A call to…legs

When Bill Clinton first became president, it was not an unusual occurrence for Hillary Clinton to be seen in a skirt. But around the time she started running for Senate, she became the First Lady of the Pantsuit — and, like my former colleagues at Glamour magazine, I’m all for it in theory. Skirt suits are pretty cold in Washington (let alone New York) winters, stockings are hideous in the swampy summers and, goodness knows, I’ve heard enough anonymous Internet commenters talk about “cankles” to last me a lifetime (as if any of those people have seen their own ankles in years). So, I can only imagine how Hillary feels. For my part, I’m pretty sure her ankles are just fine.

Plus, as anyone in D.C. knows, this is a drab suit kind of town, so Hillary’s  penchant for the jewel toned-pantsuits (which replaced her earlier black-only uniform) is actually a step away from (and often above) the average. But, as someone with a similar body type as Hillary Clinton, I’d like to encourage her to discover something that many Washington women — including her immediate predecessor, Condoleezza Rice — have discovered: the skirt suit/knee-high boot combination.

Let it be said, however, that I’m not suggesting that Hillary put on a pair of Rice- or Palin-esque stiletto boots. Given her normal shoes (yes, I’m obsessed with her shoes, too), she has obviously chosen to stick with flats or kitten heels for her own reasons — which could include the health of her joints and back, as my own mother reminds me when I wear heels. But, all need not be lost in the knee-high boots department this winter.

Plenty of knee-high boots come in flats or short heels and serve the same function as the high-heeled boot: to allow a woman to wear a skirt suit and still have covered legs in freezing temperatues (as Clinton’s soon-to-be boss’s inauguration is likely to be). Women of all ages, all over Washington are probably wearing such boots with their suits as I type this, and Hillary Clinton could certainly (and attractively) join their ranks. She might not set all the male hearts aquiver in Eastern Europe doing it, but I, for one, would applaud her.

Plus, then my mom would probably stop kvetching at me for wearing them.

Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images and Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images