Politicians have long tried to display their down-home chops by shedding the suit and tie and dressing as they think voters do, but none have succeeded to the level of President Zelensky, whose power T-shirts project more brawn than any men’s power suit. 

Soon after the Russian invasion, President Macron of France tried to share some of the Ukrainian leader’s spotlight, being photographed while clad in a tee while sporting two-day stubble. With some of the world’s most powerful men and women trying to emulate Kyiv’s tee-man and his informal fashion statement, what’s to stop you from joining in? 

For $17.59, Amazon sells an olive-colored tee that according to the internet’s retailing behemoth is “great for men & women, army, soldier, fighter, spetsnaz or any protesters who support Ukraine to promote the fighting spirit of the Ukrainians. Stop war & bombing in Ukraine.” 

Mr. Zelensky didn’t cultivate the look to sell a product. His olive-colored, long sleeve shirt was the same as is worn by the Ukrainian fighters at the front. He put it on to show solidarity with his soldiers. The Ukrainian defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, also wears T-shirts. Among that country’s top government echelon, only the foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, sticks to the suit and tie. 

Mr. Zelensky, of course, did not invent the idea of showing up in public in something other than the traditional Western presidential garb. Think of the Nehru jacket, or the similarly short-collar Mao suit. Both were fashionable in the West in the 1970s, and are still favored by the likes of the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un.   

Mr. Kim, however, did not think twice when in 2018 he stripped “down to undershirt in heatwave, leaving wife Ri Sol-ju to hold his grey suit jacket,” as the South China Morning Post reported. Unlike Mr. Zelensky, though, Mr. Kim’s V-neck tee did little to make anyone outside of his enslaved country adore him. He just doesn’t have je ne sais quois. 

Which is probably the down side of the power T-shirt. Some dictators who want to project strength can pull it off. Others had better keep their shirts on.

President Putin once famously showed off his pecs by removing all upper garments while riding a horse. These days, as rumors of bad health are bolstered by photos of a puffy-faced strongman, the Moscow tsar can no longer afford such stunts. Mr. Zelensky’s top nemesis therefore keeps to the traditional presidential suit and tie. 

President Biden mostly does too, though when his inner Amtrak Joe goes to an ice cream parlor, he at times switches to a white polo shirt. American politicians, generally, are yet to catch on to the Zelensky craze.

In our politics, T-shirts usually maintain their traditional use as a canvas for printed political messages, diplaying quips on gun ownership, abortion rights, or whatever topic are trending on Twitter. 

That is not to say American politicians shun the search for authenticity in how they are dressed. Every four years presidential candidates crowd their local Banana Republic outlet in search of the perfect pair of jeans and plaid shirt to buy before flying to Iowa. 

In 2016 candidate Donald Trump broke from that Iowa tradition. Rather than driving a pickup truck to the local fair, he arrived in a huge black helicopter with his name in large white letters on the side, and he proceeded to walk to an election rally in his usual dark suit and extra-long tie.

Mr. Trump won Iowa easily, likely in part because some people seem more authentic in a suit and tie than in emulating the locals. Also, most anyone who’s ever viewed photos of Mr. Trump on a golf course in a polo shirt would find the sight difficult to unsee. 

Nowadays, it is rare to see the hoodie-clad Mark Zuckerberg, the tee-favoring Elon Musk, or any of the business titans who crowd the Forbes world’s richest list in a suit, let alone a tie. Mr. Musk’s demand for his workers to leave their homes and return to the office is unlikely to change that  trend.

Why, after all, would you dress formally when your boss, the world’s wealthiest man, is down to his T-shirt? So as summer heats up, the power tee is here to stay.

To those who keep score at home, Mr. Zelensky has increasingly replaced his long-sleeve olive-colored number with a short-sleeve black tee. Can fashion mavens be far behind?