I think the idea that she has to look presentable etc etc is a given
BUT she is a very attractive woman with a great figure and nobody is going to convince me she or her kids need the OVERPRICED DESIGNER clothes from SAKs etc
That stuff is all status symbol and I defy anybody to tell me they can spot designer clothes over the kind everyday woman buy that fit well from regular department stores etc etc
Whoever made the decision to go this route was dumb
Do you really think Obama and Biden buy their suits at Mens’ Wearhouse? Do you really think they don’t put them on one of their expense reports?
no matter what they do - it will not be the “right” thing.
If Sarah were not being dressed well, she would be ridiculed for her redneck wardrobe.
The snobs would say “how could she ever represent the country looking like that?”
The snobs would say “it is embarrassing for our country”
This is a non-issue.
No one has blown more money than Barack Obama on frivolous things.
Sarah needed to look good and I think they made the right call.
I am sure this was the RNC’s idea—they should pay for it! I am sure they found her Northface coat disgusting, and her Kathy Lee Gifford skirts appalling!
They are getting their money’s worth.
I agree. It plays into the hands of those that claim the Rep party is the party of the wealthy. She should wear reasonably prices, well fitting, stylish clothes.
If anyone comments on her less expensive duds then she should rely that unlike the Dem team, her family isn't rich and that she was taught to shop within her means and that that is what she wants to help bring to Washington! lol
Well, yes and no.
1. Very often the designer clothes really are of finer quality than the things you can buy at regular department stores. The buttons are not cheap plastic that break when you bump into the edge of a table, the zippers lie flat, the stitching is solid, the buttonholes are reinforced, the linings fit smoothly, the fabrics are thicker and sturdier, and are pure wool, silk, linen, and cutton instead of polyester or rayon. The fabric is cut in a better and more flattering way than the cheaper mass-market clothes. This is not invariably the case, but I have found through long painful expensive experience that it's not worth my while to buy cheaper clothes. The good ones last and last, and look good for 25 years.
2. The middle of a campaign is no place to experiment. Buying something that doesn't cost so much and finding out later that it falls apart or just doesn't wear well is a problem a busy campaign doesn't have time to deal with. Better to just get the best from the beginning and know there will be no wardrobe malfunctions.
3. If the RNC had dressed Sarah in her usual clothes from Target, the news media would have criticized her even more fiercely than they do now. At least now they can't ctiticize her appearance. I remember very clearly how that lady Victoria who gave press briefings for the Administration at the beginning of the war was viciously criticized for wearing inexpensive clothes. She appeared on a local radio show I listen to and said that she was sorry but she was a working mom with kids to clothe, and she just didn't have enough money to buy the beautiful clothes woman senators and congresswomen wore.
I wonder who pays for Obamas pricy duds?
Higher end women's clothing is lined, reinforced seams, no cheap plastic zippers to break and cause a problem when 10,000 people are waiting to see you. The fabrics are dry clean only, so they are new looking much, much longer.
Alot of this 150k also dressed the entire Palin family (do we really want Willow or Piper on stage in jeans and Wasilla High hoodies?). Todd work in an oil field...do you think he had multiple sports coats/dress pants to go out and campaign in? Also, to travel w/Gov. Palin a hair and make up artist has to be available to keep her looking at fresh at stop number three as she did 14 hours earlier at stop number one. Do we really expect the potential Vice President to listen in on security briefings with a curling iron in one hand and a mascara in the other?
In politics, image is everything, and the stylists that the Republicans hired have done an outstanding job. Gov. Palin doesn't look couture, still looks middle class American...but with a style and wearability you can't get off the rack. Kudos to them...a job well done.
LLS
A huge number of women, shallow though they may be, total up the cost of other women's outfits just as sort of a hobby. In the fundraiser and pundit circles, they also will assume that frugality means the candidate isn't raising enough money to compete. These are people who will drop someone socially if they think they might be in financial straits. It is important, believe it or not, that Sarah looks like they do, since she speaks and believes as we do. As for the kids, the children of these people are even worse to other kids who aren't wearing the latest designer label. As one teen said to her mother, a friend of mine:”Wranglers are NOT a designer label.”. That was 28 years ago in a small town.
It doesn't matter what Sarah does, she will be criticized for it, as will the campaign and McCain. Remember the hoo-haw over Cindy's outfits that turned out to be made by a private dressmaker and the pearls that turned out to be faux? They did the same to Nancy Reagan. Meanwhile, they gushed over JackieO’s French designer outfits and MichelleO’s being dressed by American designers. Also, Macy's and such stores are middle class. Penny's and Sears are working class stores. The real elite go directly to the fashion shows and buy custom from designers’ show lines, not their mass market ready-made lines.
Ignore this stuff. It is manufactured petty carping.
I doubt any Republican Eagle said what was quoted and if they did, they are an idiot. The campaign has been doing a great job of upscaling Sarah and her family in an incremental manner. Total up the cost of shoes and clothing for 5 people, 6 if Levi is included and then add the cost of clothes and other necessities for Trig. Remember that Sarah and at least one child and Todd do up to 3 appearances a day, each. She does wear separates and she does mix and match them, as does the rest of the family. It doesn't seem excessive to me at all. It probably brings in about 1% of the votes of upper middle class Independent, donk and GOP women.
Now, the donks could spring for some slips for Michelle, IMO.And just what did Michelle's makeover cost, including the cost for some Botox for those forehead lines?