The crisp blouses and structured dresses from the D.C. fashion retailer Tuckernuck dominate podiums in Trump’s White House and are bought in bulk by Fox News’ wardrobe department.
Among those spotted browsing the retailer’s classic, Americana style at its DuPont Circle and tony Georgetown locations: Karoline Leavitt, Kristi Noem, and a who’s who of Republican staffers from Capitol Hill and the Trump administration.
But privately, the Daily Beast has learned, its staff are far from thrilled at being MAGA’s unofficial outfitter. Inside the multimillion-dollar brand, some employees scoff at the women who turned its fundraiser-season maxi dresses into Washington staples. And while the company’s owners insist the label is apolitical, top executives are Democratic donors.
“I have a hard time, you know, with Karoline [Leavitt],” a Tuckernuck employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity said of the 28-year-old White House press secretary.
Leavitt has been spotted purchasing athleisure and loungewear at the D.C. store, and wore the brand’s Black Metallic Bouclé Mini Dress at an April press conference. The dress is no longer available, though similar Tuckernuck styles typically retail between $150 and $400.
“Her kind of day-to-day is very much against my morals and values,” the employee said.
The press secretary is among a growing list of powerful MAGA clients who’ve helped turn the brand into a Trump-world status symbol. When Vice President JD Vance traveled to the Vatican in May to meet with Pope Leo XIV, his wife, Usha Vance, wore a fitted black dress called the Black Jacquard Puff Sleeve Midi Darcy Dress.
A few weeks earlier, Noem was spotted browsing Tuckernuck’s D.C. store—just hours before a thief stole her purse and about $3,000 in cash from her at a nearby restaurant.
Tucknuck is also a staple for Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s press secretary during his first term, who favors the retailer’s colorful frocks.
“You throw a stone and a girl is wearing a Tuckernuck,” a D.C. stylist with high-profile political clients told the Daily Beast, describing how the briefing-room belle look has taken over the political scene.
The brand isn’t just dominant in government buildings, either. Trump’s favorite network, Fox News, buys from the retailer by the rack, sources told the Daily Beast.
“This [administration] has made it acceptable to have Republican Barbie aesthetics again, and people are leaning into that,” the stylist said.
The brand was founded in 2012 by D.C. natives Madeline Grayson, 38; Jocelyn Gailliot, 45; and their friend September Votta, 38, and is named for the exclusive island off Nantucket where the trio vacationed as children. The trio are all alumni of the National Cathedral School, which currently has an annual tuition of $56,920.
Publicly, the women have kept tight-lipped about their politics. “We’re obviously not at all a political brand,” Grayson told Axios in October
But privately, Grayson and Gailliot are registered Democrats who have donated repeatedly to Democratic candidates, according to Federal Election Commission records, and the sisters both follow Barack Obama on Instagram. The company also posted a TikTok video of a Tuckernuck stylist touring Joe Biden’s White House last year.
Creative director Jeffrey Berry, who’s been with the multi-brand retailer almost since its founding, has also donated to left-leaning candidates, including Marcus Goodwin, a former D.C. council candidate who ran on housing and affordability issues.
Meanwhile, some staffers have grown frustrated that the brand caters to Republican women—especially if leadership holds different views from Donald Trump’s party.
“When did we become so resistant, so unwilling to voice our opinions?” the Tuckernuck employee said.
Since the brand’s founding, it has exploded into a thriving e-commerce and brick-and-mortar operation, boasting a 65 percent repeat-customer rate and a reported valuation of $100 million. In September, the company opened its first New York flagship on the Upper East Side in Manhattan.
As Tuckernuck’s success has grown, the founders have also evolved into lifestyle influencers of sorts, sharing glimpses online of their pristine homes, besuited husbands, and smartly dressed children.
Votta and her husband, Michael, showcased their 1889 Georgetown rowhouse in several luxury magazines and across social media this year. The University of Pennsylvania alum and her husband, who works in real estate for a private equity firm, were married in September 2017 and celebrated with a glamorous ceremony in Capri, Italy, which was also documented online. The pair have three young sons.
Grayson, another UPenn alum with three children, also shares photos of herself and her sister, Gailliot, a Brown University alum, on social media: at Wimbledon, skiing in Utah, and frolicking in the Bahamas. Grayson’s husband, Paul Grayson, is a principal at BG Ventures and a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to LinkedIn. Gailliot lives in New York with her husband, Charlie Gailliot, a Princeton alum and former Goldman Sachs partner, and their five children.
Representatives for the Tuckernuck founders did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Staffers worry the brand won’t be able to shake the quiet-luxury-for-loud-politics image, even though its clothes draw fans across the political spectrum. Case in point: in July 2022, Tuckernuck released a $298 “Jackie” tweed shift inspired by fashion icon Jackie Kennedy, which sold out in 48 hours and landed in the closets of figures on both sides of the aisle—including Biden family members.
But Tuckernuck’s reputation still shines Republican red. “First sighting of the red Tuckernuck dress at the GOP convention: Monday at 9:18am,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly wrote on X at the Republican National Convention in July 2024.
“NO BECAUSE I CAN TELL WHO IS REPUB AT MY COMPANY BASED ON IF THEY WEAR [TUCKERNUCK],” commented one TikTok user on a viral video from a congressional staffer about the brand. “Girl the way I cross streets to stay away from staffers wearing it,” another added.
The Tuckernuck employee said they believe the brand is associated with MAGA in part because the party is more “appearance-focused.”
“Their choices that they make for their appearance are definitely more forward-facing, public-facing than Democratic women,” they said. “You don’t see Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talking about, you know, who makes her suit—it’s very much focused on her policy.”
Yet some experts have argued that their appearances are actually shaping conservative policy. “When we look now at the White House…women like Kristi Noem…are crafting a look for conservative women,” said Karen Kedrowski, author of The Palgrave Handbook of Fashion and Politics.
“It’s kind of affirming a traditional role of women, putting it back in keeping them in the home, and keeping them focused on child rearing, that kind of thing,” said Kedrowski, who leads the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, of the feminine, non-threatening style that’s been wholly embraced by MAGA women.
Still, whether MAGA is weaponizing Tuckernuck’s classic style or not, they are greeted with smiles when they come to shop—this is Washington, after all.
“For me and others in D.C., it is kind of a constant back and forth, sharing a space with these people, and it’s not appropriate when you’re serving these people to address what you’re kind of thinking in your head,” the Tuckernuck employee said. “We all have to keep the lights on somehow.”
