Part of that was, indubitably, the sheer mass of gathered women — of the 102 in the House, 89 are Democrats, and almost all of them wore white, which gave the group critical mass (Ms. Frankel had also invited the 13 Republican women to wear white, but it was hard to tell if they had joined in). But part of it was also the way they wore the color: unapologetically, like a sign of enthusiasm for their job. Like it was fun. Like clothes were something to be enjoyed and leveraged, rather than played down and dismissed or used as protective or deflective armor.

It wasn’t about fashion. It was about the past and the future and solidarity, contained in color.