Wearing History
Wearing History Ketanji Brown Jackson and the Politics of Style
When Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stepped into the national spotlight at the 2025 presidential inauguration wearing a dramatic cowrie-shell collar and matching earrings, it was more than a fashion choice—it was a deliberate cultural statement. The piece—a bib-like collar made of dozens of gleaming shells layered across her chest—evoked centuries of African adornment, linked to Black women’s use of jewelry as political language, and joined a modern judicial tradition of meaningful accessories. The image spread rapidly, prompting commentators to unpack the symbolism within that tactile cluster of shells.
Cowrie Shells: Adornment, Currency, Protection
Cowries have deep historical and spiritual roots. In West and Central African cultures, they once functioned as currency and markers of wealth while also serving ritual purposes tied to fertility, womanhood, and spiritual protection. Worn as necklaces, sewn into garments, or braided into hair, cowries carry layers of meaning that stretch from the economic to the sacred. That multiplicity gives a cowrie collar its power: it is at once a nod to heritage, a signal of worth, and a talisman of protection.
Justice Jackson’s decision to pair the collar with her judicial robes amplified those meanings. The stark contrast between the white shells and the black robe rendered the accessory impossible to ignore—and transformed the robe, typically a symbol of institutional neutrality, into a canvas for personal and cultural expression. That fusion of the ancestral and the institutional gives Afrocentric jewelry its political force: it resists the demand that identity remain invisible in spaces of authority.
A Judicial Collar as Voice
The Supreme Court has its own history of aesthetic symbolism. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg famously used her collars and jabots as visual statements of dissent and identity. Justice Jackson’s cowrie collar functions in a similar register: it speaks when words are bound by protocol. Many interpreted her choice as a gesture of protection, resilience, and Black womanhood—a counterpoint to ongoing battles over civil and reproductive rights. In choosing an Afrocentric motif with layered historical resonance, Jackson merged personal aesthetics with public values.
Wearing culturally specific adornment in that setting does more than personalize the robe; it situates the wearer in a broader story about representation within American institutions. For a Black woman on the nation’s highest court—a position historically dominated by white men—the collar made visible the histories and identities the institution has too often erased. Black women have long used fashion, hair, and jewelry as languages of belonging, remembrance, and resistance.
Artisans, Appropriation, and Visibility
Objects like Jackson’s collar don’t emerge in a vacuum—they arise from craft economies and long design traditions. After her image went viral, small businesses and jewelry makers specializing in cowrie pieces or “dissent collars” saw a surge in attention. Online shops began offering cowrie bib replicas and handcrafted judicial collars, blending artisan skill with political symbolism. Yet that market response raised important questions about authenticity and appropriation. When a culturally resonant object becomes highly visible, demand can strip away context. It matters whether these pieces are created by Black artisans rooted in the culture or mass-produced without that lineage. The difference shapes how such objects circulate both culturally and economically.
At the same time, visibility creates opportunity. Artisans whose work draws on West African shell craft, South Carolina sweetgrass weaving, or other African diasporic traditions gained new platforms for their work. The attention surrounding Jackson’s adornment expanded conversations about craftsmanship and cultural preservation—a reminder that what may appear as “fashion” in a photograph can also be an economic lifeline and a lesson in continuity.
Reading Style as Rhetoric
Justice Jackson’s jewelry operates as part of a rhetorical wardrobe. In formal settings where speech is constrained, clothing and accessories communicate identity and intention. Her cowrie necklace spoke on multiple levels: historically, invoking ancestral economies and spiritual meanings; culturally, affirming the visual language of Black womanhood; and institutionally, reimagining the judicial robe as a site of self-expression. Cultural critics have long noted that such choices are never merely decorative—they are interpretive and intentional.
Public reaction reflected that complexity. Many celebrated the collar as a proud declaration of heritage and a subtle response to political tensions, while others debated questions of decorum or commercialization. That range of reactions underscores how Afrocentric aesthetics in public life can be both affirming and contentious, depending on one’s vantage point and understanding of history.
Natural Hair and Sisterlocks: Visibility, Authenticity, Resistance
Another defining element of Justice Jackson’s public image is her natural hair, specifically her sisterlocks. Throughout her confirmation, public appearances, and tenure on the Court, she has worn tightly coiled locs that extend past her shoulders. Developed in 1993 by Dr. JoAnne Cornwell, sisterlocks are a micro-loc style celebrated for their versatility and protective nature. The installation process is time-intensive, requiring hours or days to complete, followed by regular maintenance.
For Black women, seeing a Supreme Court justice wearing natural textured hair in such a style is profoundly symbolic. It challenges narrow standards of professionalism and affirms that authority need not conform to Eurocentric norms. Jackson’s hairstyle signals wholeness and authenticity—she does not toggle her appearance between formal and informal contexts. Her locs, like her jewelry, have become part of broader conversations about the CROWN Act and the normalization of natural hair in professional settings.
Yet wearing heritage visibly also carries weight. It can mean being scrutinized, stereotyped, or expected to represent an entire community through one’s appearance. That tension—between pride and pressure—is part of what gives Jackson’s visual choices their power. They are both beautiful and political, aesthetic and activist.
Beyond the Collar: A Practice of Presence
While the cowrie collar was a striking moment, it is part of a broader visual practice. Across her public life, Jackson has worn statement necklaces, layered pearls, and other culturally meaningful pieces. One example—a South Carolina sweetgrass necklace gifted by the National Museum of African American History and Culture—links her aesthetic to Black craft traditions. Her style is not performative; it is a sustained effort to normalize Afrocentric design within elite public spaces, where such aesthetics have too often been read as exceptional rather than integral to the American visual canon.
Reading the Future of Afrocentric Adornment in Public Life
The viral power of Jackson’s cowrie collar illustrates how quickly an accessory can spark national dialogue about race, heritage, and representation. Whether others in public life follow her lead will depend on cultural shifts, artisan visibility, and the evolving politics of self-expression. But her choice offers a lesson in material culture: that adornment can be intentional, that objects carry history forward, and that jewelry—like speech—can be a vehicle for civic storytelling.
When a Supreme Court justice wears sisterlocks and a cowrie-shell collar, she is not merely accessorizing. She is shaping narrative, asserting belonging, and signaling whose stories matter in the nation’s most formal spaces. Her choices invite us all to see that style, when worn with consciousness, is not vanity—it is testimony.
