Palin's $150K vs. Michelle's $150 dress

[yourguide]

Just a reminder of our own Michelle Obama wearing a $150 dress on The View.



What do U.S. women feel about a potential first lady who wears an inexpensive, off-the-rack dress to co-host "The View?"

Pretty darn enthusiastic.

After Michelle Obama mentioned on "The View" on Wednesday that she bought her B&W sundress at a store called White House/Black Market, women started pouring into the retail chain's stores, clamoring for the $148 dress designed by Donna Ricco.

"Women literally were snatching (that dress) up," Jessica Wells, a spokeswoman for the White House/Black Market, which has 322 stores across the country, told the Wall Street Journal.

Turns out it may not only be time for a political change, it may also be time for a change of clothes when it comes to first ladies.

"I'd put her in an Oprah sphere in terms of influence," Tom Julian, prez of the Tom Julian Group, a New York City-based brand consultancy, told the WSJ.

Later, speaking to the Dish Rag, Julian predicted that Obama will change the face of political fashion in that she could be the first first lady to wear both high and low-end fashion.

"She will bring affordable American sportswear to the forefront, and this is very appealing to the Middle American woman voter. I can also see her as a Vanessa Williams, Halle Berry, Angela Bassett-style dresser. She's modern –- a boomer, a woman of color with a real shape. It will be interesting what she picks as a signature piece, and I predict that it will be in the sportswear realm."

-snip-


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2008/06/what-do-us-wome.html

[Lerkfish]

1. i was digging this article until the word "articulate".....ugh.

[vaberella]

5. I've come to terms with that. n/t

[Lerkfish]

6. well, it falls under "unintentional racism" to me... sometimes benign, sometimes not, BUT

it would behoove people to avoid the term, regardless.

[KittyWampus]

24. why, if someone is articulate, you can't mention it cause they're black?

It's not unintentional racism.

It's YOU with a ridiculous holier-liberal-than-thou chip on your shoulder.

[Lerkfish]

26. ask a black friend about the word "articulate"

I have.

[uponit7771]

32. You don't have many CLOSE black friends either, it's mostly a specific codeword that denoted that

...blacks for the most part aren't articulate.

The use might be benign but it's the wrong word to use for a generation or two

[justiceischeap]

28. Is it a racist term or just relief after 8 yrs of having an inarticulate President and First Lady?

Then we have an inarticulate repug ticket... It could be subconscious racism or it could be what I stated.

[Lerkfish]

36. if you seem happy, should I call you gay?

words have several meanings, intended or not. It behooves us to understand those incidental meanings and avoid them if they are potentially misunderstood.

[BlooInBloo]

40. They can't help themselves.

[Left Is Write]

43. She said it was refreshing to see an "intelligent, articulate woman who shops for herself"...

and I'm wondering if that is simply meant to imply that other women she could be compared to - Laura Bush? Sarah Palin? - are somewhat less than intelligent and articulate.

If it's "refreshing" to see an intelligent, articulate woman in this arena, it stands to reason that the author is using the term to slam others rather than as subtle racism against Michelle Obama.

[LanternWaste]

44. That's the precise same context I read into it.

That's the precise same context I read into it. The author was merely slamming those women who didn't illustrate the independence of Mrs. Obama.

...I suppose "articulate" is yet an additional word that I'm going to have to get into the habit of never saying for fear that the contextually challenged see it as something other than it is. :shrug:

[JI7]

2. she wore a dress from GAP at some event also

[vaberella]

8. I remember that. She's definitely down to earth. n/t

[Barack_America]

21. I have that dress. I believe it cost $45.

Or maybe even less.



(and, for visiting freepers who think Obama doesn't eat pork and is therefore a muslim, check the hotdog)

[mucifer]

3. Barack has recently bought 5 $1,500 suits that have now become popular

amongst those who can afford such things:

Men electing the Obama suit by Harmarx
CHICAGO'S HARTMAX | Wool two-button model retails for $1,500
Recommend
Comments

October 22, 2008

BY SANDRA GUY Business Reporter [e-mail]

Michelle Obama, move aside as the fashion plate.

Shoppers have started asking for the Obama suit -- the navy blue, worsted-wool, two-button suit that Chicago's Hartmarx tailored just for Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama.
» Click to enlarge image
Barack Obama has bought five more Hart Schaffner Marx suits.
(Courtesy/AP)


RELATED STORIES
Hartmarx suits Obama Special section: Barack Obama

Even Hartmarx CEO Homi Patel bought four of them.

The Hart Schaffner Marx suits are sold at retail as the Gold Trumpeter collection. In department stores, they go for $1,500 apiece.

Now, Obama has bought two more of the suits in blue and three in gray -- all the same silhouette and material -- single-breasted, 97 percent worsted wool and 3 percent cashmere. The pleated pants have an inch-and-a-quarter cuffs.

Hartmarx -- at 121 years old the largest suitmaker in the United States -- dismantled its network of 600 unprofitable retail stores a decade ago but has started opening stores in major cities as a marketing device. Its latest is a Hickey Freeman store set to open Saturday at 114 E. Oak St. in Chicago.

A Hart Schaffner Marx boutique could open in downtown Chicago by next year.



http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1234832,CST-NWS-obamasuit22.article

[yourguide]

4. And really nice suits

like Versace run around 5K. Good for the Obama's!

