Spokeswoman Takes Flak For Her Jackets (Victoria Clarke)

Opinion Journal ^ | 04/02/03 | AMY FINNERTY

[Pokey78]

What's a woman to wear to give a Pentagon press briefing?

Like a hothouse flower growing in a bed of moss, Victoria Clarke, the Pentagon spokeswoman with a penchant for nonregulation attire, has been attracting admirers and puritanical detractors. It's hard to believe, but the Defense Department reportedly has had to waste time fielding comments about the assistant undersecretary's jackets. The impressive Ms. Clarke delivers her crisp war briefings while seeming oblivious to the fact that she's wearing chirpy violet, preppie pink-and-green, or Mondrian color blocks from the neck down.

[LiberalBuster]

This woman, a PR expert, is extremely competent. Who cares what the he!! she is wearing. Does anyone care what a male spokesman wears? I think not.

[Cicero]

It seems to me the real news here is, Who the hell is so petty they are criticizing her clothes? What kind of morons are they? Let's have some names.

Is it true that this business was started by the same nitwitted woman who criticized Kathleen Harris for her lipstick?

[bellevuesbest]

Yesterday, my wife and I were watching her and McChrystal. Torie's green earrings and purple suit drove her nuts. I thought it was different and very entertaining. :)

[RLJVet]

I cannot really imagine why, but her suit color drove me nuts the other day. I think it was because no one has been wearing that color since the late eighties and I am not used to it. I don't imagine, however, that I could go on living a normal life if I found the time and energy to write in the media about something so petty.

[Ruth A.]

Can't criticize her work, then they must fixate on her appearance.

[Miss Marple]

Well, I have found her clothes to be pretty normal, except for this one, which attracted a HUGE amount of attention from freepers on the live thread the other day (primarily the MALE freepers, I might add):

I recognized the look from the mid-60's, but a lot of younger people just thought she had lost her mind. LOL!

She is excellent at her work, and showing that tape of the atrocities of Saddam's regime shut the reporters up for a couple of sessions. It was masterful. In addition, hers was the idea for the embedded reporters, which I think we all can agree was a stroke of genius.

[mewzilla]

Personally, I wouldn't care if Ms. Clarke came out dressed in a barrel. She clearly has more brains than the DOD's press corp combined. That's all I care about.

[jwalsh07]

Get a new tailor for crying out loud.

[Miss Marple]

Yes, and she does an excellent job. Personally, I don't think anyone ever commented on any of her clothing ever except for that one jacket which I showed in the picture above.

I think it confused a lot of people because it was so unusual. No big deal, and no one has commented much on her clothing since.

She is very, very good at her job, and I hope she gets whatever awards and raises she can legally accept.

[TADSLOS]

I recommend she wear one of these to the next press briefing, not that she needs one - pehaps she should loan it to the press pool...

[bmwcyle]

I say arm her and when she says one question or they repeat the question endlessly, open fire.

[Hatteras]

"I just don't get it. I get soooooo frustrated with some women... You try to lead by example, you make inroads, you work so hard to pave the way for women and change society's acceptance of women for their brains AND beauty but some women just keep dropping the ball... Sigh..."

[mollynme]

Well THAT woke me up!

[mountaineer]

Fashion sense: some women have it, many don't.

(Hillary tries out her Shirley Partridge impersonation)

[meowmeow]

This is Washington. We dress a certain way. VC may be a smart lady but her clothes suck. Yes it is petty. But that doesn't make her wardrobe any less sucky.

Nordstrum's has a nice personal shopper program for the fashion-challenged.

[sinkspur]

This is Washington. We dress a certain way. VC may be a smart lady but her clothes suck. Yes it is petty. But that doesn't make her wardrobe any less sucky.

This is Washington. We dress a certain way, a way that allows us to hold our noses high in the air while we look down on the hoi-poloi.

Which is why the rest of the country despises us.

Actually, most people in Washington, DC, dress like Snoop Dog.

[meowmeow]

Actually, most people in Washington, DC, dress like Snoop Dog.

LOL! Hmmm...you are right.

Every metropolitan area has a particular style. When I travel to LA on business, my neutral, tailored suits look incredibly dumpy. In the Midwest, I look overdressed. But here I look “normal” (or at least normal for a 39 yr old white woman).

[Vicki]

This is stupid. I don't care what she's wearing. I care about her competency and she seems to handle her job quite well.

I can hardly stomach the press and pentagon briefings. The questions they ask are incredibly dumb and designed to get their desired answer. Then they ask the same questions over and over again.