Fashion Statement?

When Hillary Clinton and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi posed for a photo op before their December 2 meeting, I couldn't help but notice that they were dressed nearly identically, right down to hairdos. Aung San Suu Kyi's hairdo was nothing new for her, but Hillary's certainly was. Topping off the do, Hillary substituted Aung San Suu Kyi's trademark flower with a white pearl scrungee. The effect was nearly the same.
Okay, thought I, perhaps Hillary thought it best to reflect her hostess as a matter of courtesy and respect. Surely, the remarkable Lady merits very special treatment by the US Secretary of State.

But then, Hillary gave her now-famous gay-rights speech in Geneva yesterday in the same do! Is she still paying homage to The Lady? Did she not have time to get to the hairdresser? Or is this the new Hillary look?

I'm no fashion maven, but I do suspect a political message. The Lady, as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is known throughout Burma, has devoted the better part of her life to achieving freedom from oppression for her people. She has suffered greatly through imprisonments and years of house arrest. It is only over the last few months that The Lady has enjoyed some freedom of movement within her own country, to which I believe she's still confined. I suspect that by emulating her, Hillary Clinton is acting in The Lady's stead, broadcast her message of freedom and democracy across the globe.

You go, girl. Some day, you'll earn your flower.