Elizabeth Black
Hillary Clinton's Sartorial Missteps
No woman today stands as directly in the public eye as Hillary Clinton. Her every word and move is subjected to endless scrutiny. Because of her leading roles in the dog-eat-dog realm of politics, even Hillary’s fashion choices are grist for twenty-four-hour news media pundits. To one degree or another, an individual's wardrobe is intrinsically connected to what one would like to reveal and/or conceal about the self. While fashion provides us with the tools to help define and communicate an intended identity to the wider public, there is always room for error and for the anticipated message to fail or prove unconvincing.
Using Hillary Clinton’s life experiences as a series of case studies, this thesis explores her fashion choices in relation to a myriad of factors including: gender, politics, and identity formation. How does one construct the identity that Americans could select as their first female president?
