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What Palin's Clothes Reveal
Sarah Palin hit Oprah with a power suit perfectly designed to project coyness. Vanessa Friedman reports on Palin’s tactical style choices. Plus, view our gallery of Palin’s fashion.
And so, thanks to Oprah, we come to stage three in the sartorial evolution of Sarah “I really was a contenda” Palin. After anorak-wearing hockey Mom and Akris Punto-wearing vice-presidential candidate: aqua-wearing auto-biographer.
Click the Image Below to View Our Gallery of a Brief History of Sarah Palin's Fashion
• Conor Friedersdorf: Palin’s Fatal 2012 Flaw
• Lloyd Grove: The All-New Sarah Palin If ever an outfit played it coy about future plans, this is it. It neither commits to a future presidential run—if that was the message, odds-are Mrs. Palin would have eschewed the exaggerated Peter Pan collar and costume jewelry baubles in favor of a power suit like those that appeared on the campaign trail, ideally in a more brick-like, building-bloc shade—nor does it demonstrate an intention to grand jeté into the private sector in order to leverage her best-seller status into yet more lucrative corporate adventures. That would have necessitated a similar leap into the dressing rooms of Armani, or perhaps Donna Karan.
• Watch the 7 Best Moments of Palin’s Oprah Interview
• More Daily Beast contributors on Palin’s book tour. The lack of an obvious brand label, however, is a tactical carrot for Mrs. Palin’s maybe-possible-power base, as it sets her diametrically apart from Michelle Obama, who has made a bit of a crusade out of consciously supporting niche, “intellectual” and/or “conceptual” designers, and promises…ooh, a little something that might have to do with action in the future.
Compared to the current first lady’s idiosyncratic and political clothing choices, Mrs. Palin’s talk show trifecta of bright jacket/black dress/black heels looks oh-so Real Woman (albeit it Real Woman with a newly pumped-up fall of hot mama hair), and telegraphs an aura of winking coyness.
The shoes, after all, that she wore when she met Barbara Walters are lace-ups mid-height heels—awfully practical—but the heels themselves are stilettos. Put another way, her mouth may be saying no to Palin for President in 2012, but her clothes are saying…maybe.
Vanessa Friedman has been fashion editor of the Financial Times since 2002. She writes a weekly column on style, edits the Business of Fashion supplements, and helped coordinate the FT’s Business of Luxury conference. Prior to joining the FT, she was the features/fashion features director for the launch of UK In Style, and contributed regularly to The Economist, The New Yorker, Vogue, and Entertainment Weekly.
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Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
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As vice chairman of Public Strategies and president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic challenges for candidates, corporations and causes, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Bono. McKinnon is co-chair of Arts & Labs, a collaboration between technology and creative communities that have embraced today's rich Internet environment to deliver innovative and creative digital products to consumers.
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Vanessa Friedman has been fashion editor of the Financial Times since 2002. She writes a weekly column on style, edits the Business of Fashion supplements, and helped coordinate the FT’s Business of Luxury conference. Prior to joining the FT, she was the features/fashion features director for the launch of UK In Style, and contributed regularly to The Economist, The New Yorker, Vogue, and Entertainment Weekly.
lpg160
By focusing on fashion choices for just women politicians (forgive me if I missed the Obama/McCain style review) are you part of the solution or part of the problem? I'm no Palin fan, but I think she deserves better.
sallyma
Let's talk about Tina Brown's clothes and what they mean about her competence.
Last I saw her she was in a comely dress with CFM shoes and a hairstyle that said every so coyly: boys please let me in your club.
Come on Tina, sexism sucks, cut it out!
Women need role models in the press: do you REALLY want to keep this up? Do a feature on Obama's coy choice of shoes and makeup and how he giggles and writes with his left hand--a tendency of gay men. So wrong, right? Then please stop with the female sexism.
Granite
If you went to your job wearing the red hooker shoes Palin wore to the Autism Speaks rally, would your boss take you seriously?
I give you Exhibit A:
http://thenewagenda.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/toenails-large.jpg
sallyma
Exhibit B: Granite: a person who thinks that if a woman wears red shoes she is a hooker. Can someone please bring Granite out of the Mesozoic era! In this century women are allowed to ...gasp!...paint their nails red, wear red lipstick and ohhhhhhhweeee, even dare to wear reds shoes.
And btw, I am the boss and because if it I happen to love to wear red shoes!
Soonchurcher
Wow! I think that you have captured the essence of Obama. Those of us who think so little of him say thank you.
Aurora
Homophobic? Fear mongering? Please explain yourself.
Matt572
Why is it sexist? Sexism, racism, and all other forms of prejudice are motivations in the mind of the source (writer in this case.) There is no evidence of such a motivation in this article. People discuss the psychology of fashion and its relevance quite often, and it is easier and more common with women because they have more diverse choices and are more likely to be aware of their clothing and its implications than men. Male politicians in cookie-cutter suits are much harder because you may only have the color of tie and collar style (which often doesn't change) to go on, and they might not have been selected for any particular reason, just the next thing in his closet. Everything a politician does will always be analyzed to try to discern their thoughts and motivations in order to not be surprised and/or caught without an answer. Please stop slinging unsupportable labels.
DarkRaven
There was a time when I would be intrigued by a Palin story. It was akin to the same fascination one has staring at a car wreck. Now I am officially done with Palin stories. They are beginning to take on an Anna Nichole/Natalie Holloway flair.
Let it die.
TheImpishOne
And I was confusing it with an Ashlee Simpson-esque dither. Thanks for setting it straight!
BOKOBOT
The Daily Beast: a major investor in Sarah's publishing company or what?
BOKO
DukeofURL
Oh PULEEEEEZZZZZZE! Does anyone but the outer fringe of right-wing nuts take this buffoon"ette" seriously? She's an embarrassment to all women, and has as much credence as Lindsey Lohan.
Sarah, take your book sales (who buys these paste-ups anyhow?) your 15 minutes of celebrity fame and go back to Moose Snout, Alaska!
Quit wasting our time and your money. Just go away now!
thebaker
A person can only waste your time if you let them. If you dislike her so much ignore her.
DukeofURL
Ignore ignorance? Move to Sumatra and bury my head in a research project? It is the duty of all involved citizens to act with due diligence in the protection of their republic.
Ignore political buffoons? A thousand times no! Do the lessons of Nazi Germany not instruct?
I'm reminded of the parable of "The Emperor's New Clothes"
Aurora
It took me a few hours to figure out Ms Palin's new hair-do: it is Ms Bachmann-esque....ooooo are these two setting themselves up for a run-in?
The mind boggles; the hearing center cringes; the speech center gags...
All the crapola from the RWing about liberals 'hating' or 'fearing' Sarah Palin because 'liberal women are ugly'...could this be a sneak attack from Ms Bachmann's camp?
Projection? innuendo? discombobulation?
These folks aspire to lead the country?
innocentcitizen
meow, sounds like the liberal women are gearing up for a cat fight. why doesn't anyone talk about what obama wears? aurora don't hate just because you're ugly
SimonSaize
The Suffragettes were the women who fought for economic justice and equality they were the first to get rights for females in America, Gloria Steinem engaged the next revolution. Without them, females would have no substantial rights. What Sarah should do after ironing her image is think of oppression, the impossibility of her even running for/in an election 100 years ago as her VOTE wouldn't count because she has a vagina,and then get a goddamn history lesson .Homosexuals have also fought for freedom and people of color couldn't drink from water fountains. If she continues to yap her ignorance of others and practices discrimination- her clothes will be all she has to cling to.
Thank you.
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