They're going to try and play the gender card with WardrobeGate...

[Bicoastal]

...you know, it's unfair because womens' formal wear costs way more then mens'.

To which we'll say "Why do you think Hillary always wore pantsuits? Do you think those pantsuits cost half as much as what Caribou Barbie is sporting?" :evilgrin:

They're toast.

[Jennicut]

1. If Biden spent this much on clothes per the DNC he would be lambasted.

Sorry, double standard won't work when people are hurting from the economy. Maybe Sarah should have gotten her clothes at Walmart, I thought she loved it there.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. Why doesn't the Queen Sarah shop in places like normal people

she's out of touch.

[BlooInBloo]

3. Whatever.

[Thrill]

4. 150,000 is way too much. Man or Woman

[GarbagemanLB]

5. Of course they will. $150,000 IN ONE MONTH, however, is ridiculous by ANY standard.

[Bluenorthwest]

10. Not ridiculous by McCindy standards

They say her Convention outfit was $300,000, for one outfit. Including the jewelry of course.

[leftynyc]

13. If she can afford it, I have no problem

with that. When the taxpayers (matching federal funds are OUR money) pay for it, it becomes a very big problem.

[marions ghost]

15. It's more than that....

Yes #1 it's where the money came from.

But--a BIG #2 is the hypocrisy of the image--drippingly wealthy and ostentatious WHILE posing as yer average hockey mom married to Joe Sixpack....it's grotesque, especially in a recession where people are REALLY struggling.

I hope it works against them, maybe bring some of those closet Republicans who call themselves "Hillary supporters" over to Obama.

[leftynyc]

17. I know I'd be pissed if I wrote a

check assuming it would be used for ads or something and it would up on sarah's back. And does anyone really believe that before this uproar they were really going to donate those clothes. I have a bridge to nowhere to sell them.

[marions ghost]

19. LOL "bridge to nowhere to sell ya" (you betcha)

Right ...donate Palin's perky pricey duds? I don't think so. Maybe sell some of it on eBay to her worshippers (in preparation for her move to televangelism after the campaign).

So how do the small R donors feel about this? (Crickets?)

[Connie_Corleone]

6. Ain't gonna work. Most women don't spend $75,000 in one day for clothes.

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. Yeah, shit at Saks tends to cost a helluva lot more than comparable clothing at, say, Ann Taylor

What a fuckin' surprise.

:rofl:

[terrya]

8. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Michelle Obama doesn't spend $150,000 on clothes.

And she ALWAYS manages to look classy and gorgeous. ALWAYS.

[ErinBerin84]

9. the DNC wasn't paying for Hillary's pant suits.

I don't really care, but if I talk to a Republican, I'll just say "Well, I donate to the DNC, not the RNC...it's up to the Republicans to be mad about whether this amount of money should be spent on a clothing allowance for a family instead of down ticket races...."

[pnwmom]

11. Look how well-dressed Michelle is. And she doesn't spend like that. n/t

[VWolf]

12. That's 'cause she's got class,

something that doesn't come with a price tag.

[TheDonkey]

14. You could buy a house for as much as Palin spent on shoes and belts.

[Beacool]

16. Hillary's clothes are also not cheap.

An average suit costs $5,000, some cost more. She wears pants mainly for comfort, but also because her legs are not her best feature and because once as first lady somebody took an up-skirt shot that embarrassed her.

A full wardrobe from certain designers easily costs $150,000. Has anyone ever gone to a fashion show in Paris? One dress can cost that sum, believe it or not.

[rvablue]

18. The question is did Hillary bill the DNC for her pant suits??

No.

If Palin needed some financial assistance with a new wardrobe, which is understandble being that she is in the national spotlight, this could have been achieved much less expensively. Read up thread that someone suggest Ann Tayor or how about Macy's or Norstrom's even......the reason why they had to spend so much money is the Queen McCain and her designer clothes.

[yardwork]

20. Hillary didn't bill the Democratic Party for her wardrobe, and it's not necessary to spend $150k

I dress business professional every day, plus occasional evenings and weekends for work-related events, and I don't spend one-tenth of $150,000 in a year, much less a month. I have not spent $150,000 on clothes in my entire life.

[XemaSab]

21. Looks to me like Hillary wore about 10 pantsuits on the campaign trail

which comes to $50,000 *assuming* she bought them all new for the campaign, none of them were donated, and they all cost $5000.

Knowing something about Hillary, I would be surprised if all three of these points were true. I'm also guessing she'll get a lot of wear out of them in the future as a senator.

AND if you told me Barack had spent roughly the same amount, I'd believe it and I'd think "Well, he spent what he had to spend." He's also going to have a future in public office and he needs to be well dressed.

For Palin to spent THREE TIMES THAT AMOUNT for a two month campaign... wow. Just wow.

