It wasn't as enduring, but another example from WWII was the umbrella becoming a symbol of appeasing one's enemies. Neville Chamberlain, the prime minister of Great Britain is perhaps most remembered for brokering the Munich Agreement, which basically said that Germany could have portions of Czechoslovakia if they promised not to invade anyone else.
At the time, Chamberlain was well known for carrying a black umbrella. Here's a picture of him meeting Hitler at the conference, and another of him leaving the conference; both clearly show him carrying an umbrella.
When he returned to England, his opponents used umbrellas to protest his policy. It even spread to America for a time:
Vice President Richard Nixon banned his own aides from carrying umbrellas when picking him up at the airport for fear of being photographed and charged as an appeaser. Returning from the Geneva Conference in 1955, President Eisenhower had to give a speech in the pouring rain because Nixon had prohibited presidential assistants from carrying umbrellas.
The documentary "Sweet Violets" mentions how the violet rivaled the rose as a corsage flower until 1927, when the lesbian-themed play "The Captive" appeared on Broadway. Central to the plot were bouquets of violets sent from one woman to another, and almost overnight, violets were stigmatized as symbols of lesbian love and most women stopped wearing them.
I was just watching a documentary on the French Revolution, and one fashion trend was for the citizens to wear long pants as opposed to knee britches (culottes) making them the "San culottes". Culottes are associated with the monarchy they were disenfranchised by, and in the process of overthrowing so it was an important symbol of solidarity amongst commoners.
Thomas Dewey's mustache, not nearly as damning as Hitler's, is credited with keeping all facial hair off American presidential candidates. However, at the time Dewey's mustache was thought to make him look conceited and out of touch with the lower classes whereas today, well...
