Blog the Blogger

The DC Goodwill Fashionista started her new feature today, Blog the Blogger, and who did the premiere blog feature? Moi - of course. Check it out to find out a bit of background about me, who my favorite designers are, and where to find good bargains in D.C - plus, the site is a great, witty and oft-spot on fashion resource.

More Givhan rants

It's been a very long week of political fashion commentary given by Robin Givhan. Normally I would love all of this stuff - aka this blog - but admittedly I am getting a little sick of it. I wish the elections would just be over already. (Damn, I forgot we have another year to go...)

I already commented about Hil on Sunday, then we've got:
Romney on Monday
Edwards on Tuesday
Thompson on Wednesday
McCain on Thursday
And I think you're in luck for Baby Blue Guy on Friday...

Who's to blame for pantsuits?

Robin Givhan's article this weekend about Hillary "the-human-color-wheel" Clinton and the pantsuits was unnecessary for the package and said absolutely nothing that Robin hasn't said at least twice before in her column, but nonetheless I read it and had a couple chuckles - mainly because Hillary's so manly. So here's some of the less boring of the boring droll:

The mind, so easily distracted by things mauve and lemon yellow, strays from more pressing concerns to ponder the sartorial: How many pantsuits does Hillary Clinton have in her closet? And does she ever wear them in the same combination more than once? (Here I have to say, "What?!?" Givhan's clearly never seen my blog and how Hillary wears the same thing 10 times in one week...)

[Pantsuits] can be flattering, although not when the jacket hem aligns with the widest part of the hips (hypothetically speaking, of course). Does she even have hips? (Oh Robin...)

Is even considering the senator's clothes a kind of chauvinistic assault? ... With the male candidates, the nuances of their attire matters ... but with Clinton, one must first get past distractions such as that pink blazer — the one John Edwards didn't like so much — before the details can be considered. What would possess a woman to wear a jacket the color of a geranium in full bloom and then imply she doesn't want anyone to notice or comment on her clothes?

Yes, a woman can still be taken seriously, viewed as tough and celebrated for her ideas even if she is wearing a sunshine yellow suit. But someone, somewhere, is also going to notice that she is dressed like a solar flare. (She said it, not me, but ditto!)

Fashionably charitable

The fabulous Goodwill Fashionista brought up a good point today on her blog: 'Tis the season for being charitable, so why not be fashionably charitable? There's some good hints and organizations listed, so check it out. I just moved and had to severely clean out my closet, so I made a few piles along the way - a Goodwill pile (of course!), a Dress for Success pile, items I could give to the local elementary school (I love crafts...) and stuff I could potentially sell on eBay or Craig's List. So get giving!

If a famed celeb stylist says D.C. has style...

Yet another reason to hate Anne Schroeder, she says D.C. has no style. Well, maybe she has no style. So take that Shenanigans!

[Fashion stylist Rachel] Zoe met her husband in D.C., too, she tells local pub Express. She was a hostess at Washington Harbour, he was a waiter. They used to hang out at Sequoia. And — now this is important — Zoe says, "I love D.C. It's got such style."

Whaaa? D.C. and style? Do we need a fashion double-take?

To read the horrible drab, click here...

Nina McLemore: Dressing the power elite (and the creator of Hillary's horrid jackets)

An interesting article appeared in The Examiner today, shocking, I know. Part of their weekly Power Profile, Whitney Blake spoke with Nina McLemore, of her namesake line for the power elite as well as the founder of Liz Claiborne Accessories in the '80s. And while I am not personally a fan of the line (or many of the women who wear it, but that's a whole other aside), I find her takes on fashion, business and women in both very fascinating.

“I’m very angry at the fashion industry,” she said. The industry has “no respect for accomplished women,” viewing them as “sex objects, not smart and capable.”

Her line, mainly “jacket driven,” also includes pants and blouses for business, casual and evening attire. She targets businesswomen with high net worth, female politicians — most notably Sen. Hillary Clinton — and what McLemore calls “community women” who are involved in philanthropy or who have husbands in powerful positions. ... (Know we know where Hillary found her amazing taste - and her $795 quilted coats!)

... Clinton prefers longer jackets, and her signature colors include blue and coral, which McLemore said brings out the highlights in her hair. ...

