My first Magazine Vogue_USA__June_2017 | Page 166

her fellow march organizers, Tabitha
St. Bernard and Janaye Ingram, wore
like war paint in Washington, D.C., in
January as they helped wrangle and
energize the millions gathered at the
National Mall. “But there’s room for
everyone who shows up,” Flicker ex-
plains, “red lips, hijabs, long hair, no
hair, natural hair, dressed up, and pared
down”—binaries and boundaries that
were once upheld largely to “police,
contain, and shame women,” accord-
ing to trans activist Janet Mock, who
wears red lipstick to amplify her words
during speeches.
Culturally, a well-lined cherry pout
has always sent a certain message: se-
ductress, femme fatale, devilish lover
sure to leave a mark. Watch Ryan Mur-
phy’s Feud for a full catalog of red lips
and the women who made them leg-
endary, then move on to Sid and Nancy.
But they’re not just the man teasers
Marilyn Monroe believed them to be.
Symone Sanders, the former national
press secretary for Bernie Sanders, sees
hers as an essential part of a duty to
highlight diversity. “I don’t think there
are a lot of bald black girls on the
($3,450); select Marni
boutiques.
IN CONTROL
145: Jacket ($4,980),
shirt ($2,200), and skirt
($2,900); select Gucci
boutiques. In this story:
Tailor, Leah Huntsinger
for Christy Rilling Studio.
Manicure, Kana Kishita.
MOMENT OF
THE MONTH
148–149: On Nicholas:
Sandals, $780. Proenza
Schouler white cuff,
$260; Proenza Schouler,
NYC. Jochen Holz for
political scene, at least that the Amer-
ican people get to see every day, so I
want to represent for brown girls, all
shades of brown,” explains the CNN
talking head, who has no qualms about
showing up on air with a pop of MAC’s
Carnivorous, a blood-wine that is not
trying for subtlety. And that’s its charm.
Sanders is quick to pay homage to
Huma Abedin—“She is always rock-
ing that lip”—Hillary Clinton’s chief
adviser, who has (to government knowl-
edge) never been seen red lip–less. “Any-
time is red-lipstick time,” says Abedin,
who depoliticizes her early love of
Clinique’s Vintage Wine, which was in-
spired by pictures of Audrey Hepburn
and Grace Kelly, and glossy tear sheets
from Vogue. “Red always feels confi-
dent, fresh, bold, and simple to me,”
she continues, explaining that while
she never “properly” learned how to
apply makeup, a quick slick of Yves
Saint Laurent’s matte red 201 or Huda
Beauty’s Heartbreaker allows her to
explore a love of color while boosting
her confidence, something her job de-
mands. “Red goes with everything, and
it just feels right whenever you wear it.”
Peter Pilotto glass bangle,
price upon request;
peterpilotto.com. On
Montero: Sandals ($910)
and black cuff ($260);
Proenza Schouler, NYC.
Jochen Holz for Peter
Pilotto glass bangle,
price upon request;
peterpilotto.com. On
Anaïs: Wolf & Rita dress,
$83; wolfandrita.com.
Happy Socks; happysocks
.com. Stella McCartney
Kids espadrilles, $166;
stellamccartney.com. On
Moore: Sandals, $910;
Proenza Schouler, NYC.
Jochen Holz for Peter
Pilotto glass bangle,
price upon request;
peterpilotto.com. In this
story: Manicure,
Eri Handa.
JAM ROCK
SWEETNESS
150–151: Hat, price upon
request; tomenyc.com.
Bag, $10,900; hermes
.com. 153: Dress, price
upon request. Sandals,
$398; stuartweitzman
.com. Bag, $3,900;
Céline, NYC. Earrings,
$173; Bergdorf
Goodman, NYC. Bag,
$2,025; Etro, NYC. Hat
I ask my mother about the dawn
of her own red-lip allegiance, and we
remember my grandmother, whose
diminutive stature belied the steely will
of a woman who raised three Jewish
girls in the shadow of the Holocaust,
keenly aware of the radical act of
purely existing even as she attempted
to melt face first into suburbia. “My
mother absolutely would not leave the
house without it,” she says of what
for her has become at once a cosmetic
enhancer as well as a disguise, an art
project, a photo op, a suit of armor, an
invitation, and a do not disturb sign.
I have one more red-lipstick mem-
ory of my mother: a photograph of
hers that hung in our downtown loft
of a small doll in a housedress pushing
a lipstick as big as she is across an ideal
1950s home. That perfect tube, bright
and angry, possessed me. “In hind-
sight,” she says, unpacking the piece,
“I think I was saying my femininity is
as big as me. I’d gotten the feeling that
historically women needed to imitate
men or renounce their femaleness to be
‘real’ artists. I wasn’t buying it.”
And neither am I. 
(price upon request),
necklace (price upon
request), socks ($640),
and shoes (price upon
request); select Prada
boutiques. 153: Grace
Givens for Beads of
Paradise necklace,
price upon request;
similar styles at Beads
of Paradise, NYC. Prada
necklace, price upon
request; select Prada
boutiques. Espadrilles,
$475; jimmychoo
.com. 154: Earrings,
$1,200; Ted Muehling,
NYC. Beads of Paradise
choker, $22; Beads of
Paradise, NYC. Dries Van
Noten necklace, price
upon request; Barneys
New York, NYC. 155:
Hat, $330; samuji.com.
Shoes, $380; Nordstrom
stores.
INDEX
156–157: 2. Necklace,
$3,500.
LAST LOOK
162: Slides; select
Dolce & Gabbana
boutiques.
ALL PRICES
APPROXIMATE.
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