VISUAL CULTURE AND STYLE OF THE FIRST LADY (PART THREE)

HILLARY CLINTON *
(Continuation from the previous issue)

Liliana Boyanova

The senator of New York Hillary Clinton (mandate first lady – 1993–2001), who took participation in this year’s candidate president competition, is wife of the former, 42th in turn president of USA – Bill Clinton and the only one woman of a head of state, chosen for member of the senate. As first lady, Hillary enters in the White house with juridical education, successful carrier and a circle of well-read and prosperous friends. Again as first lady, she creates precedent as she settles down in the West wing of the White house (till then there was situated the administration of the head of the state, and for the office of the fist lady is intended the East wing of the residence). Her husband – Bill Clinton assigns her the reform in the protection of health, with which she doesn’t success to manage, although she has for aim to make the system of the healthy insurance in America accessible for everyone. The social activity of Hillary, her frequent trips abroad together with the president, the interviews that she gives before, during and after his mandate, as also her successful candidature for the senatorial place of the state New York in 2000 prove the independence and the power, that can have the first lady of USA.

As first lady, she executes as the traditional role of housewife, mother and wife, as also this of public defense-lawyer of the rights of the women and children. Mrs. Clinton had traveled all around the world, defending and popularizing the American cause for freedom, democracy and equal right for all the people.

HILLARY CLINTON PRACTISESDIRECT STATUTORYPOWER
Hillary is the first and the only one first lady, to whom the president assigns the direct statutory power to lead the actions of the state in the national healthy reform. Although she doesn’t succeed to pass her politics for accessible and equal for all the people protection of health, until she is occupying with this, she wins recognition as strong public defense-lawyer of the rights of the citizens and succeeds to mange with the attacks of the press. In addition to her activity in the sector of the protection of health, Hillary works in close collaboration with the department of education, development and interiors of the White house. In defense of the rights of the women, the fist lady collaborates with the first state secretar Madeleine Albright.

During her mandate of first lady, Hillary Clinton visits 82 countries in the world and in this way her role of defense-lawyer of national publicly important causes steps across the boundaries of America. To increase her influence and to approve her role of defense-lawyer of the human rights helps to her speech, delivered at the Fourth world conference of the Organization of the United Nations at the questions for the right of the women, conducted in Beijing in 1995. Then she had leaded the interior questions that she so strongly propagandized – to the attention of the international politics. Just this speech puts accent on the encouragement of the development of the woman’s rights as by the state institutions, as through initiatives in the private sector. As first lady, Hillary Clinton occupies with the cares for the rights of the children, the adoption and the education, gathers funds for research of the cancer of the mammary gland and helps the veterans from the war in the Gulf and their families. Mrs. Clinton cooperates for the leading of national campaign for pregnancy prevention in early age. She even succeeds to pass a law, after that the number of adopted children increases dramatically.

Her role of wife of the most influential man in the world doesn’t finish here. She is political partner and supporter of Bill Clinton. And she stands closely behind him and she is his defender during sex – the scandal with Monica Lewinski. In 2001 se is chosen for senator of New York.

CONTRADICTION BETWEEN IMAGE AND ROLE
As first lady, Hillary suffers from the contradiction between the image and the role of working woman and perfect housewife. The media follow every manifestation as wife of the American president and regularly reproach her in lack of style. Because of this Hillary becomes close friend of Oscar de la Renta and of Donatella Versace, and Jackie Onasis herself advices her to do not bother at this topic. Among the designers, taking cares of the appearance and of the style of the ex first lady are the names of Arnold Skazi, Donatella Versace (who advices Clinton of her way of clothing during the candidate president competition), Marc Jacobs (who inspired the image of the ex first lady, now senator and projected series t-shirts, on those is printed the face of the smiling Hillary. The image remembers the series stamps of Andy Warhol with the face of Marilyn Monroe. The t-shirts cost 55-60 $), Calvin Clein, Oscar de la Renta, Arnold Skazi.

HESITATIONS IN THE FASHION CHOICE
If we analyze attentively the style of Hillary Clinton during her mandate as first lady we can conclude that she had never succeed to understand the idea that the messages that she sends with her style and her way of clothing has to be literal. Instead of this, she wavers in her fashion choice between the evening dresses with naked shoulders of Donna Karan and the fashion designer from Arkansas Connie Fails, from the clothes of Saint John Knits to Oscar de la Renta, as at the end she stops at the black chic suits with trousers, a work of the last one. In a result of this, the clothes of Hillary looked like they had never ever sent synonymous messages.

In the first months of her mandate as first lady, Hillary Clinton doesn’t shine with special style. She roams between different cuts, models and styles and some of her former toilets forever will stay in the column „ugly”. After that however, the things come at their places, when a team of some stylists and personally Donatella Versace undertake with the appearance of Hillary. This evolution reaches its peculiar culmination at the end of 1998 just after the scandal with Monica Lewinski had fade. Then the first lady appears at the cover of the December issue of magazine „Vogue”, looking better than ever, dressed in stylish black dress of Oscar de la Renta. Now already with experience more than a decade in the politics, Hillary doesn’t allow to herself liberties in the way of clothing. Her clothes are stylish, underlining, but not too much the femininity of her figure.
Christine Martin is the name of one of the favorite jewelers of the ex first lady of USA – Hillary Clinton. The jeweler from California makes great earrings and necklaces. Among her clients are Bionce, Cameron Diaz, Paris Hilton.