McLemore’s clothes come in five fits to accommodate all body shapes, and she designs them herself with natural fabrics primarily made in America. She recommends bold, vibrant colors for women who often appear in public or on television. McLemore picks versatile styles that can be worn anywhere, and she uses wrinkle-free materials to allow for easy traveling. ...

... McLemore has a keen sense of her customers’ tastes. Women in law, government and business “dress more understatedly and conservatively” compared with women in New York. At the same time, Washington women have an international flair and often pick textiles and colors from, say, Southeast Asia and Kenya. ...

To read the entire article, which talks a lot more about the business side, click here...

– Examiner/Greg Whitesell

These Shoes Are Made for Stalking

"Days spent chasing lawmakers on the Capitol’s marble floors can be a challenge," Jonathan E. Kaplan says in an article this month in Washingtonian. "The hard marble puts pressure on knees and backs and even makes for slips." Well, we knew all that, so the interesting part? His short piece takes a look at Congressional correspondents and their preferred footwear - and I have to say poo-poo to most of them!

I wear at least 3.5-inch heels on the Hill on most days, and do I complain? No! Why? Because they are feminine and dress- and location-appropriate, and I manage to find ones that are actually pretty comfortable.

Big props to "shoe addict" Susan Milligan of the Boston Globe (pictured above right), she "toughs it out wearing flashy stilettos. She admits they 'kill' her back, but they also get her noticed. One Massachusetts Democrat routinely comments on her shoes." Nice job and I love the flash of color - something way-too lacking under the Dome.

Some more tidbits - some of which frankly scare me:

“Rubber soles are a must,” says Anne Kornblut, who often tracks the movements of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (who wears low heels) for the Washington Post. Kornblut says she’s found a shoe-repair shop that will add rubber soles to her leather shoes. (This is key! I make sure to have no-slips and rubber soles on my shoes to avoid falling, and more importantly, to avoid making loads of noise with each step.) ...

... CNN congressional correspondent Jessica Yellin prefers clogs because they’re good for posture and are more attractive than many other ergonomically friendly shoes. (There's a photo with the story that I would be happy NEVER seeing again!)

Juliet Eilperin, a onetime congressional reporter for the Post who now writes about the environment, says former majority leader Dick Armey, a Texas Republican, taught her that cowboy boots are best for pounding the marble floors. (Do I even need to say anything here?)

To read the entire article, with a lot more about journos' secret lives, click here...

– Jay Clendenin/Washingtonian

Hill fashion roundup

And The Hill now has a fashion column? I don't know... but, interesting info on some Reps.:

• Ric Keller has lost 41 pounds by eating healthy (1,800 calories per day) and regularly exercising. He has 30 more to go, he says, but he's already looking more svelte. (See picture from September at left.)
  
• Ellen Tauscher has gone noticeably darker — going from blonde to brunette. "I’ve always had a blonde personality with brunette responsibilities," she said.
  
• Sadly, Rep. Howard Coble has been warding of skin cancer — he was diagnosed in the late 1990s — with a topical solution that burns the skin cells and turns the outer skin on his face a blistery red. Ouch!
  
• And finally, it's a whopper, Dennis Kucinich reportedly bites his nails.

To read the entire report, click here...

– AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Joke of the day

From Swizzle Sticks:

"According to FEC reports, Edwards grew out his hair during the 3rdQ."

This is no scandal to write about

And the worst Hill article of the day: It starts out kind of about what's appropriate to wear to court and digresses somehow into how scorned wives of wondering politicians should present themselves.

“In these sex scandals the scorned woman is often the most scrutinized. Women can’t win; wear something modest, people will say, ‘Well, no wonder he went looking.’ Wear something that celebrates your femininity, and you’re desperate trash. Wear something appropriate? Well, that would render you invisible, perhaps the worst option of all.”

Though some would argue that this article is the same as this blog, I would say the venue of a blog is very different from a newspaper. Even so, I still wouldn't deem important what Sen. Craig wore to a press conference unless it was something outwardly offensive. Fashion Critic - and this instance in particular - is so often a wishy-washy column that doesn't say anything.

To read it all, though I don't know why, click here...

