I have a confession. I am a huge Hillary Clinton fan. However, I know that no one is perfect, and that includes Bill’s better half.

Honey, you need a makeover.

I usually don’t agree with People’s Best and Worst Dressed list, but when Clinton made it onto the 2010 lineup, I had to agree.

We’ve seen snapshots of her at rallies and conventions. It’s always the same pantsuit, but in a strange new color — one for every crayon in the box, and then some. Even I’m embarrassed for her.

One of my most humiliating fan moments was during her speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. While I sat in front of the TV awaiting yet another brilliant speech about unity in the Democratic Party, out steps my hero … in a mustard-orange pantsuit. I froze in horror, amid howling laughter from my Obama-crazed friends.

Despite my disapproval of Clinton’s unshapely and unflattering rainbow of pantsuits, I understand her odd affinity toward them. Although it’s tempting to believe we’re in a forward-thinking society, that’s not the case. Men still outnumber women in the highest management positions; men still dominate the government; men are still getting the fatter paycheck.

When Clinton refused a shoot with Vogue for fear of looking “too feminine”, the fashion community fought back. Editor in Chief Anna Wintour wrote, “The notion that a contemporary woman must look masculine in order to be taken seriously as a seeker of power is frankly dismaying.”

Michelle Obama pulls off a feminine flair. Her professional yet flattering outfits command respect.

However, Clinton plays a different game than Obama. Although they both fill important political positions, the image of a First Lady is a far cry from that of a president. She largely serves as a family-friendly figurehead — present at events and charities to support her husband — instead of discussing trade deals with foreign dignitaries or addressing congress.

It wasn’t that long ago that it was taboo for women to wear pantsuits. The few women who entered professional careers had no choice but to wear skirts and heels. Yet the strange polar shift from skirts and heels to pantsuits is merely fitting another set of skewed expectations from the male-dominate world. Dressing down and hiding our femininity in order to be respected and taken seriously is not huge progress.

Women in power should have the freedom to express themselves by looking fly without seeming soft or weak, but that day is not today. The glass ceiling hasn’t been broken. Look how much respect Sarah Palin gets in her skirts and heels (though she obviously has other factors working against her). Women still have to look the part to play the part.

Still — while I wouldn’t suggest Clinton show up to her next press conference in a floral frock, maybe a more fitted pantsuit would help. If nothing more, is it too much to ask that it not be mustard orange?