Hillary Clinton’s Style Evolution (Photos)
<p>Over the years, <a href="/content/dailybeast/cheats/2012/04/25/hillary-clinton-hits-20-year-high-in-popularity.html">Hillary Clinton</a>, the secretary of state and former first lady has gone from wearing demure shifts to a purple phase to a fondness for pantsuits to the stately look of black and pearls, with accompanying changes in hairstyles. A look at Hillary’s style evolution.<br> </p>
AP Photo (2), Getty
Perms, pantsuits, pink and everything in between.
AP Photo (3)
In 1964, a young Hillary Rodham poses with classmates at Park Ridge East High School in a demure shift, her chestnut curls neatly coiffed.
AP Photo
Hillary Clinton keeps her oversized glasses on for a 1979 dinner at the White House with husband Bill Clinton, then governor of Arkansas.
Barry Thumma / AP Photo
The first lady of Arkansas looks trendy with poofy shoulders in 1985.
AP Photo
A year later, Clinton makes a statement in a yellow-and-black printed dress at another White House dinner with her husband.
Ron Edmonds / AP Photo
Hillary sports a matchy look that would become a staple throughout her husband’s presidency, while strolling the grounds of her house in Little Rock, Arkansas with President-Elect Bill Clinton and House Speaker Thomas Foley in 1992.
Danny Johnston / AP Photo
Yikes! Was she channeling Michael Jackson with the white gloves? We can’t pass too much judgment on the bright, multicolored jogging suit (it was the ‘90s, after all).
James Finley / AP Photo
Apparently Hillary was going through a purple phase. The first lady’s 1993 inaugural, violet lace-and-mousseline garnered a huge amount of positive press for rookie designer Sarah Phillips, who was dubbed “7th Avenue’s Cinderella.” The designer described the gown to the Los Angeles Times as “a fairy-tale sort of dress, very traditional.”
Shayna Brennan / AP Photo
The first lady looks polished in a form-fitting turquoise blazer and flashy gold jewelry.
Doug Mills / AP Photo
On a 1994 visit to Paris, Hillary accessorizes her pantsuit with a playful, black-and-white Judith Lieber minaudiere, “Socks,” named after and designed to look like the first lady’s cat.
Doug Mills / AP Photo
Pump up the volume! Hillary’s hair gets a boost in 1995 for the 40th Annual United Cerebral Palsy Awards dinner, where she was presented with the Humanitarian Award.
Ron Frehm / AP Photo
With the Monica Lewinsky scandal ever present in the background of her husband’s presidency, Hillary maintained a smiling face.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP Photo
Not usually one to dress the part, the first lady wears a traditional African skirt, accompanied by her daughter en route to meet Nelson Mandela.
Doug Mills / AP Photo
At least she wasn’t afraid to get in the mood. Hillary Clinton dons a traditional Christmas sweater for the 1998 “A Night Before Christmas” reading at the White House on December 22.
Getty Images
The Democratic presidential hopeful sports a spiffy new haircut (and smile) as she greets supporters in the Oregon in 2008.
Elise Amendola / AP Photo
In the spring of 2008, Clinton checks out new specs on the campaign trail in Louisville, Kentucky.
Elise Amendola / AP Photo
Donning traditional Asian garb, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton walks with U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry after arriving on November 18, 2009 in Kabul—her first trip to Afghanistan as secretary.
Paula Bronstein / Getty Images
Clinton arrives in Paris looking chic in an embroidered yellow blazer for the 50th anniversary Ministerial Council Meeting 2011 at the OECD.
Thibault Camus / AP Photo
At heart, she’s a specs and flowers kind of girl. Clinton arrives in Indonesia in 2011 to discuss diplomatic relations in China and North Korea.
Saul Loeb, AFP / Getty Images
Looking more stately than ever, Clinton makes an address about Syria at the State Department in Washington in the summer of 2011.
Luis Alvarez / AP Photo
We’ll always associate her with her shoulder-length hair, but she deserves more credit for styling—whether in a relaxed, cut-and-dried manner, in a tight ponytail, or with more defined curls.
Clinton wore a black suit with white piping and black pearl necklace while speaking to students at the Dhaka International School in Bangladesh on May 6. As Robin Givhan wrote of the appearance, Clinton "put on a brave face" by not wearing makeup.
Shannon Stapleton, AFP / Getty Images
In her final days as Secretary of State, Clinton looked prim and proper in a double-breasted navy blazer on January 29 while fielding questions from people around the world at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty
Clinton was glowing in green at a dinner for Kennedy honorees that she attended alongside former president Bill Clinton on December 1.
Ron Sachs/Pool/Getty
In an uncharacteristic move, Clinton added a bold pop of color to her wardrobe with a bright pink jacket at an event launching the Diplomacy Center in Washington, D.C. on January 25.
Brendan Hoffman/Getty
Hillary traded up her traditional pantsuit in favor of a knee-length tunic with a floral motif for a networking event honoring Washington lobbyist Liz Robbins on April 4 at Chelsea Piers in New York City.
Larry Busacca/Getty
Clinton dusted off her hot pink jacket for the 2013 Women in the World Summit on April 5, where she delivered an uplifting speech on behalf of women worldwide.
Roxxe Ireland/Marc Bryan-Brown
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