling became our go to past time.
Given fashion’s immense political history and inherent political quality, both the runway and
government can be tracked in coalition, telling us a lot about our past, present, and future. I
believe the future is Medieval, a seemingly pessimistic contradiction, at least in terms of
diplomacy and unity. However, all is not lost, and this is by no means a definite claim—just a
bit of speculation for fun. Besides, there’s something undeniably beautiful about Medieval
elements in fashion: rich fabrics, dramatic silhouettes, and ornate details that feel both
historic and strikingly modern. It’s outfit inspiration borrowed from another time, reimagined
for ours. Political fashion is endlessly fascinating, a reminder of how style and power keep
shaping each other in unexpected ways.