[yardwork]

23. Hillary wears a lot of St. John, and $5,000 is the high end for those suits.

I found an example of a dressy suit and top from the current St. John "couture" line, available at Neiman-Marcus, for under $5,000. This is for evening wear. A professional daytime suit from the same line would cost less. This is the full retail price. Any savvy politician or business woman would know where to obtain the same suit, brand new, for at least 20% less.

http://stjohnknits.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?itemId=prod2680011&parentId=cat103&masterId=cat000000&cmCat=cat000000cat103&index=0&tid=C4

Sarah Palin spent $150,000 because she bought trendy crap with enormous markups.

[Beacool]

36. Many of the suits she wore during the campaign are by Susanna Chung Forest.

The average suit goes for $5,000 and shirts go for $1,300. As a matter of fact, the tangerine suit she wore at the Convention is hers and so is the suit she wore on SNL.

[Hippo_Tron]

25. Hillary couldn't accept a gift of that much value according to Senate ethics rules

Unless she has a personal relationship with the designer.

[XemaSab]

29. Good to know

I was wondering if designers gave politicians "free samples" to wear and advertise their products. I know they do that for actresses. :shrug:

[beachmom]

31. Hillary never claimed to be a Soccer Mom from a small town just like everyone else.

And, she paid for the clothes herself.

[Virginia Dare]

32. Hillary doesn't look like a glamour puss either..

it wouldn't take nearly $150,000 to put together a decent professional wardrobe.

[Cha]

22. This is the best article I've read why it isn't right..

DeepModem Mom (1000+ posts) Wed Oct-22-08 03:00 PM
Original message

"Sarah Palin's $150,000 Wardrobe Malfunction? "Caribou Barbie indeed."

LAT: Sarah Palin's $150,000 Wardrobe Malfunction?
Booth Moore, Los Angeles Times Fashion Critic

Sarah Palin, small-town hockey mom and everywoman? More like Sarah Palin, pampered princess. Jeanne Cummings at Politico reports that the RNC’s monthly financial disclosure reports reveal that the Republican National Committee has spent tens of thousands of dollars on the vice presidential candidate's wardrobe and accessories since she was nominated, including $150,000 in September alone.

So it seems you can take the girl out of the beauty pageant, but you can’t take the beauty pageant out of the girl.

Palin's clothes came from retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s, Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus and Barneys New York, and expenses included nearly $5,000 for hair and makeup. Maybe this is actually her one-woman economic stimulus plan. Lord knows the retail sector needs it.

Still, voters must find it unfathomable for Palin, who has been presented as a woman “like us,” to spend that kind of money on clothes in these difficult financial times, to see her speaking so passionately about Joe the Plumber while plumbing campaign coffers for Valentino jackets and pencil skirts. And yet, they’ve eaten it up, tittering on chat sites about Palin’s Kawasaki eyeglass frames and her Naughty Monkey red peep-toe pumps....

In Palin’s defense, being a woman in the public eye has its own kind of pressures. And it’s unlikely she has been stepping off the campaign trail to join the ladies who lunch for shopping sprees at Neimans. Instead, she is probably working with a wardrobe stylist, who brings her things to try on and choose from. But the issue of clothing and hair expenses has always been a land mine for politicians (John Edwards' $400 haircuts), and someone should have been sensitive to that.

You also have to wonder how it feels, as a woman, to have everyone know that you really have been dressed up and trotted out like a beauty queen for the American public to wag their tongues at. Caribou Barbie indeed.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/alltherage/2008/10/pali...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7560457

[Hippo_Tron]

24. The GOP could spend a million dollars on Palin's wardrobe and I honestly wouldn't give a shit

It's an insignificant issue that has nothing to do with who is most fit to lead this country. But that being said, it's the GOP that starting this "elitist" bullshit and it's wonderful to see it come back to bite them in the ass.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

27. And it is because of this is elitist that it is Important. The man heading the ticket

thinks that the middle class can earn up to $5 Million dollars. He has 8 homes, a private jet, his wife wore a $300,000 outfit for the RNC and on and on and on

Meanwhile they are trying to steal the populist message, hoodwink America and America is starting to wake-up. This will help with the waking up process.

[Virginia Dare]

33. They enjoyed dinging John Edwards for the $400 haircut..

while carrying the populist mantle, turn about is fair play, and Karma is a bitch.

[OmahaBlueDog]

26. I think there are folks questioning Norm Coleman's Neiman Marcus garb as well

...as heard on Ed Schultz, today

[Strawman]

28. We just play the "you plundered trillions of dollars in retirement savings" card then

[beachmom]

30. Except this is like Edwards's exorbitant haircuts.

Doesn't matter what gender. It's the hypocrisy.

[Left Is Write]

34. None of the outfits she's been seen in could be considered formal wear.

$150,000 is still an outrageous expenditure for women's business wear.

[Bake]

35. It's almost 4 times as much as Joe the Plumber makes in a year!

So really, now, Pukes, you can STFU about Joe ...

Bake