MILWAUKEE — Declaring GOP unity may be the party line at the Republican National Convention this week, but the outfits of several delegates are screaming “look at me.”

As convention goers congregated in the plaza outside the Fiserv Forum Wednesday afternoon, novelty hats, earrings, and custom Trump-themed outfits outnumbered seersucker suits and rivaled the country club look of a prior Republican Party era. The atmosphere inside the arena-turned-convention center is like that of a rock concert or UFC fight.

When President Trump enters the convention hall, a camera follows his every move like an athlete emerging from the locker room into the ring. “Fight! Fight!” the crowd chants, repeating the words Trump spoke with his fist raised after getting shot in the ear in an attempted assassination last Saturday.  

Trump is a master of political theatrics, and his supporters seem to be learning the lesson. One alternate delegate from Arizona, Eric Neilson, sported a bandage on his left ear Wednesday that mimicked the one Trump wears over his wound. 

Mr. Neilson also bought several more rolls of gauze to share with other attendees. He sported an American flag shirt and an Arizona delegation for Trump hat with an Arizona flag sticking out of the top.

Mr. Neilson held a sign that said, “The ear hurts like hell, but will feel much better in November.”

“It’s to show solidarity with President Trump,” he tells the Sun. “It’s supposed to be patriotic.”

It’s hard, though, to miss the slew of cameras and reporters swarming him. Political pins, hats, and trinkets are nothing new. Yet the delegates the Sun spoke with say that in an age of social media, when everyone has a camera in their pocket, there does seem to be an increasing number of attendees who appear to be in it for the media and social media attention.

Others tell the Sun the American flag garb and elephant gear is about showing enthusiasm. One man called being a Republican “a way of life,” and told the Sun this is his week to let his GOP flag fly. He didn’t want his name to be used or to garner attention.

Another delegate from Delaware and a retired general, Hank McCann, tells the Sun this is the fourth Republican National Convention he has attended and he always wears celebratory gear. The message he says he wants to send is, “I am a good Republican.”

A stay-at-home mother from Idaho, Sara Brady makes Trump and liberty-themed ball gowns that she wears each night at the convention. 

On Wednesday she wore an Appeal to Heaven flag gown. On Tuesday she wore a Gadsden flag gown, and on Monday she wore a gown with the now iconic image of Trump raising his fist after being shot.

Ms. Brady says she started making political statement dresses after she was arrested in Idaho for letting her children play in a playground during the early months of Covid. She says she always been a Republican but Covid radicalized her. She says she had to spend $50,000 over three years fighting the state of Idaho until the charges were dropped.

“They call me Park Mom,” she says. “I wore this dress to the governors ball as a sort of ‘don’t tread on me,’” she says of the Gadsden flag one.

It would be unfair to say these delegates are solely wanting attention. The Texas delegation all wore Texas flag shirts on Wednesday. The Alabama delegation wore matching “Trump 24” baseball jerseys. The vast majority of delegates wore red or Trump-themed gear. 

A delegate from Maine, Heather Sprague, donned a black floor-length gown and matching black MAGA hat for a gothy rendition of Trump fandom. “He put this hat out before he got shot, so now it’s really dark MAGA,” she tells the Sun.  

Several attendees pointed to rapper Forgiato Blow and influencer Amber Rose as examples of GOP tolerance for individual expression. They say dressing up is about expanding the tent and image of Republicans. 

“It’s not a costume,” a delegate from Montana, Susan Reneau, tells the Sun of her jean vest with pins and layers of hats. “I just love Trump so much and I so appreciate him.”

She says the convention is “like seeing Taylor Swift. Have you ever been to a Taylor Swift concert?” she asks. “I haven’t either and never will, though I am jealous of her figure.”