– The Idaho Statesman/Joe Jaszewski

A blond, not brassy Hillary could grab the nod

As much as I detest myself for actually reading The Hill, it becomes even worse when I find multiple items to quote them on. Well, today their usually pointless (and, well, let's face it today's is too) 20 questions piece features S. Monae Everett, a stylist and manager at Bubbles Salon on Capitol Hill. Not that I would consider Bubbles a trend-setting cuttery, but unfortunately a lot of the male Members actually do get their hair cut there (even though they have their own in-house barber).

So, without further ado, here are the top trends in D.C. hair:

• "Blond highlights. A lot of blond highlights." Really? For the summer blond is in?

  
  

• "The bob is very popular and the side-swept bangs." Really? Like Posh Spice and Katie and my favorite local blogger?

  
  

• "Men used to think of products as just for women — now they’re using them." Really? Like the metrosexual of 2004 is finally making his way to the Hill?

She also comments on some of the presidential candidates coifs, saying that Edwards' $400 haircut was worth it if it made him feel good and Hillary should go blonder, though she doesn't know if the country can handle it. She also states that Rep. Louise Slaughter has the best hair in Congress, saying she "keeps it nicely curled. I love the color, the height. You can tell she didn’t roll right out of bed." Well, that we can agree on.

To read all the questions, click here...

– AP Photo/Jim Cole

Breaking news: Stress makes you all wrinkled

I'm sorry I left you with such a crappy last blog for so long; and I am sorry that I have to keep saying I'm sorry all the time. I can't make any promises though - work is, well, stressful.

Well, in my trying-to-destress I came across an article in The Hill today trying to tell me if I tell myself, “I am strong,” “I am in balance,” I will be strong and in balance. Anyway, there is a funny quote up top from Kathleen Hall, creator of The Stress Institute in Atlanta, who seems to have no connection to Washington at all...

“I would think [lawmakers] care about the way they look. Their skin gets wrinkled, [and stress] makes you age fast. It changes your metabolism [and] makes you store fat around your vital organs.”

Sounds great! To read some affirmation-centric tips on how to destress, click here...

'The brightest most fluorescent color possible'

Carole Bayer Sager over at Huffington Post had a funny little piece about Hillary at the recent debates. She's spot on - unfortunately because in the spotlight what we usually see is a very scary sight - but what really are the options for men? Here are some excerpts:

Have you noticed that after each Democratic debate, Hillary's numbers rise in the national polls?

The reason is simple.

She enters center stage, in the brightest most fluorescent color possible on the color wheel. She is aglow in bright coral, bright orange, bright yellow; while surrounded left and right by a chorus of dull looking men in seemingly identical dark suits all appearing indistinguishable from one another. What an entrance. ...

She also answers in a softer tone; her manner is less aggressive, more appealing. But she's winning over some of her critics primarily because the male frontrunners simply just don't shine. ... Thanks to the televised debates, the American people got to see Hillary Clinton on stage, her blonde hair shiny, eye makeup, rouge and lipstick in place, standing next to a chorus of men in black -- glistening.

It may be serious business, but it's still show business.

To read the entire article, click here...

– AP Photo/Cheryl Senter

Prince of Darkness keeps his cool

The Yeas & Neas boys, who are going on their own little recess for a couple weeks, got a fun dressing tidbit out of author/journo Bob Novak:

"It’s mind over matter,” Bob Novak said when the journalist was asked how he can bear to wear those three-piece suits in the middle of summer. ... [He] blamed it on the demands of his TV appearances.

“It looked better on television to see a vest than a big old belly,” he said. “The camera people told me those seersuckers weren’t good for TV” because of all the lines.

He also said there’s a certain type of respect that results from wearing a dark, three-piece suit on a 100-degree day, especially when you’re not breaking a sweat. People look at you and say, “That guy knows something.” ...

To read the entire item (basically what I have), click here...

Obama, Sarkozy top Esquire’s best dressed list

Who says all politicians (and the journos that love them) dress poorly and frumpy?

Esquire’s September issue, on newsstands next week, features 25 “best dressed nominees,” and there are some names you wonkish types might recognize.

Sen. Barack Obama leads the field at No. 4, followed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy (No. 6) ((though I'd have to say he has hands-down the best-dressed family)), Afghan President Hamid Karzai (No. 10), NBC’s David Gregory (No. 13) and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (No. 21).

Or, at least, so says the Yeas & Nays' guys.

– Photos compiled from AP

Great column, check it out

I just want to point everyone's attention to a masterfully written column by Post ombudsman Deborah Howell on the Hillary cleavage conundrum. And here is an excerpt that I reiterate all the time about this very site.

