Fashion-alysis of Sarah Palin

let´s hope she won´t become vice president

It’s all about substance, of course. But when you’re listening to a political message, it’s only natural to consider the messenger. More than any other candidate in recent memory – we’ll leave political wife Nancy Reagan and her Galanos gowns out of this mix – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s appearance has sparked copycats and controversy, from her famously emulated eyeglasses (witness the nationwide rush to LensCrafters for her Kazuo Kawasaki rimless rectangular frames) to criticism over the Republican Party’s $150,000 expenditure on clothing, makeup and accessories to make her sartorially suited for the office of vice president.

To some, this is much ado about nothing. To others, image is a key to character.

We asked three fashion experts to weigh in on the three glasses styles illustrated here, with these questions: What clues do Sarah Palin’s eyeglasses give about her personality? What image would she project in a different set of frames? And how does clothing affect the way we view a world leader?

Marcy Carmack

San Francisco style consultant who attends New York Fashion Week

From Palin’s rimless frames (left) we can glean that she doesn’t have much personal style. Wardrobe choices should be somewhat neutral, but there is a certain lack of commitment the rimless convey.

Cat-eye frames project an image that is a little too fashiony for a potential world leader, whether one thinks they are in fashion or not.

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November: elections and fashion

So besides the question who will win,the fashion plays an important role

The Midwest is considered by many a wasteland of tacky trends and last season’s fashion filling the landmass between the style-savvy coasts. On top of living in a Midwestern city, Madison is also a college town where jeans and Badger apparel dominate with the exception of Ugg boots and North Face. Once casual, comfort-driven dressing is expected, how can fashion-forward students branch out of the mundane stereotype without looking like outsiders? Suddenly, wearing a dress and heels out on a Saturday night becomes a point of ridicule. It is time to establish and embrace fashion beyond the jeans and tees, and this is where I hope to come in handy.

The fashion industry’s top magazines do not necessarily target the college or Midwest demographic. The expense and extravagance of designer “must haves” rarely fit the budget or scene of a typical student. But that doesn’t mean they are not useful. I have taken the November issues of Vogue, Elle and Harper’s Bazaar and translated them for the average Midwest college student, exposing the hottest trends and how to wear them in a tasteful, chic manner without feeling out of place.

The focus of November, most obviously, is the election. But the other main headliner is the designer Resort Collections. Resort has become a third season in itself, or so the fashion industry claims, showcasing pieces for American vacationers heading to Palm Springs for the winter holiday. Personally, I feel as though it is the boredom of designers and the greed of department stores that has resulted in the Resort Collections, therefore I refuse to take much of it into consideration. The fall collections this year present enough excitement and exploration. In the November issues, two major trends of fall/winter continued to dominate the pages: menswear and glam rock.

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What Palin fashion costs the Republicans

wow ! She is a real fashionista !

Last night Politico.com broke the story ‘RNC shells out $150K for Palin fashion’. The astronomical amount of money has been spent to dress Sarah Palin and her family since she was appointed as John McCain’s running mate in late August.The McCain campaign released a statment a few hours after the story broke on the internet to say that the whole affair was so trivial: “With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it’s remarkable that we’re spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses,” said spokesperson Tracey Schmitt. “It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign.”

more about “What Palin fashion costs the Republic…“, posted with vodpod

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Michelle Obama Endorses Fast Fashion

at least she care about her outfit…

Over the last few months, the media (and, subsequently, the general public) has become borderline obsessed with what the women playing roles in the presidential election are wearing. An average American can not only tell you about the cost of Cindy McCain’s convention attire, and her recycling of accessories. They know the origin of Sarah Palin’s trendsetting eyeglasses—the brainchild of an Obama-endorsing, Japanese designer. But, the real woman making serious fashion waves this election has without a doubt been Michelle Obama. And, she’s continuing to shock and delight fashion lovers by sporting a dress from a certain Swedish retailer on the campaign trail.

According to MrsO—a recently launched-blog that’s keeping track of each and every one of Mrs. Obama’s sartorial steps—the prospective first lady donned a Narcisco Rodriquez-esque H&M dress while campaigning in Detroit, Michigan. And, they’ve got the photos to prove it. Given the economy’s recent downturn, it looks as though Michelle Obama’s style choices continue to be spot on. Does this mean Kate Moss for Topshop, or Rogan for Target is next? Doubtful, but it sure beats Cindy’s $313,000 ensemble.

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Politics’ 1st ladies of fashion create a frenzy with must-have looks

a very detailed and interesting article

Sarah’s specs. Michelle’s dresses. Cindy’s diamonds. Jill’s handbag.

