Proper attire for a state visit?

[paineinthearse]

http://us.news3.yimg.com/img.news.yahoo.com/util/anysize/380,http%3A%2F%2Fus.news2.yimg.com%2Fus.yimg.com%2Fp%2Fap%2F20050510%2Fcapt.geom10905100823.us_bush_georgia_geom109.jpg?
U.S. President George W. Bush, left, and U.S. first lady Laura Bush, right, walk into the courtyard of the Georgian Parliament Building during arrival ceremonies, Tuesday, May 10, 2005 in Tbilisi, Georgia. Bush arrived in the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia on a visit that Georgians hope will notch up the pressure on Russia to respect this young democracy on its doorstep. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Call me old fashioned, but Laura seems to be a bit "casual". Are pantsuit appropriate attire to wear on a state visit to the a foreign seat of government?

[mattclearing]

1. Yes, but only if the pants match the jacket.

Sorry Laura.

[JDPriestly]

12. Also, the jacket should be the right

length for the pants. That one seems short to me or is that the style right now. If it is, it looks out of proportion. It emphasizes the width of the hips -- makes her look like an upside down ice cream cone with the ice cream bulging roundly from the cone. I fell sorry for her. Fashion plate she is not.

On edit and after looking again, I think the problem is the contrast in color. It draws attention to the line of the bottom of the jacket. She really needs to hire a fashion consultant. She could afford it, and she should do it for the sake of the country. I wonder if maybe Karen Hughes is giving her clothes advice -- Karen is built like a truck and, if she is dressing Laura, that would explain a lot.

[mattclearing]

26. The color is what I was referring to. They clash.

I wasn't saying they should be the same color. Just complementary.

[JDPriestly]

41. You are right.

[Bunny]

2. Well, if you must wear a pantsuit, it should at least MATCH!

That looks just a little too casual for a state visit.

[radwriter0555]

3. I do an EXACT imitation of that smile! I call it my Laura look

... for when I run into insipid fools.

[Sanity Claws]

4. The problem is that it's not a suit

A pant suit or skirt suit or a dress with a matching jacket would be appropriate. Sportswear is not appropriate.
What's wrong with these people? Why doesn't someone send her an etiquette book?

[RC]

5. Hey, it's better than Laura wearing the curtains.

I think.

[Beaverhausen]

6. WTF is up with these people?

First Cheney's blizzard gear, now this.

How clueless can they be?

nevermind...

[tabasco]

30. Cheney took the cake with that disgusting spectacle.

I'm not a fashion guru or anything but Cheney looked like a bufoon in that parka with everybody else dressed formally. How embarassing.

edit typo dammit

[kaygore]

7. A Picture is worth a 1000 words

Don't you just know that Laura wears the pants in that family! That may explain George's attraction to that horse ;)

[meti57b]

8. NO, pantsuits are not appropriate. George should be wearing a dress.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

23. A cheerleader skirt would be more appropriate

Like the one he wore for cheerleading at Andover:

[Bridget Burke]

9. A real pantsuit that actually FIT might be OK.

But that getup isn't.

Few can compete with Jackie O. But Hilary, obviously no fashionista, learned to present herself well. It's not as if Laura had more serious matters to deal with.

[OrlandoGator]

10. We need to do more Bush/Kennedy side-by-sides.

The contrast is stark.

[demnan]

11. I always try to put a damper on these comparisons

you have one very young extremely beautiful fashion conscious woman and you are comparing her to a fairly good looking middle aged woman who has no fashion sense, womanly hips, and you really can't expect any of the First Ladies afterward to be as beautiful as Jackie.

As a middle aged woman, who didn't grow up with inborn courter fashion sense, I object! Who gives a shit anyway how beautifully our first lady dresses.

This is so unfair and sexist! When Eleanor Roosevelt, the truly greatest First Lady, was around, no one was worried about her fashion sense.

So let the oink oink oink! of little chauvinist pigs ramble on with stupid shit. Please dears, put a cork in it!

[noamnety]

18. Thank you

I don't care how she dresses either - it's not wildly inappropriate. I don't care if she wears a skirt or pants. Pro-choice!

The fact that they are greedy lying scheming bastards is a bit more of a pressing problem than any wrinkled suits, no?

[Bridget Burke]

24. Eleanor Roosevelt did some serious work.

And, actually, she's dressed beautifully in that picture. Quite suitable for her age & figure type.

Nobody can compete with Jackie. But must Laura dress quite so badly? There are people out there who'd gladly give her some advice.

[Book Lover]

29. Thank you so much!

I too tire easily of these threads.

[theboss]

37. Seriously...it's not like Hillary was a fashion plate.

Is this what we are reduced to?

[Malva Zebrina]

13. she is such a sloppy and wrinkled mess

and probably thinks she looks just wonderful. Karen Hughes is not doing her job. I am certain she does not have a full length mirror or if she does, looks into it and sees herself as twenty years old, svelt, without the middleaged belly.

I thought she got a new "do" as Leno commented upon.

Looks like the same old helmet to me.

[indepat]

17. Now, now, let's not be tacky

[Malva Zebrina]

22. sorry--lost my sane demeanor for a moment

You know she is going to Jerusalem? She will be, according to reports I have read, giving speeches and overseeing the peace talks. I wonder what tableclothe she will wear?

[Goldmund]

14. Ok, I will

You're old fashioned.

