President George W. Bush brought Western wear with him to the White House — suits with cowboy boots, big decorative belt buckles, cowboy hats. President Barack Obama ushered in an era of slimmer suiting, while first lady Michelle Obama helped spark a renaissance of American design.

Presidential administrations always come with an aesthetic attached. What is striking about President Donald Trump’s is just how much others in his orbit — and even his grassroots supporters — have adopted his administration’s look, one which Today, Explained’s Gabrielle Berbey told me “masquerades as calling back to older standards of beauty, masculinity, and femininity, but in fact represents a whole new era of extremeness.”

This MAGA aesthetic speaks to something larger about political philosophy and policy goals in Trump 2.0. This was the case in the first Trump administration, too. To understand just what that something is, I talked with Berbey, who recently produced an episode of the Today, Explained podcast all about MAGA beauty standards. Our conversation, edited for length and clarity, is below.

Tell me about your reporting about MAGA aesthetics. When I hear that phrase, a specific image comes to mind.

What’s the look that comes to mind for you?

It’s very starkly gendered. For men, either completely clean shaven or bearded, nothing in between; with hair close cropped on the sides, but long on top. A bulky build, like you’ve been going to the gym a lot. A short-sleeved shirt — maybe made of some tech fabric — paired with jeans or chinos and some kind of boots, maybe combat boots.

Combat boots too? Those are MAGA now?

Haha, yeah, I feel like I’ve seen that a lot. And for ladies, I’d say long, wavy tresses, very full lips, sheath........

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