There's a bigger issue about her Clinton piece: Does this have anything to do with whether Clinton should be president? Not a thing. But do we want to read the column about her cleavage? Yes indeed. It was the most viewed story on the Web site all day. So was a recent story on John Edwards's hairdresser.

Project Beltway weighs in on the flats vs. heel dilema

Because there is no real politics going on in Washington right now (sense the sarcasim?), a political newspaper decided to write about a pressing issue: High heels on the Hill. (OK, I know it's the pot calling the kettle, but I'm at least up front about the fact that this is primarily a fashion site...) At least they quoted blogger Rachel Cothran from Project Beltway. So, here is an excerpt from the earth-shattering, breaking-news report:

For the woman who works on Capitol Hill, high heels can present a fashion dilemma. Does she slip on a pair and risk the discomfort keeping up with her tall boss while walking down those marble hallways? Or does she sacrifice style and scrap the pumps? ...

... “I’m a heels gal, even though it’s risky when your boss is a fast-walking Marine,” said Jessica Smith, deputy spokeswoman for Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.). ...

... Rachel Cothran, creator of Project Beltway, a D.C. fashion blog, has mixed feelings. “I love and hate heels all at once,” she said. “While they do make your legs look longer and inject a tried-and-true dose of femininity to your boring Hill outfit, they can literally be a pain.

“There’s nothing worse than limping through the Hart [Senate Office Building] hallways with five Band-Aids flapping around your ankles. And I will never understand why those cobblestone walkways were installed outside of Union Station, of all places. That being said, I know plenty of women who say they simply don’t feel pretty or in charge in flats.” ...

To read the entire piece, click here...

Well, Rachel continued her thoughts on her blog:

I’ve found a happy medium to be a wedge shoe, which provides height without sacrificing comfort. I find curvy, more feminine styles as opposed to chunky ones most flattering—there’s already a lot of shoe going on. You wouldn’t want to look like you have a brick attached to your foot.

For a while there, I swore off heels completely. However, once I realized that height wasn’t really the problem but rather the construction of the heel, I was a believer once again. Well-made shoes can really be an epiphany for heels, and well-made does not necessarily have to mean expensive. I love stacked heels and conical shapes have a retro vibe. They’re all over the retail stores, but you could easily look in vintage and consignment shops. Skinny heels often look too dainty for everyday outfits, and if you’re like me, you wear out the heel tips in less than five wearings. ...

... Hillrats needn’t be afraid of color or of showing toes, says an anonymous PB spy, who saw Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.) wearing “the cutest open-toe green heels the other day…lime and kelly-green, maybe two-inch heels.” They should just steer clear of what the anonymous Hillgoer called stripper heels: “never okay.”

Then she goes on to give some examples of Hill-appropriate shoes - most of which I dislike, and some of which I feel aren't Hill worthy - but it's a good go. But her list of shoes made me want to do my own list. I am not including any flats, because I don't think they're appropriate (even though I wear them all the time), nor anything with too high of a heel because I'm trying to be realistic here. And for some real-life inspiration, keep an eye out for Condi and usually Laura's peds. So here are my picks for walking the marble come this fall, and "they're the coolest kicks in the cave," as Kelso would say.

Classic in-between flat pump
AK Anne Klein Sportella ($79)
A comfortable 2-inch heel
* I just bought these and they're great

Suede round-toe with a slight metallic edge
Taryn Rose Suede Pumps ($495)
A sleek 2 1/2-chunky heel

A suede wedge with a perforated twist
Dolce Vita Ferrera 2 ($105)
A 2-inch plastic heel
* Also available in cranberry, but most pols can't get away with that

Penny loafers for the 21st century
J. Crew Katy tumbled-leather heels ($178)
A sturdy 2 3/4-stacked heel

Sassy sweetheart detailing on simple pump
BP. 'Lavender' Suede Pump ($59.95)
A lofty 3 1/2-inch sturdy heel
* Also available in patent and my favorite-for-fall color, gray

Suede and patent come together
Kenneth Cole New York True Love ($195)
A not-as-steep-as-it-looks 3 1/2-inch heel

Logo medallion vamped
Tory Burch Betty Suede Pump ($295)
A platform sole, so the heel isn't all that high...

