Leave the Clothes Out of It

Leave the Clothes Out of It

Monday, October 27, 2008

Guest blogger Ronda Kaysen: Sarah Palin, the first American "Hockey Mom" candidate, learned what it means to evoke the wrath of the fashion gods when she ditched the Walmart sale rack and opted for Saks couture instead. But before we jump on the blame-the-hypocrite bus, let's walk in Sarah Palin's $149 Apapezza shoes for a day.

She was off the running mate radar to just about everyone, including John McCain, until a week before the Republican National Convention. In one breath, this Average-Joe-Six-Pack mother of five goes from being governor of a state that is literally off the map, to being the most watched mama in the world. The woman comes from Wasilla, Alaska, a town known more for its booming meth industry than its fashion one. I'm not sure what they sell at her "favorite consignment shop," but I can't imagine it holds a candle to Neiman Marcus, where $75,000 was dropped on her behalf.

What's a girl to do? Turn down $150,000 of new threads that a Republican donor bought for her? Would you? If John McCain called me up one afternoon and told me to get on the next plane to Minnesota so I could chat with 40 million people on national television, I wouldn't have a thing to wear. My favorite H & M party dress would hardly cut it.

Sarah Palin is no shrinking violet. This is the woman who winked at the camera during the vice presidential debate. She was the beauty queen of her hometown. She argued with the Saturday Night Live crew not about content but about her outfit. Google "Sarah Palin" and "MILF" and you get about 222,000 results. She likes to look good.

And she lives in a country obsessed with how people look on camera. We have an entire magazine industry dedicated to humiliating poorly dressed celebrities. Yes, Sarah Palin is a hypocrite for deriding Barack Obama for being out of touch while she drops $10,000 in the first two weeks of October on her hairstylist. But she's also a woman who was thrust into the national arena without much warning.

Any woman with an eye for fashion knows that looking good on the fly doesn't come cheap. Call Palin on the carpet for her shortcomings, but leave her clothes out of it. After all, fashion conscious mamas might benefit in the end: her duds could turn up at a consignment shop when this election is over.

8 comments so far | Post a comment now >>

I beg to differ here. If we can talk (and talk a lot) about John Edwards’ $400 haircut, then why can’t we talk about Sarah Palin’s clothing bill? Both are on the ridiculously high end and certainly needn’t be. I agree that the issues are paramount here and what we should judge our candidates upon - not their hair, makeup or clothes. While I don’t think John Edwards should head off to SuperCuts nor do I think Sarah needs to shop at H & M. But come on, $150,000 from Neimans and Saks!!!!!! Even Bloomingdales and Norstroms would have been better. There are plenty of brands at these stores - even Banana Republic or Club Monaco - offering a pretty nice professional look - certainly good enough for the campaign trail. Spending $150,000 seems just plain irresponsible and unecessary! Moms on truemomconfessions.com are weighing in on this now!!!

- romi

Posted 10/27/08 03:47 PM

Her makeup artist made more in two weeks than her foreign policy advisor. That tells a huge story right there. And what is wrong with her doing her own freakin makeup!!

- Irene

Posted 10/27/08 03:55 PM

The fact that ONE designer barbie doll alone can cost $85,000 dollars says to me, that spending $150,000 to outfit Sarah Palin was actually a pretty good deal! She looked great in those outfits, very professional, and since they were bought for her, during the midst of a campaign, why do we expect that she’s not going to wear them? I would wear them! As far as why can’t she do her own makeup—because “stage makeup” is different than every-day-going-to-work makeup. Even the men get made up before they take the stage. There’s a technique to the application, and while I don’t think the salary needs to be terribly high, I do think it needs to be done by a professional.

- mary

Posted 10/27/08 09:29 PM

$22,800 Make up artist $12,500 Foreign Policy Advisor Yea, she looked good, but doesn’t know cr@p!

- Irene

Posted 10/28/08 10:56 AM

I would like to see all these people become Mayor,Governor or Senator of any state and see if they do not get smacked on them by the media,other candidates.So if you want to call names then lets start…We have a person that is running for President and does not know “Crap” and then a Vice President running mate that does not know “Crap”.What happened to “Ask not what your Country can do for you” but “Ask what you can do for your country” This tells me that you have a Presidential candidate that wants to give you free money and Screw the Country” That is called paying you vote..Wake up sleepy heads!!!

- Pat Moss

Posted 10/28/08 05:01 PM

$150,000 for clothes is out of line. I understand why she needed an upgrade but why did her family need a new wardrobe. She makes $250,000 per year why does someone have to buy clothes for her. And finally, why did she buy more then what was authorized then blithely claim ‘they belong to the RNC’ so don’t ask me about them. Seems that someone is not really interested in Country first.

- Kathy

Posted 11/10/08 12:53 PM

Some of you seem to believe everything the media tells you. Sarah Palin didn’t go to NY to buy all these clothes. Some of the McCain staffers went to NY to pick them up on her behalf. And they didn’t tell her about the cost. Yes, it seems they went a bit overboard, but that is not her doing. So you can hate her, but don’t hate her for things that were not her doing.

- Karen

Posted 11/20/08 03:20 PM

Seriously folks. When the heck would Palin have time to meander through Neiman Marcus? Gimme a break. The stuff was purchased for her and her family ( a large one, remember). Most of the stuff wasn’t even worn.

- nik

Posted 11/24/08 06:40 AM