We love them. We want them. We have to have them. Or at the very least, we want to know all about them — just as we did with Jackie Kennedy’s pillbox hats and Barbara Bush’s pearls.

The economy may be the main event in the presidential race. But for people who love fashion, campaign-trail style is a compelling sideshow.

Headliners are Sarah Palin and Michelle Obama, both 44. Cindy McCain, 54, and Jill Biden, 57, are the bit players. But the moment any of them shows up in a new outfit, the fashion media starts digging for details, the bloggers start commenting and the public relations corps fires off news releases claiming bragging rights for designers.

Dresses and pearls

First it was Obama’s dresses, starting with the magenta sheath she wore the evening she famously fist-bumped her husband, Barack Obama, as he claimed the Democratic nomination in June. Overnight, the name on every fashionista’s lips was Maria Pinto, the Chicago designer who made the sleeveless, V-neck dress.

And the necklace she wore with the dress prompted a rapid-response news release trumpeting, “Michelle Obama has been accessorizing her much-appraised style with Carolee pearls.”

So many women followed her lead that Carolee has seen a double-digit percentage increase in sales of the $50 necklace, company spokeswoman Ashley Futterknecht said.

Specs and retro hair

The day after the Democrats’ convention ended, Sarah Palin burst onto the scene — and immediately sparked a gotta-have-it frenzy among fans. They want her rimless eyeglasses, her red shoes, even her beehive hairdo.

“Her eyeglasses, and the way she is wearing them with such confidence, has had an impact, big-time,” said James J. Spina, editor-in-chief at 20/20, a leading eyewear-industry magazine.

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‘The Duchess’ made an 18th century political fashion statement

the pictures are amazing!

We tend to think of flying one’s political colors as a modern development; red-blooded Republicans, true blue Democrats, red states versus blue states and all that.

But lately, it’s getting harder to decipher a colorful political fashion flag.

For instance, Republican First Lady Laura Bush wore a bright red gown to the presidential inaugural ball in 2001 and often wore red for the next eight years. But Republican First Lady Barbara Bush wore blue to her inaugural and kept wearing “Barbara blue” for the next four years.

Democrat Rosalyn Carter wore a blue dress that she’d previously worn when Jimmy Carter became governor of Georgia. And Republican Nancy Reagan, although renowned for wearing red during her eight-year first lady stint, actually wore white to her inaugural.

So far we’ve seen Cindy McCain look smashing in red and Michelle Obama looking beautiful in blue. But who knows what color either of them would wear to the Inaugural Ball in 2009?

Wearing political colors is nothing new, according to Michael O’Connor, the costume designer for “The Duchess.” He says that Georgiana Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire, was one of the first women to use color to make a political fashion statement back in the 18th century.

“Georgina was known for setting certain trends, and so they would always caricature them in the press, in magazines and periodicals,” says O’Connor, who designed 27 gowns just for the film’s star, Keira Knightley.

And she cunningly used color to rally support for her favorite political party, the Whigs, whose hues were blue and buff, at a time when women were deemed mere property, not allowed to own anything, have a profession or even to vote.

Shown above, O’Connor designed a “military style monkey jacket” based on a newspaper caricature of her campaigning for the Whig Party, visiting soldiers who were going to the impending war with France.

“I took the idea based on the caricature that portraying her kissing people for votes. Her campaigning costume started a sort of masculine style for aristocratic women. And because the Whig Party had certain colors, which were blue and buff, the men were often seen or painted with these buff colored waistcoats and blue tailcoats, so I decided she would have her costume in blue and buff. And it would be cut open like that with a buff waist coat, and her accessories would be fox fur.”

Why fox? Because the Whig candidate and her secret lover was Charles James Fox, who would become a mover and shaker in Parliament.

Georgina launched a hot-air balloon decorated in the Whig official colors of blue and buff in the 1784 election and inspired other aristocratic ladies to show up at Whig rallies, attired in the party’s hues with foxtails in their hair.

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Sarah Palin’s Style Sparks Buying Frenzy

haha wow

Fashion companies have discovered a lucrative new marketing vehicle: Sarah Palin.

Since John McCain chose her last month as his running mate, Gov. Palin’s personal style has sparked a buying frenzy. Many women are snapping up her choices of shoes and eyeglasses and blogging about which brand of lipstick she wears. Hairstylists and wig sellers report sudden demand for her trademark up-dos. Indeed, the brands behind Gov. Palin’s fashion taste have gone into overdrive seeking to cash in on the association.

Reuters

Naughty Monkey made the 3.5-inch red peep-toe patent-leather pumps, which Gov. Palin wore when she was introduced by Sen. McCain as the VP nominee. See a slideshow of some of Gov. Palin’s style statements.

