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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Judging a candidate by his wife’s fashion

quite entertaining article

So this week Americans go to the polls to select their new president. Standing in the booths, punching their ballots, they will consider the economy, they will consider policies, and they will consider – clothes.

Clothes? Despite the assertion by the McCain-Palin campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt that “with all the important issues facing the country, it’s remarkable we’re talking about pantsuits and blouses” (in reference to the news that the Republican National Committee spent $150,000 on Governor Palin’s wardrobe) the truth is, in politics as in everything, we have a lot to say about clothing because our clothing has a lot to say about us.

And nowhere has this been more obvious than in the case of the two other highest-profile women in the US presidential election, Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama. Almost without exception, their style choices offer a clear commentary on where their respective husbands and parties stand. To examine the prospective first ladies’ wardrobes is thus not to ignore “the important issues” in America today; it is, on the contrary, to confront the vast differences between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama – differences in values and vision that define this campaign and will determine its winner.

Of the two women’s fashion statements, Cindy McCain’s are probably the easiest to decode, as they visibly embody four basic Republican principles. The first – consistent with her husband’s Bush-aligned voting record – is Continuity. Mrs McCain, like Laura Bush, favours Oscar de la Renta, who has long been the designated White House couturier, and who dressed both ladies for the opening night of the Republican National Convention. Like her other campaign-trail ensembles, the gold shirtwaist Cindy McCain donned for that occasion reflected the formula Nancy Reagan developed in the 1980s. Brightly coloured and unfailingly feminine, McCain’s frocks and suits project an image of soignée, conservative womanhood. (This look couldn’t, significantly, be farther from the aggressive, pant-suited feminism of one-time Democratic presidential hopeful, Senator Hillary Clinton.) Thus attired, the former Arizona rodeo queen is rebranded as the perfect Republican helpmate: Nancy 2.0.

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Gordon Brown’s spending would be far from beyond the Palin

So what about the other politicians?How much would they spend?

Sarah Palin has spent £92,000 since September on tailored jackets, pencil skirts and patent high heels. She has spent a further £2,900 on her hair and make-up. Even Palin’s husband has been restyled, with £3,000 spent in one menswear shop.

These figures are astronomical, but then as she is increasingly encouraged to keep her mouth shut, perhaps she is trying to let her clothes do the talking and boy do they bellow “big spender!”

We know Sarah Palin’s image bill because US election rules state that each candidate much reveal their expenditure. How fascinating it would be if this rule applied here. Gordon Brown’s bill would be a few hundred at Austin Reed, although Harriet Harman likes a designer label so she’d bump up the total cost.

On the Tory side, the bill would surely be lower. Not only would deputy William Hague save on hairdressing costs, but David Cameron would be a very cheap date.

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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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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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Sarah Palin’s Unassertive Fashion Statement

she is doing quite well whent i comes down to fashion

Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s style is exceptionally ordinary. Nothing about it connotes authority. No detail announces that she is in charge. And that’s what makes it so powerful.

The rimless glasses that dominate her face are as banal as modern spectacles come. The entire goal of their design is to have them go unnoticed. They are not meant to frame her features as much as they are crafted to avoid detracting from her big brown eyes.

Her clothes are unpretentious, but they are also unremarkable. They have nothing to do with Fashion. It’s fashion show season now, with designers unveiling their spring 2009 collections in New York, Milan and soon Paris. So far, none of them have suggested that the next new thing for the power-wielding woman is a straight black skirt with a boxy, oyster-colored blazer, which is what Palin wore when she accepted the vice-presidential nomination in St. Paul, Minn.

In the narrow confines of political style, the accepted rule is to dress in a manner that implies empathy for one’s constituency — so don’t wear anything too expensive — but also conveys authority. Palin has embraced the former and utterly ignored the latter. Nothing about her style jibes with the image of power. She does not dress like a boss lady, an Iron Lady or the devil who wore Prada.

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What If: A Fashion Nightmare With VP Sarah Palin

what a picture!

“Fashion in Alaska means your fur hat is dead.” Yet somehow Bouffant Barbie has convinced America that she’s a fashion sensation and will pile her dogsled with suitcases full of femininity as she skids into the land of the badly buttoned, Capitol Hill.

With all the pomp about her girly veneer and what she will do for the butch broads of Washington, you would think that Nancy Pelosi casts her votes while sporting cargo pants or a prison jumpsuit. How will Sarah Palin do it differently?

She’ll show how un-Washington she is by vetoing all pro-environmental legislature in a coat made of baby seal pups and polar bears. Women with bulging bangs, wireless rims and bear claw necklaces will seal deals on K Street. Fur will become the new cashmere, Cruella de Ville a fashion icon, Holden Caulfield’s red and black hunting hat the topper of choice, the new “it” bag the AK-47, taxidermy will replace scrapbooking as the hobby for hockey moms and the PETA folks’ tears will overflow the Potomac.

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NY fashion: politics, celebs, and unsexy clothes

nice article!

"Hi there! I hate you." "Hello! I hate you too." Photograph: Peter Kramer/AP

Perhaps because the most important runway this season at New York fashion week wasn’t in the city’s traditional venues but on CNN, as the country became increasingly obsessed with Michelle Obama’s shift dresses, Cindy McCain’s wardrobe expenditure and, of course, Sarah Palin’s glasses, the shows themselves often felt a little limp in comparison. Fashion designers reacted by trying to outdo the competition, with a combination of glitzy parties, celebrities and canny, publicity-seeking timely references, thus making this New York fashion week, dull clothes aside, one of the more memorable for years. Here is a guide to everything you need to know.

Political support

As the rest of America obsessed over Sarah Palin and lipstick-sporting pigs, New York designers showed their love for Obama. Diane von Furstenberg and Marc Jacobs were prominent Clinton supporters, but both loyally – or disloyally, depending on your point of view – stuck with the Democrats and bigged up Barack. Anna Wintour hosted an Obama fundraiser, but her enthusiasm might have waned after the Obama team sent out invitations on which they referred to their host as “Ann Wintour”. Yet the runways told a different story. This week’s fashion icon was Cindy McCain, with stiff hair and Mad Men-style 1950s dresses becoming increasingly popular. The asymmetric hemlines on dresses indicated a similar confusion: are we optimistic about the economy or not? Who knows? The most politically sensitive moment happened at the 3.1 Philip Lim show when actress Elizabeth Banks, who plays Laura Bush in the upcoming Oliver Stone film W, was seated opposite the president’s daughter, Barbara. No wonder the fashion world’s confused.

Celebrity attention-seeking

Imagine you are a celebrity going to a fashion show. How to guarantee grabbing attention amid all your fellow celebrities? If you are Victoria Beckham and Jennifer Lopez, you turn up to the Marc Jacobs show arm in arm. And if you are Beckham and want to make extra sure, you sport a new haircut. Bringing a dog was another favourite tactic, adopted by British model Daisy Lowe among others. The American fashion website, gofugyourself.com, was not impressed, demanding to know: “Seriously, what kind of ass brings a dog to a fashion show?” But perhaps recent New York arrival Peaches Geldof should have followed Lowe’s example: she was almost ignored by the paparazzi at the Preen show who were shockingly unaware of Geldof’s renown. Oprah Winfrey got attention for all the wrong reasons when her stylist told a reporter at one show his client has to wear “miracle clothes – whatever gives the slimmer look” and that some designers don’t lend her clothes because “they won’t do the clothes in her size”. Just for good measure, he added that she always needed “long or at least half sleeves”. And Winfrey pays money to this man?

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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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