It's Not Just Palin in Designer Duds

"I would have to wear sable underwear," fashion plate Jackie Kennedy pooh-poohed when the good 'ol liberal media accused her of spending $30,000 on clothes a year, most of them made by those nimble fingered frogs across the pond.

After Palin's wardrobegate '08, it's easy to bark, "I betcha the RNC did put that winkin' witch woman in sable underwear. Todd's probably got mink pyjamas too." We then turn to a video of Michelle Obama praising the wonders of the GAP and all is well with the world.

Yes, it was hypocritical of Sarah Palin to pretend that she likes to gussy herself up at thrift stores and make shoes out of moose remains then rollick around in the empress's new clothes. But should Michelle Obama really be singing odes to H&M when she also wears Azzedine Alaia, Thakoon, Isabel Toledo, Narciso Rodriguez and Maria Pinto, the Chicago designer whose clothes are sold at the towers of frugality known as Saks and Barneys? Should we be excited that Obama has holes in the soles of his shoes if he is also wearing Hartmarx custom suits that cost $1500? Probably not. But Michelle and Barack look darn good in designer and why shouldn't we want our candidate to look swish and promote American industry?

If you do a dance that resembles a modern version of the mashed potato every time your new issue of Vogue arrives, then you know that Naomi "anger management" Campbell, Victoria "food?" Beckham and Stephanie "underpants" Seymour are Alaia fans, and that Thakoon is short for Thakoon Panichgul a designer who moved from Thailand to Omaha as a child. But most Americans probably scratch their heads at the name Thakoon. What is a thakoon? Some hybrid raccoon? No, no, he is a talented dressmaker. And the floral number that Michelle wore so well? It retails at around $1,250. That's right. Just a cold thousand dollars more than the J.Crew ensemble she wore on Leno.

But she looked great in Thakoon. The fashion blogs went bananas. Vanity Fair and People put her on their Best Dressed lists.

All the modern day presidents and first ladies, while running for office and in office, wore designer duds. Except, of course, for the notoriously frugal Carter. Starting with Kennedy, every President has worn Oxxford suits, retailing between $2,000 to $14,000, except for Mr. Peanut who took his oath of office in a $175 suit. Lucky Rosalynn Carter got to wear the same off-the-rack dress she wore for Jimmy's gubernatorial celebrations. He probably tried to have her throw on a moth eaten cardigan instead of the sleeveless coat she paired it with. But that was the frugal farmers way.

When the glitz loving Reagans came into the White House they decided that, "hey! money really does grow on trees!" For Reagan's second inaugural Nancy's wardrobe was estimated at $46,000. His inaugural morning suit went for $1500 and he kept up those spending habits in office.

Reagan's glen plaid suit/picnic blanket that had the media gawking, plaid? on a President? on purpose? was made by Illingworth, Morris & Co. Ltd., a British company that also makes the Pope's garb and the plush interiors of Rolls Royces.

But those money-burning Reagans were not the only ones to wear designer. Laura Bush loves de la Renta, the Clintons dig Donna Karan, and yes, the Obamas also wear very expensive, if you make an average American salary don't even think about breathing on this, clothing.

Before the g.l.a.m.o.r.o.u.s Reagan Inaugural, Barry Goldwater said, "When you've got to pay $2,000 for a limo, $7 to park and $2.50 to check your coat, at a time when most Americans can't hack it, that's ostentatious."

Yes it is. But during a downturn, people beg for Gatsby, not Grapes of Wrath. Just watch those Hollywood movies made during the Depression years. As Wall Street tanked, the silver screen raised the ante on luxurious living, showing riches not rags.

I don't want to see the Obamas in burlap. I want to see the American dream.

Comments

[julibelle]

The Obamas use their own money to buy their clothes.
As did the Reagans, the Carters, the Clintons and the Bushes. They and the Obamas, evidently make choices based on respective their income and their jobs. They never pretend to be UGG wearing, grocery store shopping, hockey moms, with restricted budgets who at first opportunity sponge off of or allow themselves to be explotited by a political machine.
The RNC really showed its cynical, empty soul this time around and I couldn't be happier!

