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Good analysis of wardrobegate and why it really is a problem
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/22/AR2008102202187.html
This piece is too long to post, but here's the highlight:
How do you sell someone as a no-frills hockey mom who sold the state plane and fired the official cook and hunted her own moose meat, and then try to explain wardrobing her in clothes from Neiman Marcus -- a store occasionally referred to by aggrieved, frugal shoppers as Needless Markup? How do you, in barely two months, lavish her with fashion swag worthy of a starlet and valued at more than her annual governor's salary of $125,000?
This is not careless image management.
This is ill-advised and ill-informed.
Or, to use this election cycle's phrase of choice: This is some seriously bad judgment.
One assumes that her campaign is populated by some of the brightest minds and they have spent an inordinate amount of time obsessing over mind-numbing details, right down to whether the candidate would stand or sit during the debate and who gets to hover behind her for photo ops. But Palin's handlers would do well to occasionally read a fashion magazine, skim a fashion blog or at least ask themselves why women are willing to spend upwards of $10,000 on a handbag known as the Birkin. It's not because that famous Hermes bag is so pretty. It's because of what it represents: exclusivity, success and classiness. That's why frocks are a nearly $50 billion business in New York alone, and it's also why they have the power to agitate us so. It's all in the symbolism, or in the case of Palin, the dissemblance.
Re: Good analysis of wardrobegate and why it really is a problem
Good piece. I'm always interested in what Robin Givhan has to say.
I seriously can't believe this is an issue. If this isn't sexist I don't know what is.
Someone please tell me what Obama spends on his suits. Or his shoes? They look expensive on TV. Or Biden's hair plugs. How much does that cost? Don't forget his botox.
This is a non-story that reeks of desperatism.
Did you say the same thing about Edward's haircuts? You can get a $400 haircut every single day of the year and not spend $150,000.
I really don't think it's sexist to highlight the hypocrisy. She's so keen on pointing out how she's average amurca, just a hockey mom. Average america doesn't have that exorbitant amount of money to spend on clothing.
But, I agree there's sexism here. It's coming from the McCain campaign, trying to get her all dolled up for the voters.
The piece compares it to John Edwards $400 haircuts.
When you try to sell yourself as the son of the mill worker or a working mom who sits around the kitchen table to balance the budget, it's a little hard to swallow expensive haircuts and $150k wardrobes.
It's not sexist...it's about the dissembling of her image. She's not Hockey Mom anymore, she's posh NY fashionista. I get that she has to look nice and professional, but this shopping spree has just made her look less credible as the working mom.
And while this article doesn't go into it, it's an issue because it might be illegal. McCain himself wrote the law that bans campaigns from spending campaign funds on clothing purchases. They used RNC funds which may or may not be distinct...it's a very gray area in the law right now so the FEC may be investigating.
Just please read the analysis. Or if it's too much here:
On Edwards:
yes, it was necessary
On woman's vs. man's clothing:
The "e-word"
I would like to hear that person's definition of ostentatious, then.
We all agree women need to spend more than men. They're scrutinized more, and they need more variety. That's not the issue here. Bringing it up is simply a strawman.
I missed this fuss about a red leather jacket. I have one, and I love it. Is this some sort of fashion faux pas? FWIW, I got mine second-hand in Japan. For a whopping $40 roughly.