[JerseygirlCT]

15. You know what? Yes.

I know it's fun to pick, but the truth is, the idea that women are supposed to pull on uncomfortable hose just to be proper is pretty annoying. He's wearing pants, why can't she?

[Goldmund]

19. It's worse than annoying.

It's sexist.

[Maple]

16. Yes they are

I can't believe this is even a question in the 21st century.

[ohio_liberal]

20. Heh

I'm convinced that Mrs. B's designer despises her. :D

[Eloriel]

21. I won't call you Old fashioned -- I'll call you SEXIST

Who cares what she wears? There are plenty of other things -- actually substantive things -- to complain about.

I'm sick and tired of the sexism at DU, and this is just one more sterling example. A small and petty one, perhaps (on both sides), but it's still a very good example of something that just shouldn't happen at DU. Period.

I don't care how much you people hate certain (or all) rightwing women -- STOP CRITICIZING THEM ON THE BASIS OF THEIR GENDER OR USING GENDER-BASED CRITERIA!

[Bridget Burke]

25. Lots of female sexists here at DU.

When he looks like a doofus, we certainly point that out.

[paineinthearse]

27. Actually, I'm a gender-neutral poor-taste basher.

This was meant to be a criticizm of a poor fashion choice.

Whether it be Rumsfeld in his sprawl-mart "cracker parka"...


or Rice in her nazi SS uniform complete with jack boots at Wiesbaden Army Airfield...


or * in his "lets pretend I'm the commander-in-chief" army dress-up clothes at Camp Pendleton.


p.s. I've been a feminist since the mid 70's.

[MisterP]

34. sort of off topic,

but does this man have ANY CHIN WHATSOEVER?

[mcar]

28. This is not sexist

I am a 46 year old female feminist and I do not think this thread is sexist. The issue is not that Laura is wearing pants, the issue is that she is representing the United states on our taxpayer dollars and, as such, has a responsibility to dress appropriately during these state visits.

I do not expect the first lady to have any fashion sense, per se, nor do I expect her to be a fashion plate. I do expect her to dress appropriately for functions in which she is representing me. For this visit, she is dressed as if she is going shopping at the mall.

Look back at photos of Hillary and Chelsea Clinton during overseas visits and you'll see what I mean. I may not always have liked what they wore, but it was apparent that they had the respect for their position and the importance of the state visit to dress appropriately.

Again, I don't expect or require her to have fashion sense, but with the kind of money the Bush's have, you'd think she could buy herself some decent fashion advice, don't you? I mean, would an appropriate, monotone, well tailored pant suit be too much to ask from the extremely wealthy first lady of the "most powerful nation in the world?" I could do better at TJ Maxx, for Jeebus sake.

BTW, I was equally critical of Cheney for his snow suit at Auschwitz attire and I think Chimpy usually dresses like he just rolled out of bed, too.

What a person wears sends a message, for better or for worse. The message Laura is sending here is "you are not that important to me."

[Ilsa]

33. Thank you!

I happen to think that Pickles is a nice looking woman. But her sportswear is a bit too casual for a first meeting with foreign heads of state. She needs help. I would rather she gave up the Botox treatment for help selecting a better wardrobe.

[expatriate]

35. I agree.

Of course, the First Lady is not elected - she gets the job with the hubster's election (or selection). Should she choose to take part in public life, she becomes a representative of the USA. It is possible for a First Lady to pick and choose what events she will attend, and there have been First Ladies in the past who have chosen not to take a large public role (Bess Truman comes to mind in particular, and Ladybird Johnson and Pat Nixon also chose not to be constantly in the limelight).

To me, it isn't whether Laura Bush is wearing pants or not, but that her attire is really not suitable for the occasion, if she is indeed going to a state dinner in this photograph. Her attire should be as formal as Shrub's, but it isn't. He looks like he's going to a fairly formal function, she looks like she's going to go to the pony club to watch the kids' gymkhana. If she had matched the jacket to the pants it would have been better, though I must say that personally, I don't think that particular style in any way flatters her figure. But that's her choice. My objection is not so much what she is wearing but the fact that it really isn't appropriately formal for the occasion. If she were just Mrs. Fred Ferndonk, it wouldn't matter, but she's the First Lady of the USA, officially. This precludes her being able to just wear any getup wherever.

I know that these days it's all supposed to be "let it all hang out" and "wear whatever you're comfortable in", but as an American, I don't care for the fact that Laura Bush usually underdresses for occasions where dressing appropriately shows respect and consideration for the other people who will be there.

Same for Cheney in his "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay" getup at Auschwitz.

I will say too, that on the whole, there are a lot more important things to be concerned about these days than Laura Bush's lack of dress sense.

[efhmc]

40. Well put and to the point.

[dweller]

31. whaddya expect from a coupla redneck hillbilly texas crackers?

hell, i clean up better than that.

dp

[efhmc]

39. First, he is not anything resembling a Texan and second,

find some pictures of Lady Bird and see what a real Texas lady wears as the first lady.

[Massacure]

32. Sorry to say it, but I don't see what's wrong with Laura's clothing.

She looks dressed up to me. But as a 16 year old, maybe I'm just to used to um, well lets not go there.

[shanti]

38. pants are not appropriate in this instance

AND the light/dark combination chops up her matronly body.

[theboss]

36. You think she should wear a ball gown?

I believe the Jackie picture is from the Inagural Ball. Slightly different occasion.

I don't like her suit, but it's fine for the occasion.

[maveric]

42. What a contrast between Jackie and Laura. Class vs Classless.

These people are an embarrassment to the USA!