| This study examines ten images of first lady Michelle Obama in order to determine how she expresses her identity, social status, and leadership through her fashion choices. The ten images chosen depict the first lady in some of her most fashionable clothing. The study uses semiotic analysis as the method of analyzing the ways the first lady expresses herself through clothing and influences other women's fashion choices. This qualitative method that has the sign at its core was also used to determine how the political environment in which the first lady functions in influences her clothing choices. Results show that Michelle Obama has a great impact on other women's fashion choices, that she uses fashion to indicate that she is an elegant, fun, and daring person, and that the political setting in which she is always portrayed impacts her fashion choices but does not completely dictate what she wears. Finally, the study suggests many avenues for future research that include comparisons between the fashion that Michelle Obama displays as first lady in American trips and in trips abroad, between her fashion and the fashion displayed by former first ladies, and the effect that her fashion choices has on 2012 presidential election results. |
