EDITOR’S NOTE: Featuring the nice, the unhealthy and the ugly, ‘Look of the Week’ is an everyday collection devoted to unpacking probably the most talked about outfit of the final seven days.
Since Sydney Sweeney starred in a controversial American Eagle advert this summer time, which some viewers interpreted as selling eugenics and White supremacy, it looks like the actor’s each transfer has been below public scrutiny in an effort to determine the place precisely she falls within the political divide. Her press interviews go viral as onlookers try to learn between the traces, and even her clothes decisions are held to the sunshine looking for proof of her inner beliefs.
No shock maybe, then, that an outfit she wore earlier this week on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” has reignited passionate debate. Dressed in a form-fitting maroon costume that completed simply above her ankles and with a lacquered blonde bob that curved below her face, Sweeney was rapidly likened by many critics to a right-wing information anchor. The feedback below the promotional X put up from The Tonight Show’s official account converse for themselves, as observers made spirited comparisons to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Ivanka Trump and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly. Similar feedback appeared beneath an Instagram image of Sweeney shared by her hairstylist. One outspoken content material creator responded by making a video on the app berating the outfit, saying Sweeney’s group have been “doing this sh*t on purpose.”
The reactions to Sweeney’s look maybe makes extra sense when you think about the journey her public picture has had these days.
Her huge break got here in 2019 on the hit HBO present “Euphoria,” the place she garnered important approval for her efficiency as complicated teenager Cassie Howard. (HBO is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). Since then, Sweeney has appeared within the American TV collection “The White Lotus,” in addition to award-winning unbiased movie “Reality” (2023), buzzy rom-com “Anyone But You” (2023), and gritty sports activities drama “Christy” (2025), which follows the lifetime of history-making skilled boxer Christy Martin and included a drastic hair and make-up transformation.
Her profession has been called “one of the most promising within young Hollywood” however controversy has by no means been far. In 2022, photographs of Sweeney at a household celebration the place friends sporting MAGA-style caps went viral, elevating eyebrows and soliciting questions on her personal political leanings. “You guys this is wild,” she posted in response on X. “An innocent celebration for my mom’s milestone 60th birthday has turned into an absurd political statement, which was not the intention. Please stop making assumptions.” In August this 12 months, studies surfaced that Sweeney had been a registered Republican within the state of Florida since June 2024. But it was her American Eagle advert that has garnered probably the most criticism for its perceived eugenicist rhetoric.
Sweeney didn’t initially handle the uproar attributable to the marketing campaign, inflicting individuals to attract their very own conclusions on how the actor felt in regards to the advert. Then in November, GQ magazine printed an on-camera interview asking Sweeney in regards to the fallout. Sweeney responded saying she was stunned by the response however didn’t apologize, as an alternative reiterating her love for denims and her stance that she’s not there to inform individuals what to suppose. When requested if she needed to set the document straight on her intention, the star replied with the now-viral soundbite: “I think that when I have an issue I want to speak about, people will hear.”
Her outfit worn on Monday aligned in some methods to a broadly accepted definition of Conservative dressing. According to Marie Claire, ladies in right-wing politics want “form-fitting skirt suits, sky-high stilettos, bouncy blow-dries and full coverage makeup” to attain a glance that’s “hyper-feminine.” The New York Times’ chief trend critic Vanessa Friedman agreed, writing that femininity within the Mar-A-Lago neighborhood is performed up “to an almost cartoonish degree” and that trend is used primarily to “reinforce that proposition.”
Sweeney’s costume, which featured a cinched-waist and refined shoulder padding, was a extra mature selection than the mini-skirts and thigh-high boots she has been sporting these days. The costume was designed by Alex Perry, whose robes have additionally been worn by Ivanka Trump in addition to Selena Gomez, Doja Cat, Jenna Ortega, Jennifer Lopez and Rihanna. Whether it was a understanding wink to a discourse that feels by no means ending, or a coincidental trend selection that was devoid of that means, onlookers gained’t know till Sweeney speaks for herself. But she is in no rush to take action.
In September, Variety requested Sweeney what her response is when she sees her identify trending on the web. She responded with a impartial expression and a collected tone: “I’m like, ‘Oh, what for now?’”