On Wednesday, WigSalon.com issued a news release boasting that it has wigs and hair pieces “that reflect the new looks made popular by Sarah Palin,” along with style tips to “instantly” achieve the swept-back style.

“Obviously we’re going to get a jump from this,” says Joe Aronesty, owner of WigSalon.com. In the past week, the company has sold about 25 Palin-esque wigs, ranging in price from $100 to the “Bargain Sarah Palin” wig for $46. “And it’s not even close to Halloween,” Mr. Aronesty says. Early next week, Mr. Aronesty plans to send a newsletter to his 25,000 subscribers highlighting Palin wig options and styling tips.

Fashion firms have long boasted when celebrities and first ladies wore their clothing and accessories, of course. Jacqueline Kennedy lent cachet to Oleg Cassini gowns and Halston pillbox hats during the 1960s. This year, the sight of Michelle Obama in a $148 black-and-white tank dress on ABC’s “The View” in June helped popularize Chico’s FAS Inc.’s White House|Black Market brand. But the prospect of having a national candidate who is a former beauty queen and in the news every day is even better for business, many fashion companies say.

The Naughty Monkey Line

Gov. Palin’s spokeswoman, Maria Comella, declined to comment on any aspect of the governor’s personal style.

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Are Sarah Palin’s Eyeglasses the New Pantsuit?

you have to watch the video!

Are vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s rimless eyeglasses the new Hillary Clinton pantsuit?

The glasses, created by Japanese designer Kazuo Kawasaki, are becoming a bipartisan must-have fashion accessory.

The company that manufacturers Palin’s eyeglasses says its phones have been ringing off the hook.

“We began hearing from our authorized dealers and they wanted to stock multiple pairs of the exact same frame and style and color that she had,” said Amy Hahn, the vice president of Italee Optics, Inc.

click for the original video

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Fashion politics,it´ s all about the shoes

So in case your may care,you should read this article

NEW YORK – John and Cindy McCain, and Barack and Michelle Obama are doing their best to put their best foot forward every day on the campaign trail. But are they doing it in the right shoes?
The shoe may not make the man, but it is an important part of his appearance, which is an important part of his image, which can influence voters. So we asked shoe expert (and shoe fanatic) Meghan Cleary as well as Details magazine fashion director Michael Macko to evaluate the footwear styles of the Obamas and McCains.

Barack Obama » has been seen out and about in four basic styles: polished black wing-tips, broken-in brown lace-ups, sneakers and flip-flops, Cleary says. He makes an effort to choose the right footwear for the right occasion.
”He knows when he needs to respect the pomp and circumstance – and for that he has the wing-tips – but a vacation is appropriate for flip-flops.”
Macko likes that Obama veers from the dark suit-dark shoe standard of most Washington insiders, but the brown lace-ups – while a good match for the khaki pant – look a little too beat up.
It appears from photos that Obama’s sneakers of choice are Asics, which is a brand favored by Midwesterners and runners. John Kerry’s sneakers in 2004 were New Balances, a brand with deep New England roots.

John McCain » consistently wears $520 Salvatore Ferragamo loafers that are brown with a metal buckle.
If his shoes have a long life, the price tag shouldn’t be a concern, Cleary says. Macko adds, ”I am a firm believer in there are certain things men should spend as much as they can on, and shoes are one of them.”
McCain has made a commitment to a style and made it part of his ”uniform,” following the footsteps of most men who don’t want to have to think too much about their wardrobes, Macko says. ”If you find something that works, stick with it.”
That said, Cleary, of MissMeghan.com, is bothered by the slip-on silhouette, which says to her that ”he wants to get up and go.”

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Obama the next doll of the fashion world?

well that could be true…

Obama: The next doll of the fashion world? (August 28, 2008)

Mayor Richard Daley has taken pains to try turning Chicago into a fashion town, hiring a fashion czar and setting up programs to keep fledgling designers from fleeing to the coasts.

But it could well be another famous politician, and his wife, who finally launch Chicago’s fashion industry into the national spotlight.

Though the presidential election is more than two months away, talk is swirling among fashionistas that Barack and Michelle Obama could bring a much-needed dose of excitement to how Americans dress and, in turn, recognition of the renaissance that is taking place in the Chicago fashion industry.

When Sen. Obama steps onto the stage in Denver on Thursday night to accept the Democratic nomination for president, he plans to wear a classic two-button, navy, merino wool and cashmere suit from Chicago-based Hartmarx Corp., the company said. The largest suitmaker in the U.S. has sold suits to Obama over the years and, at the presidential hopeful’s request, sent two tailors to his Kenwood home earlier this month to custom-make a suit for the historic speech.

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