Hillary Clinton’s Bold Post-Election Style



1 / 3 Chevron Chevron From A.P./Rex/Shutterstock. Giving a keynote address during the 28th Annual Professional Business Women of California conference in San Francisco. (March 28, 2017)

Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign was marked by, among other things, her pointed fashion choices. Every color, pantsuit, jacket, and hairstyle was thought out and intentional, often sending a greater message to her constituents or at least fending off the critics who have been tearing apart her appearance since her days as First Lady—something that even a man who uses Scotch tape in lieu of a tie clip rarely endures.

In the months since the election, Clinton has emerged anew from the woods and is back on the speaking circuit with a new style that fits her bolder, even more confrontational attitude toward the man she squared off against last year.

On Tuesday, Clinton, in a fitted leather blazer and floral button-down, showed off one of her edgiest looks yet. While delivering the keynote address at the Professional Business Women of California conference in San Francisco, Clinton seemed to be fully embracing the next chapter of her life. She criticized current policy, urged people to “Resist, insist, persist, enlist,” and even joked about the election saying, “There is no place I'd rather be than here with you. Other than the White House.” It was a speech that, in the way Michelle Obama did during the campaign, called out Donald Trump and his administration without ever saying his name.

Even her signature pantsuits have gotten a post-election makeover. On March 7, Clinton attended the 2017 Girls Inc. New York luncheon to accept the Champion for Girls award. The luncheon preceded International Women’s Day on March 8, when thousands of women would go on strike for the Day Without a Woman protest. The bright-red pantsuit—the color associated with the protest—sent a clear message to her audience (and beyond) of her solidarity with women and the movement, but it was the multicolored, collared shirt underneath the suit that stood out even more, not only for its bold mix of colors but for looking unlike anything Clinton had worn as a candidate. It was as if to say that patterns didn't poll well with voters in Iowa, but she wasn't working for them anymore.

At the Girls Inc. luncheon Clinton rightly put the focus on women, but she has found subtle ways to criticize the man who beat her in the presidential election. At the Oscar de la Renta Forever Stamp dedication ceremony in February, she delivered a speech that moved forward and was political, highlighting the importance of the Constitution and immigrants like de la Renta: “What a fitting person to be chosen by our Postal Service, mentioned, by the way in the Constitution. And its choice of this immigrant who did so much for our country, his country, truly is what it means when we say, ‘U.S.A. Forever.’ ” For the ceremony, she wore a wool Oscar de la Renta coat and gold-disc statement necklace, which, like her speech, was just a little bit bolder than what she wore on the campaign trail.

Not only does Clinton sound re-energized in these post-election appearances, she looks it too. She also got a new haircut with bangs, something that even last year wouldn’t have happened without a full-scale P.R. procedure in place. But with a new year, a lost election, and some solid hikes under her belt, Clinton seems to have found a renewed, bolder approach to public service—and style.