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The Republican National Committee appears to have spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August. According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74. The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September. The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in...

The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August. According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74. The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September. The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August. The...

WASHINGTON (AP) — When the Republican Party decided to coordinate expenses with John McCain's presidential campaign, who knew it would be color coordinated. The Republican National Committee spent about $150,000 on clothing, hair styling, makeup and other "campaign accessories" in September for the McCain campaign after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin joined the ticket as his running mate. The McCain campaign now says the clothing will go to a "charitable purpose" after the campaign. The expenses include $75,062 spent at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis and $41,850 in St. Louis in early September. The committee also reported spending $4,100 for makeup and...

Caryl Rivers, Professor of journalism at Boston University and Huffington Post writer, once wrote this about the media obsession with Kathleen Harris and her appearance: ...journalists, talk show hosts and comedians have been having a field day with the powder and mascara used by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris. She burst onto the national scene trying to certify Texas Gov. George W. Bush as the winner of the state's electoral votes, undoubtedly not expecting her cosmetics to get almost as much ink as Florida's dimpled and undimpled chads. Harris--whether you see her as a heroine or a diehard partisan--has...

[snip] But one of the most famous political fashion designers of the year, Susanna Chung Forest, who designed Hillary Clinton’s pantsuits says it would be unusual for a candidate as famous as Sarah Palin to need to buy clothes. “Why do you need to pay for it?” Forest told CBS News from her boutique Susanna Beverly Hills saying that most designers would offer to clothe a candidate for free. “It’s an honor, you are going to design for someone who could be the president of the United States,” noting that the exposure any designer would get from dressing someone as...