TOPIC BLOG: Political Communication

For today's topic blog I will be connecting health and fashion. Since this blog is connected to a class I am doing this semester I am required to blog about certain topics. I will be linking these topics with fashion so that they are still relevant and interesting. I hope that this post gives you a new perspective and provides you a deeper look into the fashion industry. 


Does fashion have a significant impact on politics? On the surface many would say not at all. But if you take a closer you will realize that fashion and the political world definitely have an influence on each other.

When a president or other government official runs for office every action is scrutinized, even what they wear to a speech or party. The way a person dresses has a lot to do with the message they are trying to communicate.

Many American Presidential candidates may decide to wear rolled up sleeves at a speech about agriculture to give off the appearance of being a hard worker and relating to the audience.

There are so many subtle messages that can be conveyed through the way we dress, whether we want to appear powerful, younger, older, smarter, or hardworking.


One blog called Mrs.O, tracks Michelle Obama's fashion choices everyday. The blog reports on what she wears to different events and where to purchase some of her more affordable clothing items. Women have looked to Obama for fashion inspiration. Her choices have an impact on political messages her husband is communicating around the world. A great example of how powerful her fashion choices are we can look at the Alexander McQueen controversy in January 2011.

Michelle Obama wore a red Alexander McQueen dress to a Chinese state dinner. Many people in the fashion industry were offended by her dress choice. The reason being that Alexander McQueen is a British designer and not an American designer. The American designers felt that in wearing that dress Obama was not supporting the American fashion industry and hurting the struggle of keeping garment jobs in the United States.

Nanette Lepore, an American fashion designer wrote:

"Five years of raising awareness for New York’s Garment Center have been rendered irrelevant by one statement. What Michelle Obama chooses to wear can save and create American jobs. Her influence on the American fashion industry does not detract from her agenda in the East Wing. The First Lady can support her causes and simultaneously support a valuable American industry and the thousands of people it employs. I wish she would rethink her statement"

The choices public figures make can create powerful statements about political issues. I really wanted you to think about the messages you may be sending in your own daily lives!