A Makeover For McCain: A Few Friendly Suggestions

The call came a few days ago. A magazine story on dressing politicians. Right up my alley. I have dressed quite a few politicians and am well aware of their needs. We live in a media world and regardless of what you think of it, packaging is very important for candidates.

In fact, I approached the McCain camp after watching him on television and offered to volunteer my services. Seeing what he was wearing, I knew I could make a huge difference. I even followed up with calls and finally got a very polite, but no thanks reply: "We'll let you know if we can use your services."

A political brush-off. But then I have heard that McCain is very strong willed and probably likes the way he dresses for the camera. That's why he is in politics and I am in fashion.

A few e-mail exchanges and I learned that this article was for Newsweek magazine and was going to be on making over McCain. What could I do to "hipify" him? Talk about coincidences!

First off, I would not "hipify" John McCain. Hip is not a word you use with a man of his age or prestige. There is a vast difference between being stylish and presenting your best self and looking foolish. I don't even think I want the word "hip" associated with any presidential candidate.

Here is what I sent to the writer, with a note saying I respect John McCain and my goal is to help him:

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1. His skin and hair are all the same color. A little length and thickener to his hair so it doesn't look plastered down. A very, very little tanning to his skin, just enough to give him some color. There are products that can do this easily.

2. He wears many of the wrong colors. When he wears beige, he looks one color. He must never wear beige. He needs to keep to crisp white shirts with dark coats and dark or colorful ties.

Pale and medium shades of blue shirts would be his best look. This is the most flattering color on TV and will give him good color. All of his suits and sport coats need to be dark, navy, black, or charcoal. No beiges or browns. Lew Wasserman, the mogul of Hollywood, showed me his closet one time, and it was filled with navy sport coats, gray slacks and navy suits, that was it! He knew what denoted power.

In this photo McCain has better color, but a slightly higher cut collar and a tie in a strong color, anything except browns would make a big difference:

Image from Wikipedia

3. He must wear his pants in a larger size so they can be belted AT his waist, not below it. Right now they are too small (every man does this, so regardless of his increasing size his waist size remains the same, because he continues to move it down). When he has his coat unbuttoned his pants are currently below his stomach.

4. He needs to button his coat when he stands, leaving the bottom button unbuttoned (so as not to pull across the stomach), and the minute he sits, unbutton all buttons.Nothing looks worse than a buttoned coat when a man sits.

In this christening photo from Wikipedia, you can see his suit is too tight across the midriff, and the front pockets only add bulk where he doesn't need it. A brighter tie would have helped.

When speaking on the Senate floor in 2007 (also from Wikipedia):

Jackets need to be buttoned when standing, unbuttoned when seated. But I do like the monochromatic color of the shirt and tie, it gives him nice color.

5. He needs some altering of his jackets around his neck so they fit better. Right now there is a lot of gap between his shirt collar and his neck. I am aware and sensitive to his injury issues, but a big improvement could be made with proper tailoring.

6. He needs shirt collars that stand slightly higher on the neck. This hides neck issues, framing the face=younger look.

7. He must never wear the gray sweat outfits he has worn. The zip-up, stand-up collar jacket that is soft and molds his back. Because of his posture, it emphasizes his back roundness and makes him look older.

8. He must never wear Members Only jackets. For casual wear he needs long sleeve dress or sport shirts with the sleeves rolled up, khaki pants (no jeans) or casual slacks. In this Obama photo, his shirtsleeves are rolled up and he wears a watch. This is a relaxed, yet important causal look that would work well on McCain.

Al Gore taught us how foolish a Presidential candidate can look in jeans when he wore them on Jay Leno. High cut v-neck sweaters with dress shirts underneath are a good casual look, and by keeping the sweaters in darker, neutral colors they also make one appear slimmer. He is running for President after all!

9. McCain looks great in baseball hats for casual wear. How about some cool, but appropriate sunglasses as well as reading glasses? And an interesting watch with a masculine bracelet that has meaning, like a POW or one with an inspirational saying.

Baseball hats really work, but they need to be worn down lower on the face, right above the eyebrows. This one is too far back. He has the right idea with the sweater under the jacket, but a high cut V-neck sweater would have looked more contemporary and elongating.

10. When talking to a crowd, stop putting his hand by his ear to indicate he can't hear. Just ask them to repeat the question. The gesture is too old.

11. Also, when he lifts both hands up when talking, because of his arm restrictions it looks awkward. A thumbs up would work far better.

12. His smile is great. On a recent ABC Sunday Show with George Stephanopoulos he smiled all the time and it worked for him. In this photo from Biography: that's the smile that makes people listen to what he has to say. Keep away from the stern face.

From biography.com

And so this story will be out in Newsweek soon. I will be one of many commenting on what I would do for McCain. Will his camp remember that I approached him? Will they think, "Maybe we should give her a call?" Or will he keep on campaigning, refusing to admit the importance of image?

If he's a contemporary man with an open mind, he will call. I'll keep you posted.

Comments

[jimmyboba57]

Sitting under the sun lamp would make him a real metro-sexual guy...bad advice.
Sunning himself outside at his age with his skin would turn him red...bad advice.
Coming up with ways to make him more appealing to younger voters is a must since many base their vote on looks and feelings.

