The media focus on the contrasting wardrobe expenses of Michelle Obama and Sarah Palin recalls Nancy Reagan and other women in politics, and the clothes they wore.
Palin’s RNC Makeover
The Democratic National Committee has admitted to paying for “makeup and hair care expenses [Ill. Sen. Barack Obama] incurred in connection with TV interviews,” according to the Houston Chronicle, but has not funded clothing purchases. The Chronicle added that it is “rare for campaigns to underwrite the clothing costs of candidates of either gender. Indeed, of the 41 other candidates and political committees reporting expenses for ‘accessories’ during the 2008 campaign, none of them were for clothes.”
In early October, New York Magazine noted that Michelle Obama showed up to a rally wearing a dress by the inexpensive Sweden-based clothing chain H&M; the dress was compared to something the high fashion designer Narcisco Rodriguez might make.
Mrs. Obama has “remained committed to keeping her wardrobe down-to-earth throughout the campaign,” the magazine wrote, adding that a $148 White House/Black Market dress Obama wore on “The View” sold out at some locations, as reported by The Wall Street Journal and others.
Gov. Palin has garnered just as big a following, the U.K.’s Telegraph reports, as women have run out to buy wigs mimicking her hairstyle; frameless glasses; and shoes like the pair she wore during her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.
In September, an outfit of potential first lady Cindy McCain’s was scrutinized by a Vanity Fair blogger, who used magazine staff estimates to price the outfit—including diamond earrings valued at $280,000—at over $300,000. “Far be it from those of us at V.F. to criticize people for buying fancy clothes (you’ve met our advertisers, right?),” the blogger wrote, “but even we were astonished when the estimate came back.” Comparisons have been made between Mrs. McCain and former First Lady Nancy Reagan.