Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
- Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez advised Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush to thrift and rent clothes, so she can affordably have a Congress-appropriate wardrobe.
- Ocasio-Cortez has repeatedly spoken about her financial struggles growing up.
- She’s been repeatedly criticized by conservatives for her wardrobe.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez offered some wardrobe advice to Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush on how to sustainably and economically afford clothes for her new job in Washington.
Bush on Tuesday wrote on Twitter: “The reality of being a regular person going to Congress is that it’s really expensive to get the business clothes I need for the Hill. So I’m going thrift shopping tomorrow.”
In response, Ocasio-Cortez advised Bush to thrift and rent.
—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 11, 2020
“You can also thrift and buy second hand online, which helped me get higher quality, longer-lasting things that would normally be out of budget. Good luck!” she wrote.
Conservatives have long scrutinized Ocasio-Cortez for her wardrobe. In 2018, Eddie Scarry, a conservative author, and reporter tweeted a picture taken from behind Ocasio-Cortez and criticized her clothes as being too nice. Scarry said they didn't match her working-class public persona.
Ocasio-Cortez, who campaigned on her working-class background during her first bid for Congress has also been public about her financial struggles.
"If I walked into Congress wearing a sack, they would laugh & take a picture of my backside. If I walk in with my best sale-rack clothes, they laugh & take a picture of my backside," she tweeted in response to Scarry's comments.
—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 29, 2020
The congresswoman was also recently criticized for wearing high-end clothes in a photoshoot with Vanity Fair. The clothes for that photoshoot were borrowed.
Ocasio-Cortez was not the only woman politician to offer advice for Bush.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib chimed in telling Bush: "Cori, I still wear some of my maternity clothes under those blazers. P.S. I get the most compliments from the clothes I got from thrift shops."
Marama Davidson, a member of Parliament in New Zealand, tweeted, "Kia ora, greetings Cori and Rashida. Coleader of the Green Party of Aotearoa NZ here, Minister of the Executive Council. We have a strong proud thrift tradition that extends to elected reps. Here I am wearing my thrift suit on election night."