[UrbanInterloper]

Despite being someone who appreciates fashion, I was at first aghast at the shallowness of this topic. But then I realized it's pretty much on par with most political reporting these days. That a major national newsmagazine assigned this article, rather than say, GQ, used to surprise. No more.

Nothing personal, by the way. I'm sure you're great at your job, and I hope when I'm that old, I remember your advice so I don't look like a tragic schlump.

I also hope when I'm old, that GQ is once again commissioning writers for articles like this, and not Newsweek.

[Fudgefase]

Image is incredibly important for politicians and anyone in the camera glare these days. I think the points raised are sensible, good advioce. None of them would make him look even remotely foolish.

[JeanPaulSatire]

"12. His smile is great."

I would agree only in part: when he is amused or engaged in discussion, his smile seems warm, genuine and engaging.

However, the ghastly 'smile' he wears when he pauses to cue his audience that he believes he said something amusing is just flat-out creepy.

(I had posted twice before, describing his smile in other terms, but the censors at HuffPo spiked 'em both.)

[seriously29]

LOL

[shanedr]

Your statement that as men gain weight they don't change their pant waist size. You are correct but not because they choose to do so. When men gain weight they don't have large hips to hold up their pants. They have two and only two choices. Maintain the waist size, but at a lower elevation, or wear suspenders. Simply increasing their waist sizes will quickly result in the top of their pants falling down around their ankles, major embarrassment.

[Bobrobert]

Roflmao

Yep.

[Schwab]

I have styled many men who have this problem. A good tailor can make it all work. Pants need to be worn at the waist, especially by someone in the public eye. It actually makes the waist look smaller than when they are worn under the belly.

[hollyo]

He has a melanoma problem and must avoid sun but could use a self-tanner (which is primarily beta carotene). He could also bring back the hat. He has a good hat face and head and needs better hats.
I'm for Obama but don't mind McCain looking better.

[Schwab]

He looks good in baseball hats as long as they are worn right at the eyebrow level. Baseball hats have a young, sporty feel about them.

[bish66]

Since he is well-off and married to a classy wife, I would expect him to dress better. Hope that his campaign starts to "pimp up" his looks, but in a decent fashion.

But after all, even though looks are important, content is even more important. If he focuses on the issues and if he delivers solutions for problems, Obama is toast. Looking forward to the debates...

[SurrealPumpkin]

You're in a market you want to buy a product. Which do you look at first? The one that is attractively packaged or the one that is just thrown together?

Yes, we should judge on the contents, but packaging them well insures that ours is the product that gets looked at first.

[Schwab]

I agree and can't wait for the debates as well. Sometimes advice is heard from a professional rather than a spouse.

[cmarmonhalm]

I think it's funny that McCain thinks he's a good looking guy. He may have looked pretty good 30 years ago but the years have not been kind.

[ezbreezer]

How about a Crawford style cowboy hat?

[Nancyok]

Ok...thinking about his appearance for any length of time creeps me out, but on the other hand, it's so refreshing to see a puff piece about what a man is wearing instead of articles ad nauseum about Hill's or Nancy Pelosi's pantsuits or haircuts. I don't care about either, but nice to see equal coverage. There was a front page article here locally interviewing the manager of Biden's favorite store. While it's not important, that man is a snappy dresser.

[clearthinker2008]

His smile is creepy.

[Tommygun264]

My thoughts exactly. Super-creepy - like the guy your mom always warned you not to take candy from.

[mbh78213]

The closer we're getting to the election, the more he creeps me out.

[Bartolo]

I can't believe you approve of his dorky baseball cap!

His outfit of baseball cap, faded chinos, and light blue shirt make him look like a classic blivet.

Also, he needs to get out in the sun more.

[bronceye]

He should wear turtle necks. Geez, what a neck he has. Can't roll make up on the neck.

[sheaftosser]

He needs to lose that George Bush accessory the Democrats have hung around his neck. But it's permanently attached!

[neoconscums]

Please stop encouraging him. He looks just fine the way he is. There is NOTHING you can do to improve his looks.

[Susej]

LOL!

[onetiredcowboy]

If the Republicans can refer to Barack Obama as "The One", then I think the Democrats ought to refer to John McCain as "The Revenant One". Having views the mortician's art hundreds of times over the years, McCain generally looks like he just come out of his coffin at night, or ready to return to it before sunrise.

From a fashion angle, I think a fresh set of "special" dentures in a color other than yellow and a dark, Bella Lugosi cape would fit him perfectly. Then, with a grand Hungarian accent, his exhortations to "drill, drill, drill! would be seen in proper context. How about a new McCain campaign theme: "Blood for Oil!"

[zbig]

But McCain is "The Two": he's George W. Bush the Second, he has a second wife, he's on his second Presidential run, he had a second cancer relapse, he has second-class ideas, he has seconded the motion to keep women at lower pay than men, he is "two" rich to care about the working class men and women of the country.

[midwesthousewife]

Very clever!

[Fudgefase]

Any word on who'll be his second yet?