[BeckhamforPres2012]

I completely agree with you. Politicians today strive so hard to be "of the people" with false platitudes and absurd claims that they would actually wear an off the rack suit from Wal-Mart to further their political agenda. Let's get real- the public looks to our celebrities and politicians for some level of escapism from the drudgery of Main Street- do we really pick up US Magazine and People to see the Stars in ensembles we'd find in our own closets? Hell no...just give me my Camelot and a big fat tax refund check so I myself can strive to buy a designer suit.

[hwwesq]

i think saying "nimble fingered frogs" is despicable and was totally unnecessary in such an otherwise good article.

[FrancescaItaliana]

About frogs: According to this website, it's not really an insult to refer to the French as frogs. Take a look:

http://allaboutfrogs.org/weird/general/frenchfrogs.html

[snarkopolitan]

The Obamas pay for their clothes themselves, save the nice stuff for special occaisions, hold onto and repair the quality things like good shoes, and know how to make an inexpensive outfit look like a million bucks.

The evidence I'd cite is their younger daughter in her one and only interview, where Michelle said, "this dress is from the Gap," and Sasha shouted, "Mommy buys EVERYTHING at the Gap!"

Sorry, your article is a CROC! ;^)

[Badbone]

Simply not true. The Obamas are multi-millionaires. They spend plenty on clothes. The press just doesn't harp on them as much as they do Palin.

[DixieMelody]

So Barack's worn shoes with holes in the soles were what. . . a gimmick?

I don't think so.

And his suits are off-the-rack and cost an average of $200.

It would take a lot of those suits to add up to the $40,000 Todd Palin spent on clothes just for himself.

And I doubt you will ever see Shasha carrying a Louis Vitton handbag like 7-year-old Piper was.

So you are off-base if you think the press gives the Obamas a pass and "harps" on the Palin grifters who went wild with other people's money.

[propitiousmoment]

It's not just Palin wearing designer clothes, but it's only Palin getting them paid for by the campaign.

[ksmagenta]

This issue is not necessarily HOW much money was spent on Palin's wardrobe, but WHOSE money it was. Sarah Palin should pay for her own clothes. She is hardly destitute, and as governor of Alaska, presumably she already owns a wardrobe of business suits.

[Dodge]

If America did not complain, do you think Palin would return the clothes after the campaign? It was a political move to announce the clothes were going to be donated to charity.

Do you think the clothes the husband, daughters, sons and the daughter's baby's father recieved were given to them with the intention of being returned? Did Palin's parents received new clothes on behalf of American taxpayers, I think so. Were they given to them with intentions of being returned?

Who are they trying to fool?

[FrancescaItaliana]

Karin, you're absolutely right. We should all forgive Sarah Palin and the Republican sugar daddies for providing her with dream-girl clothes. We don't want to see any of the candidates and their wives in peanut farmer clothes or Alaska camouflage outfits. We do remember the Reagans and the Kennedys and the dream outfits they draped themselves in. These are hard times and more to come. We need escape, fantasy, images of our leaders in clothes fit for a king or queen, a president or a first lady. Whoever wins must have black tie affairs, plenty of them, tails, formals, dresses, sparkling jewels and fancy clothes. The president and first lady can always rent them for free just like those starlets during Oscar week. Gotta show the rest of the world we ain't broke yet.
But, a word for Studs Terkel, the author of "Hard Times" and other great documents of our era who passed away today. As Saul Bellow wrote in his novel about himself, Studs was an American, Chicagoan through and through. Hope he cast an early vote--for Obama, of course.

[ghenry]

What is it that you are not getting about the Palin wardrobe fiasco? The Obamas and Bidens and no doubt the Mc Cains pay for their clothes and those of their children with their own money.. Noone disagrees with Palin for wanting to look good, we would have preferred she used her own $150,000 to do so. How difficult is that to understand?

Now, if, as it is claimed, she could not afford all those designer duds, there are many shops that carry very good lines that are affordable and in which you can look sensational.

For all that money used on her, she just looks alright, nothing terribly special.

[Chancy]

What is it that you aren't getting about this column? It's a fashion column. Fashion. Karin is a fashion writer. A person that writes about fashion. Not public policy, not diplomacy, not tax breaks, the enviroment or global warming, but fashion.