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Thursday, July 28, 2016

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com ARTS

The versatile style of Hillary Clinton

STYLE NOTEBOOK

A chronicle of the 
candidate’s fashion 

over the years

By ANAY KATYAL and LYDIA 

MURRAY

Summer Senior Arts Editor and Daily 

Staff Reporter

Hillary Clinton’s wardrobe has 

been the talk of Washington media 
during this election cycle, but she’s 
no stranger to the commotion. From 
her years as First Lady to the advent 
of her political career, Hillary Clin-
ton has seen a variety of stylistic 
transformations, all equally iconic 
and defining for the time and era of 
her personal career.

Clinton has sported a variety of 

looks during her time in the public 
eye, each and every one distinctly 
representative of the role she’s had 
to play. During her time as First Lady 
of Arkansas, a primp and proper 
demeanor warranted a no-nonsense 
bob coupled with pinstripe dresses 
to humanize her to state constitu-
ents as she worked to bring atten-
tion to social issues such, including 
the Arkansas school system. As her 
husband took the Oval Office, Clin-
ton took to stronger, more assertive 
colors and silhouettes (later adopt-
ing her signature shortcut) as she 
took on nationally-defining initia-
tives, like helping to establish the 
Office on Violence Against Women. 
Pant suits of all types of colors 
become her norm as Clinton tried 
to level with her male counterparts 
in her run-up to becoming Senator 
of New York (and later Secretary of 
State under the Obama administra-
tion). But why the different phases? 
Was Clinton moving with the ever-
evolving psyche of fashion, or was 
there something more fundamental 
to her stylistic progression?

For men in business, dressing 

the part is a simple task. A well fit-
ted suit and tie largely does the 
trick when it comes to “professional 
dress.” For women, the decision 
is more nuanced, requiring many 
more moving parts. Skirt or pants? 
A solid color or patterned? Muted 
or bright colors? The most difficult 
aspect of this cascade of decisions is 
treading the fine line between look-
ing fashionable while maintaining 
professionalism (and avoiding any 
provocation).

Nina McLemore, CEO of Nina 

McLemore Designs — specializing 
in professional apparel for women 
— has styled many prominent 
female political figures today, Hill-
ary Clinton included. McLemore 
discussed this phenomenon in an 
interview with The Daily, speaking 
about the perfect balance required 
in today’s political landscape.

“This points to the divide, or fine 

line, I would say, that women walk 
between looking frumpy or dull and 
being too sexy,” she said. “It’s a very 
difficult line to manage.”

McLemore said, for Clinton, she 

does not have much time in her 
busy schedule to consider what she 
wears, but still needs to display an 
air of confidence in her attire.

“She doesn’t really have time to 

focus on her wardrobe,” she said. 
“She needs to wear clothes that are 
attractive but are also displaying 
confidence and power.”

Comparatively, McLemore said, 

Michelle Obama — a woman of 
similar education and means as 
Clinton — dresses in a more tradi-
tionally feminine way, largely as to 
not distract from President Barack 
Obama’s role as the dominant figure 
of the White House. Instead, she 
characterizes herself in a more sup-
portive and mothering light, a stark 
illustration of the difference in roles 
the two women play.

“Michelle is a very strong, very 

smart, very well educated woman,” 
she said. “My guess is that she has 
chosen to portray an image that is 
not so strong and not so hard edge 
… I think she wants to come off as 
a youthful, energetic mother rather 
than a strong powerful woman.”

Clinton has occupied both of 

these roles in her style. As First 
Lady of both the United States and 
Arkansas, Clinton’s look harkened 
back to days of Jackie Kennedy vibe, 
sporting skirt suits and dresses. She 
also opted for more feminine colors 
and patterns.

As First Lady, Clinton’s held a 

role of having to be a mother to her 
family, while simultaneously hav-
ing to convey aspects of that role in 
pronounced ways for the public eye. 
A shift came when Clinton’s politi-
cal aspirations came to fruition in 
the race for New York’s Senate seat. 
Suddenly, Clinton former image 
was exchanged for a persona that 
more assertively exuberated confi-
dence and professionalism.

In this stage, dresses were 

turned in for her signature famous 
bright pantsuits and strong red lip-
stick. Clinton went from embody-
ing Jackie Kennedy to channeling 
Angela Merkel, shifting her fashion 
as she changed roles.

Clinton’s style remained largely 

the same throughout her tenure 
as both Senator and Secretary of 
State. Her hair was kept longer than 
what she currently sports, and she 
often wore her hair tied up with 
a scrunchie. For Clinton, this was 
an easy fix to weathered hair after 

hours of travel when she had to look 
photo ready after spending hours on 
an airplane. It illustrated the weath-
ering aspects of her job at the time.

Per McLemore, hair is one of the 

most important aspects of a wom-
an’s look. For women with longer 
hair, she said, having a neat, up-do 
conveys the most professional and 
assertive look.

“I think it is much better if you 

have longer hair to pull it back or 
put it up,” she said. “And not have it 
hanging on the front of your jacket.”

Back on the campaign trail, 

Clinton once again rocks her short, 
fluffy cut and has kept the pantsuits 
— but with a twist. Clinton now 
employs an arsenal of designers and 
has shored up her wardrobe bud-
get to match — the New York Post 
reported that Clinton likely spent 
$200,000 on her campaign ward-
robe, including a $12,495 Giorgio 
Armani tweed jacket she wore for a 
speech about inequality.

However Clinton isn’t the first 

female politician to do so. According 
to the New York Post, Sarah Palin 
received $150,000 worth of cloth-
ing from the Republican National 
Committee while running for Vice 
President in 2008. It’s a challenge 
that crosses party lines.

Relative to Clinton’s world of 

ever-changing 
(and 
ever-scruti-

nized) style, there’s something to 
be said about the stylistic aspect 
(or lack thereof) in the lives of her 
male colleagues and counterparts. 
Donald Trump, her latest adver-
sary, seemingly does not exist in a 
world with the same pressures or 

expectations, illustrative of the dif-
ferent difficulties the two face when 
it comes to their approach toward 
the public eye. McLemore says she 
believes Trump has variations of 
only one suit.

“When I was looking at what 

Donald Trump wore, it appears to 
me that he has one style of suit,” she 
said. “He has a tailor that just makes 
it for him over and over again. He 
just changes the fabric for some. 
There is no uniform for women.

Politicians like Clinton seem-

ingly have to grapple with a kind of 
stigma unseen by their male coun-
terparts.

According to McLemore, humans 

are hardwired to immediately asso-
ciate power with male figures who 
are tall, handsome and dressed in 
a suit. Women, on the other hand, 
have to work to break this image.

“We have become to recognize 

the CEO as the person in the suit 
and the tie,” she said. “Women are 
not that image.”

And Clinton recognizes just 

that. Her stylistic progression is 
indicative of a woman whose self-
awareness has supplemented her 
career successes. The kinds of 
challenges she has had to face in 
her professional rise are far from 
the conventional tribulations male 
politicians face, and her answer 
to those challenges echo strongly 
for women who find themselves in 
a similar place. From her role as a 
doting and caring mother, her pub-
lic image experienced an upheav-
al in her transition to becoming 
the politician we know today.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Is anybody listening to me? Bueller?

GRANT HARDY/Daily

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