KENNESAW, Ga. | May 27, 2026

Can the outfit a celebrity wears to court influence how the jury or public perceive them? Kennesaw State University students Emily Lesmes and Alaina Jean have been studying exactly that.

Working with Associate Professor of Marketing and Sales Hyunju Shin, the students who are participants in the First-Year Scholars Program are exploring whether courtroom fashion shapes how the public perceives someone's guilt, remorse, or sincerity.

"We're mostly looking at how people perceive the person," said Jean, a public relations major. "If they perceive the person to be sorry for their actions or if it seems like they don't respect the court at all."

The inspiration came from South Korea. Shin, who is Korean, introduced the students to a phenomenon called the "blame look," which are carefully curated outfits celebrities wear to court appearances. Jean and Lesmes, students in the Michael J. Coles College of Business, built their study around that concept, examining whether these carefully curated outfits celebrities wear to court appearances actually move the needle on public opinion.

To avoid any copyright issues, the team used AI-generated images to create a fictional celebrity who was facing a DUI charge. Approximately 200 participants in the study were asked to view the same fictional celebrity entering a courthouse in three different outfits. In one scenario, the individual wore casual clothing; in another, a formal suit; and in the third, more colorful and exaggerated attire. Researchers then asked participants to evaluate how remorseful, respectful, or sincere the individual appeared.

They found that the celebrity’s choice of clothing significantly influenced perceptions.

“We found that the more formal you dress, the more you were perceived as sorry for your actions,” Jean said. “And we also found that if you made a charitable donation, while it didn’t have any effect on its own, if you dressed more formal, then you were able to be perceived as even more sorry.”

The pair recently presented their findings at the Association of Marketing Theory and Practice conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and at KSU's Spring Symposium of Student Scholars. They are now expanding the research to include female celebrities, exploring how factors like smiling and makeup shift public perception.

For Lesmes, a marketing major, the project was a natural draw.

"I've always really been into pop culture and fashion," she said. "Seeing that as an opportunity to do a research project really drew me in because it was basically all my interests in one thing."

Jean, whose interests include public relations and personal branding, said the project highlighted the risks companies face when partnering with celebrities involved in controversy.

“It’ll definitely influence how cautious companies are,” Jean said. “Companies nowadays do like to take risks with how they perceive themselves, but with this it definitely will push them to look for more formal and safer partnerships.”

– Story by Christin Senior

Photo provided

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees to its more than 51,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university's vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties, and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 8 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.