When red carpet fashion leads to the White House
Project Runway is hardly entertainment compared to the fashion of the campaign trail. The men and women on the road to the White House dress not only to impress but to emphasize their campaign goals.
Junior Matt Emig is majoring in acting and theatrical design and production with a concentration in costume design. He said the women’s fashion senses do play a role in their husbands’ or their own campaigns.
“The fashion shows the social status of women as they are now taking on jobs that were once only held by men, which is directly influencing their fashion choices with pant suits or tailored suit jackets and skirts instead of strictly dresses,” Emig said.
Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama have decided to dress according to their political agendas.
Sen. John McCain’s slogan reads “Country First,” and Cindy keeps with this theme by frequently wearing red, white and blue. She also transforms a conservative agenda into a conservative fashion statement by wearing tailored suits with clean lines as well as often sporting a high turtleneck, hair in a tight French twist and her signature pearls.
John McCain’s Ferragamo leather loafers are classically cut and an elegantly simple finishing touch to his clean-cut suits.
Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign pushes the notion of change and Michelle keeps up with her husband’s proposed changes, as well as changes in fashion. Obama himself can be found in Hart Schaffner Marx suits, which are very fashion-forward and manufactured in Des Plaines, Ill.
Michelle has been compared to Jackie Kennedy with her brightly colored clothes, styled down hair and trendy accessories. She often bears a jeweled broach on her dresses as well as wide belts to show off her tiny waist.
Emig said he admires Michelle’s wardrobe variety, especially with the use of colors, dresses, skirts, pants and suits.
“This shows the diversity in the common woman’s closet and keeps it fresh so she won’t blend into the background,” Emig said. “She isn’t beating the audience over the head trying to show that she has strength just like her husband, but her subtlety and changing her look slightly with almost every televised or publicized event drives the point even more than Sarah Palin and Cindy McCain.”
Emig also said Cindy and Palin hide behind their fashion.
“I feel they are just trying to make a look work for them because of the ideals they uphold, instead of letting their personalities come out through their wardrobes,” he said. “It is more the reverse and their wardrobes are dictating their personalities.”
On the other side, Michelle set off a fashion frenzy with her appearance on “The View” where she wore a $148 dress from White House Black Market, a store commonly found in many American malls.
The dress quickly sold out by the end of the week.
Despite their choices, these potential White House women have learned to take a fashion-forward step without outshining their partners’ messages.
“[Michelle] is looking nice and representing the common woman, but also helping in supporting her husband’s campaign without making a spectacle or appearing to try too hard,” Emig said.
Out of all of the candidates vying for the White House, Palin receives the most criticism in terms of style.
Her go-to fashion accessories include her wide-framed glasses, librarian-style updo and a lot of make-up. Although many critics deem Palin a fashion disaster, others appreciate her more down-to-earth style next to fashionista Cindy.
Emig said his vote for the most fashion-forward candidate would have to be cast for Michelle.
“I am more proud from a fashion and design point of view with Michelle Obama because she is trying different things and she has variety,” Emig said. “She is causing audiences to wonder what she will be wearing this time, and when there is another campaign rally that is what fashion should do.”
Junior Matt Emig is majoring in acting and theatrical design and production with a concentration in costume design. He said the women’s fashion senses do play a role in their husbands’ or their own campaigns.
“The fashion shows the social status of women as they are now taking on jobs that were once only held by men, which is directly influencing their fashion choices with pant suits or tailored suit jackets and skirts instead of strictly dresses,” Emig said.
Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama have decided to dress according to their political agendas.
Sen. John McCain’s slogan reads “Country First,” and Cindy keeps with this theme by frequently wearing red, white and blue. She also transforms a conservative agenda into a conservative fashion statement by wearing tailored suits with clean lines as well as often sporting a high turtleneck, hair in a tight French twist and her signature pearls.
John McCain’s Ferragamo leather loafers are classically cut and an elegantly simple finishing touch to his clean-cut suits.
Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign pushes the notion of change and Michelle keeps up with her husband’s proposed changes, as well as changes in fashion. Obama himself can be found in Hart Schaffner Marx suits, which are very fashion-forward and manufactured in Des Plaines, Ill.
Michelle has been compared to Jackie Kennedy with her brightly colored clothes, styled down hair and trendy accessories. She often bears a jeweled broach on her dresses as well as wide belts to show off her tiny waist.
Emig said he admires Michelle’s wardrobe variety, especially with the use of colors, dresses, skirts, pants and suits.
“This shows the diversity in the common woman’s closet and keeps it fresh so she won’t blend into the background,” Emig said. “She isn’t beating the audience over the head trying to show that she has strength just like her husband, but her subtlety and changing her look slightly with almost every televised or publicized event drives the point even more than Sarah Palin and Cindy McCain.”
Emig also said Cindy and Palin hide behind their fashion.
“I feel they are just trying to make a look work for them because of the ideals they uphold, instead of letting their personalities come out through their wardrobes,” he said. “It is more the reverse and their wardrobes are dictating their personalities.”
On the other side, Michelle set off a fashion frenzy with her appearance on “The View” where she wore a $148 dress from White House Black Market, a store commonly found in many American malls.
The dress quickly sold out by the end of the week.
Despite their choices, these potential White House women have learned to take a fashion-forward step without outshining their partners’ messages.
“[Michelle] is looking nice and representing the common woman, but also helping in supporting her husband’s campaign without making a spectacle or appearing to try too hard,” Emig said.
Out of all of the candidates vying for the White House, Palin receives the most criticism in terms of style.
Her go-to fashion accessories include her wide-framed glasses, librarian-style updo and a lot of make-up. Although many critics deem Palin a fashion disaster, others appreciate her more down-to-earth style next to fashionista Cindy.
Emig said his vote for the most fashion-forward candidate would have to be cast for Michelle.
“I am more proud from a fashion and design point of view with Michelle Obama because she is trying different things and she has variety,” Emig said. “She is causing audiences to wonder what she will be wearing this time, and when there is another campaign rally that is what fashion should do.”
Updated October 28, 2008
