Posted on 01/28/2005 10:07:26 AM PST by Bigturbowski
OSWIECIM, Poland -- Vice President Dick Cheney's utilitarian hooded parka and boots stood out amid the solemn formality of a ceremony commemorating the liberation of Nazi death camps, raising eyebrows among the fashion-conscious.
Cheney replaced the zipped-to-the-neck green parka he sported in Thursday's blowing snow and freezing wind with a more traditional black coat - red tie and gray scarf showing underneath - for his tour of Auschwitz on Friday.
Washington Post fashion writer Robin Givhan described Cheney's look at the deeply moving 60th anniversary service as "the kind of attire one typically wears to operate a snow blower."
"Cheney stood out in a sea of black-coated world leaders because he was wearing an olive drab parka with a fur-trimmed hood," Givhan wrote in Friday's Post, also mocking Cheney's knit ski cap embroidered with the words "Staff 2001" and his brown, lace-up hiking boots. "The vice president looked like an awkward child amid the well-dressed adults," she said.
This kind of reminds me of the controversey over all the people showing up to view Reagan's coffin in shorts and t-shirts last summer.
Perhaps I'm old fashioned, but I really do think people (especially the Vice President of the United States of America!) should make an effort to dress appropriately to show some respect on solemn and/or important occasions. That's why I dress nicely to go to church. Not because I'm trying to impress the other people there, but to emphasize to myself and others that this is a special occasion, not just nother random event in my hum-drum life. It's omething I take time to prepare for mentally and dressing up helps set it apart from my every day existence. That's why we dress up for funerals and celebrations and solemn memorials.
I'm sure Cheney's heart was in the right place, but I think his outfit showed a lack of respect. Hopefully, he'll do better next time.
Oh, geez, I had to read your post three times before I figured out that TS stands for Tanniker Smith.....
Right. Cold is especially rough on heart patients.
But you must remember that with the left it has ALWAYS been style over substnce.
well that is kind of weak.....we can't be this defensive over a silly issue......and if that is your complaint, then why was the Admin so heartless and cruel to send a sick man to a snow memorial. Doesn't that show ignorance ....see, we could go on for hours.....he stood out, no big deal, it is friday and we can laugh...he is still a great VP...
wasn't Auscwitz liberated by the Ruskies.....
People from Wyoming know how to dress for the cold, and I can assure you it AINT in a business suit.
One of the things I love about Dick Cheney is that he puts little emphasis on looks and much emphasis on utility. The sign of an intelligent man.
The fashion cops need to get a real job.
I'm betting "concentration camp chic" will be making its way down the runways of Milan and Paris by spring.
if he had a bad enough heart condition, then why did they send him to a cold weather memorial to begin with......that argument holds no merit
Good Lord! How petty are we? I almost can't read this crap any more it makes me so angry! they look like such petty whiney jerks!
It may have been intentional for security reasons. He would stand out easier for secret service etc. in case he got mixed in with all the others in black. His handlers have all this stuff planned out. This is just a pissed off media looking for something to pick on, since the elections in Iraq are going on, despite their attempts to undermine them.
By the way, "The Shrew" also signs his posts "TS", but I've been around a few months longer.
TS
Nah. Its just a light snack of irrelevant whining before the next full meal of traitorous BS.
"If it were Clinton, they'd praise his trendsetting fashion sense."
Correctamundo my friend, in fact, all the left would be donned in this trendsetting outfit within 24 hours of seeing it!
All the better that his attire highlights the difference between the feckless Euros who spawned Auschwitz and the stalwart Americans who ended it.
Rather funny how they gave medals to the Soviet soldiers who "liberated" Auschwitz.
He's dressed like the common man - the same kind of people that liberated Auschwitz. He's not decked out in the fancy clothes of the diplomat - he's wearing the field jacket and heavy boots like the soldiers did.
At least, that's my take on it, and if the fashion editors don't like it - tough sh!t.
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