[vaberella]

7. I sincerely doubt Obama paid $1500 for them.

Mainly because they were designed for him and in his style. So the price he paid was probably in the single digit hundreds with his own money.

[mucifer]

10. He got millions from his autobiographies I'm sure that's how he paid for the suits.

[vaberella]

19. My statement might have implied something I wasn't.

I realize he has money, we know his finances well since he's been transparent about that. I was just making the point of when suits are designed or when outfits are made for some one the people normally pay little to nothing for such a suit. Several of them would have been discounted for that reason as a courtesy. While Palin was buying top of the line gear full price.

[yourguide]

13. $1500

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1234832,CST-NWS-obamasuit22.article

Men's suits are expensive. A cheap suit is $500. A nice suit is $5000.


This is not excessive for a suit.

[vaberella]

18. No, I realize that. My point was that he paid lower even than that for the suit. n/t

[yourguide]

25. my point was 1500 is still reasonable for a suit.

[RichGirl]

12. Barack deserves to wear a 1500K suit!

He has more than earned it.

He wants to make sure that we all live good lives and can occasionally buy a designer item. Their is no pride in being poor. No one is this country should be poor. There's nothing wrong with Barack dressing in a style that he wants for all of us. Jesus Christ...if the president of the United States can't wear a 1500K suit, then they might as well stop making them.

[GoesTo11]

20. Hickey Freeman are darn nice suits.

Too bad they don't have a clearance outlet!

[Clio the Leo]

27. How many times will he wear them vs. how many times will Sarah wear each dress?...

There ya go.

That's why boys suck. They can wear the same thing over and over and over and nobody cares! lol

[msanthrope]

45. Exactly--a $1,500 men's suit that will be worn scores of times is

a better value than a $1,500 women's suit that might get a max of 2 or 3 outings on a campaign trail.

[uponit7771]

33. That's not the cost of the suite Obama wears, that's the RETAIL VALUE but not the cost he pays.

[gblady]

39. I'm thinking.....

Michelle finally talked him into buying some new clothes...

in that interview held on July 4th, everyone was razzing him about his clothes...
even his girls....so he probably buckled under and got some new stuff...
at the sheer embarassment of being so unmercifully teased.

He says he doesn't care about clothes...
whereas Michelle is an avid clothes lover!

[knitter4democracy]

42. Needs more cashmere.

Well, good cashmere. Not the short-stapled crap that China's putting out these days.

You need about 15% of any fiber to really feel it in the fabric, so he's paying a lot for that 3% cashmere but not really feeling it. A really good extra-fine wool will give him the same feel for less money.

[RichGirl]

9. I think that complaining about Palin's 150K wardrobe expenditure....

...is the kind of criticism you use for a candidate that is so perfect that you can't find anything real to fault him with. With Palin there are so many serious and even dangerous charges that make her a totally unsuitable VP choice, that using this wardrobe thing is just distracting from what is real. If I were running for VP or the wife of a candidate I would be wearing designer clothes too. They bring in millions, why shouldn't some of that go to making them look good.

[JI7]

14. it matters because of her attacks on OBama as elitist and her trying to paint herself as joe six

pack type.

[yourguide]

15. $150K is as much as a house in some areas of the country.

Considering the economy this is outrageous.

[demokatgurrl]

17. Yeah, how much does a house cost in rural Alaska?

[davsand]

31. $150 K is more than our house and two cars cost when totaled up.

Probably speaks volumes about our choices in life, but it really IS kinda hard for me to get my head around ANYBODY wearing clothing that cost more than my house.



Just sayin.





Laura

[AspenRose]

35. $150K is what we'd need to save up to put 20% down on a house.

:-(

[Democat]

22. Palin's $150,000 shopping spree undermines the entire McCain campaign theme!

1. Palin and McCain claim to be average small town people.
2. Palin and McCain claim to be financially conservative.

Spending $2500 a day of donor's money on clothing for Palin undermines both of those themes by the campaign.

This deserves to be a huge issue and it helps to completely undermine their message and their ability to connect with voters.

Obama's people should keep this issue alive as long as possible.

[sandyj999]

11. Sarah needs more help. n/t

[Libby2]

16. That woman would look good wearing a tater sack!

[endarkenment]

23. Inverse relationship between IQ and Wardrobe Expense?

For all of That Woman's manufactured image of being 'one of us' it is Michelle Obama, bright articulate and genuine, who seems to me to be 'one of us', while Palin looks and acts and sounds like a media manufactured empty (designer) suit.

[ellacott]

29. Also consider Cindy's 300k outfit for the convention

I know she can afford but it makes it hypocritical when they try to paint the Obama as elitist.

[Thrill]

30. Palin is just a Regular GAL

LOL

[DeepModem Mom]

34. Michelle wore Thakoon twice recently, at about $1200 a dress. I have no problem...

with that at all. She can afford designer clothes, and doesn't present herself as a Wal-Mart Mom. And she looks fantastic.

[demokatgurrl]

37. And she's buying her own clothes-

not charging the Democratic party.

[DeepModem Mom]

41. Yes, indeed! I've been having visions of the DNC buying Joe Biden designer suits. nt

[Raschel]

38. Maybe after the Obama Presidency the use of the word will beco me less frequent. What I found

interesting was the fact that they compared her only to Black women in terms of style. Are they having a hard time seeing people as people and not skin?