CONTRADICTORY DEVELOPMENT OF THE IMAGE
If we talk of cardinal changes in the appearance of the first lady of USA, so Hillary Clinton is the president wife, to which these changes are the most phenomenal. Even only passing glance through the photos from the different periods of her life and the way she looked during the two mandates of her husband Bill Clinton, allow us to say that the development of the image of Hillary is history, repeating the story of the ugly duckling. During the pre-election campaign for president of USA, in which took participation Hillary, with her permission magazine „US Magazine” published her most ugly photos. At two of them, before her mandate of first lady, Hillary is wearing glasses with enormous frames that could be easy qualified as ugly and that obviously make her look older and give a comic expression of her face. Her photo, made during the pre-election campaign of Bill in 1992 testifies to the fact that as candidate - first lady, Hillary looks like she doesn’t take care of her appearance. She is dressed in long to the floor dress that optically increases her figure and with sandals type Roman foot soldier that shorten the length of the legs. Peculiar height of the lack of taste in this photography is the belt from light brown leather which she is wearing and which doesn’t correspond with the colors of her clothing, including with her light blue dress at heavy white stripes.

Other from the attached photos of the ex first lady also had stamped her lack of taste and style in the clothing. For example the toilet of Hillary from the official parade after the assumption of office of Bill for his first presidential mandate in 1993, where the red check of her suit doesn’t go well together with her blue hat and with her tights or the photo from the Christmas of 1998, where the first lady is with cardigan with embroidered Santa Claus and she is wearing necklace of gold-plated pearls with a little angel, part of Christmas decoration. However the photos of Hillary from her last months as first lady and on the eve of the nomination for senator mark a change of front in the style of her appearance. She changes her hair-style; she is already dressed in elegant suits with clear cut, the accessories are a few and scarcely noticeable, the make-up is discreet; Hillary isn’t separate with her bright red lipsticks. With her renewed styling Hillary even succeeds to break one myth – this of the suit with skirt as required by the etiquette fashion narrative. The American magazine "Biography" publishes photos of all the wives of American presidents from 1900 till present and Mrs. Clinton is the first, who is wearing suit with trousers. In suit with trousers the first lady is even eternalized in the Museum of the wax figures of Madame Tussauds.

HILLARY CLINTON AS FASHION ICON
The ex first lady reaches the title fashion icon of the United States with blood and sweat at the forehead. With the assumption of office, the unpolished Mrs. Clinton attracts the attention of the evil gossips and they rub their hands with satisfaction from her every image gaffe. And in the beginning they are hundreds. At the covers of the magazines quickly appear photos of Hillary from the college where she is dressed in badly selected clothes and she is wearing enormous glasses with thick frames. Then follow photos, where she is dressed with a lack of taste, combining incompatible colors, materials and patterns. The first lady isn’t liked by the people not only because of her lack of style, but also because of her more emancipated, even feminist at moment behavior, having noting common with the traditional and comfortable for the people’s sympathies role of housewife and mother.

The problems with the image of Hillary however very quickly find resolution with her close friendship with the famous fashion leading figures Donatella Versace and Donna Karan.

Like the thousand successful working women, Hillary keeps to the stylish and clear cuts and she isn’t a slave of the extravagant and provocative toilets. Just this is the reason that she can’t be noticed in transparent blouse from georgette of Calvin Klein, but with pleasure to wear long black skirt of Donna Karan. Namely clothes of the designer Hillary do shopping more than 12 years from boutique „Barbara Jean” in Little Rock, Arkansas. Other her fashion advisers and favorites are Randy Kemper, at those cut are made the red coat and the brown knitted skirt, which Hillary is wearing during the week of the assumption of office of her husband. The first lady has clothes of St. John Knits, as also of Sarah Phillips, who invents the dress of Mrs. Clinton for the official ball in assumption of office of Bill Clinton.

In the course of time, declared in the beginning of her mandate for the most hated and without style woman in America, Hillary succeeds to tone down the negative attitudes in direction of her personality through many efforts. She becomes weaker, she demonstrates more taste and style and she succeeds to humanize her image. And the miracle happens.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

The series of Liliana Boyanova is a part of her master’s thesis „Style and public imageof the first lady of USA and her media presence (Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, Lora Bush)”, defended in 2008 with excellent mark and honorary diploma in the Faculty of journalism and mass communication. Director of studies Prof. Dr.Lubomir Stoykov, reviewer Prof. Doctor of Philology Sciences Milko Petrov.

Photos of Hillary Clinton in different toilets:

	Hillary Clinton, at 21 years old in the Wesley College in the 60s
	Hillary and Bill, Yale University, 1970.
	Hillary Clinton as bride. She is at 27 years old, when she marries the future president Bill Clinton, 1975
	1992
	Hillary during the candidate presidential campaign of her husband, 1992.
	Bill and Hillary during the official parade in Washington after the assumption of office as president, 1993.
	Hillary and Bill, 1997.
	The presidential family during the parade at „Pennsylvania Avenue” after the official ceremony in assumption of office of Bill Clinton as president of the United States for second mandate, 20th January, 1997.
	Bill Clinton and Hillary, Chobe River, Botswana, March 1998.
	The first lady Hillary Clinton, Christmas 1998.
	Hillary Clinton, New York, 2000.
	Hillary Clinton, official portrait.
	Official ceremony in assumption of office for first mandate as senator of Hillary Clinton, 3th January, 2001.
	Wax figure of the first lady Hillary Clinton in the Museum of Madame Tussauds.