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Revisiting Ruth Bader Ginsburg's iconic style and meaningful neck collars

The late Supreme Court justice once gave Katie Couric a tour of her closet, explaining that each of her jabots held a special meaning.
Ginsburg was well-known for her fashion sense and love for jabots.
Ginsburg was well-known for her fashion sense and love for jabots.Getty Images / Reuters
/ Source: TODAY

Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on Friday at age 87 and she will be remembered not just for her groundbreaking life, work and opinions, but also for her iconic style.

For some fashionistas, the accessories of choice might be scarves or shoes, but for Ginsburg, it was jabots, the fancy collars she wore with her black judicial robes.

In 2009, she explained to The Washington Post why she chose to wear the jabots. "You know, the standard robe is made for a man because it has a place for the shirt to show, and the tie," she said. "So Sandra Day O'Connor and I thought it would be appropriate if we included as part of our robe something typical of a woman. So I have many, many collars."

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The "Dissenting"

Over the years, Ginsburg revealed that her collars each had special meanings. In 2015, Irin Carmon, co-author of the 2015 book, "Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg" tweeted a picture of one of Ginsburg's famous jabots that was featured in a Yahoo News broadcast.

"RBG: 'This is my dissenting collar… It looks fitting for dissents,'" Carmon quoted Ginsburg, alongside an image of the metallic collar the justice wore to communicate her condemnation. The look spurned plenty of fan-made merchandise, including necklaces, brooches and earrings in the same pattern.

The "Majority Opinion"

President Obama Delivers State Of The Union Address
Ginsburg at former President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 12, 2013 in Washington, D.C.Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Ginsburg told Katie Couric in the Yahoo News interview that this golden jabot is the one she would wear when she wanted to channel her approval. She wore it when she attended former President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech on Feb. 12, 2013.

The "Favorite"

Supreme Court Justices Pose For "Class Photo"
Ginsburg during a photo session with photographers at the U.S. Supreme Court on March 3, 2006 in Washington, D.C.Mark Wilson / Getty Images

Ginsburg's favorite jabot was this simple white one from Capetown, South Africa. She wore it during a photo session with photographers at the U.S. Supreme Court on March 3, 2006 in Washington, D.C.

Throughout her tenure, Ginsburg sported many other unique designs along her collarbone.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg poses during group portrait at Supreme Court in Washington
Ginsburg is seen during a group portrait session for what was then the new, full court at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 30, 2018.Jim Young / Reuters

During a group portrait session for the full court on Nov. 30, 2018, Ginsburg wore this spiky and tough-looking Stella & Dot necklace. The special accessory was gifted to her by a fan, lawyer Susan Hyman, according to Town & Country.

Ginsburg participates in taking a new family photo with her fellow justices at the Supreme Court building in Washington
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg participates in taking a new family photo with her fellow justices at the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 1, 2017.Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

Ginsburg donned a more eclectic, colorful neckpiece at the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. back in June 2017.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg shows robes in her chambers at the Supreme Court building in Washington
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg shows the many different collars (jabots) she wears with her robes, in her chambers at the Supreme Court building in Washington, U.S. June 17, 2016.Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

Ginsburg showed off the many different collars she wore with her robes, including this white patterned jabot, in her chambers at the Supreme Court building on June 17, 2016.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Passes Away at 87 U.S. Supreme Court Justices Pose For Group Photo
Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg poses during a group photograph at the Supreme Court building on Sept. 29, 2009 in Washington, D.C.Mark Wilson / Getty Images

Ginsburg sometimes wore a more traditional jabot, similar to ones that French justices wore. She donned a light lace one on Sept. 29, 2009 for a group photograph, one month after Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as the the third ever female justice of the Supreme Court.

President Obama Delivers State Of The Union Address
Ginsburg hugs then-President Barack Obama before he delivered his State of the Union speech at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 12, 2013 in Washington, D.C.Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Jabots weren't the only special items in Ginsburg's wardrobe. Ginsburg also wore black fishnet gloves, an accessory she wore often and one that was also featured when she was named to the TIME 100 list in 2015.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ginsburg, then 81, at her Supreme Court chambers in Washington, D.C. in July 2014.Cliff Owen / AP

When not wearing her robe, she donned clothing that exuded both femininity and power. Here, she's pictured in her chambers wearing an outfit with an abstract print.

Political Leaders Honor Chile's First Female President
Ginsburg before a dinner to honor Michelle Bachelet, Chile's first female president, on May 8, 2006 in Washington, D.C.Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images

Ginsburg wore a classy, cream-colored suit to a dinner honoring Michelle Bachelet, Chile's first female president, on May 8, 2006 in Washington, D.C.

27 years ago, Ginsburg was sworn into her confirmation hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on July 20, 1993. Ginsburg told the committee that while she rose "on the shoulders" of women's rights pioneers, advocacy was not her vision of a justice's role.
27 years ago, Ginsburg was sworn into her confirmation hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on July 20, 1993. Ginsburg told the committee that while she rose "on the shoulders" of women's rights pioneers, advocacy was not her vision of a justice's role.Doug Mills / AP

Ginsburg took the power suit to a new level in this purple one she wore to be sworn into her confirmation hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 20, 1993.

Biden, then chariman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, escorted Ginsburg, on Capitol Hill on June 15, 1993.
Biden, then chariman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, escorted Ginsburg, on Capitol Hill on June 15, 1993.Marcy Nighswander / AP

Ginsburg, also, knew how to pull off a more casual look. She wore a white skirt and red-and-white striped top with then Sen. Joe Biden back in 1993.