A matte satin mishap waiting in muggy D.C.
Bettye Muller Norell ($400)
A modest 3 1/2-inch heel

I plan on doing some sort of suit-fashion piece soon - with lots of examples for the female fashionistas working those Capitol steps - defintely before the end of recess, so Hillary, keep on the look out.

Clinton's jacket a subject for debate

After Edwards' comment at the debates last week a whole can of worms was opened and there were a lot of google searches that popped up my site. Needless to say, Julie Hinds at the Detroit Free Press found my rants on Hillary's seemingly limited wardrobe from last month and quoted the site - she probably would have quoted me if I didn't get back to her four days too late... Who did get quoted, however? None other than my favorite reporter and my not-so-favorite non-newspaper (I wont mention names, but it's obvious if you read the article and live in D.C.).

On another note, before I let you read the story, I'd like to point out that in this photo, not only is Edwards' wearing one of those bracelets, but also his jacket is pulling oddly and his arms aren't even outstretched - what's going on?

Anyway, here is bits from the piece:

... Some pundits gave Edwards a dressing down for the crack. "Write this down, guys: Attack her policies, attack her past votes, attack her personality ... but don't attack what she's wearing. It looks sexist and cheap," opined Politico.com's Roger Simon.

"I hope his wife gave him a good smack upside the head afterward," wrote Lisa Takeuchi Cullen on her Time blog. ...

... Clinton appears to own blue and yellow quilted jackets that seem nearly identical to the coral one, according to photos posted on D.C. Pleats.

"Does she own anything non-textured?" asks a headline on the politics/fashion blog. Postings describe the jackets as scary and horrid.

"I thought the jacket looked fabulous," says Helena Andrews, who covers pop culture for Politico.com and called Edwards' joke lame in a column. "She looked very sleek."

So did some of the men onstage, but their clothing wasn't a debate topic. ...

To read the whole story, click here...

– AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

The Hill 50 Most Beautiful list: The day after

I know I should have commented in some way about yesterday's release of Capitol Hill's beautiful people list, but I've been too busy planning my August recess vacation and haven't been keeping up with my blogging, sorry. So here is my rant...

And I thought you couldn't get any shallower than The Hill's Top 50 Most Beautiful People... but I was wrong. Patrick Gavin was on MSNBC talking about the list (what they couldn't get someone from newspaper that actually wrote it?). Here are some highlights of his interview:

"Politians are getting better looking. I mean you just look at the presidential debate going on now, they're not kidding when they say when a candidate looses weight they're thinking about jumping in, because looks really do matter. So there is some truth to this sort of shallow politics."

"In this town power is definitely an aphrodisiac."

"If you have a great job, a great business card, that does go a long way in this town."

"Just look at the field now. Everyone worries about Hillary Clinton's clothes, or, you know, Rudy Guilliani's balding, or Fred Thompson's weight, or Al Gore's weight or anybody's weight. And so because of TV, Internet, YouTube, it's such a fulltime job at this point. Abraham Lincoln got away with it; he couldn't get away with it nowadays." – Responding to a question about if looks matter for politicians during the elections

On another MSNBC show, Jeff Dufour comments on the same Hill hotties list - and Yea (as I like to call him, since Patrick is definitely more the Nea) is much more serious about the topic, here talking about why Nancy Pelosi made the list:

DUFOUR: Nancy Pelosi is, I think, she obviously gets points for the House Speaker and being in that prominent position. But Pelosi's become sort of a style icon in the way that first ladies I don't think have been.
MSNBC: I mean she's 67 years old...
DUFOUR: Sixty-seven years old
MSNBC: ...and she's considered a hottie!?!
DUFOUR: Yeah. Six grandkids. A lot of people have raised questions of plastic surgery with her. But she looks great. She wears Armani almost exclusively. And really spreads her wings as a fashion plate really more than a lot of other women in Washington feel comfortable doing.

– Hill photographers

Hillary's dip into new neckline territory

I know I am really late on this, but I promise to be better with August recess slowing things down A LOT! Robin Givhan on Hillary's cleavage (the article's pretty interesting, I am just going to give you the intro, but if you have time, read the whole thing.) It caused quite a stir in blogs across the nation - and while I don't really think it's worth a stir (not like the jacket) - it's well written, though I think it has a slight political bias, but whatever...

There was cleavage on display Wednesday afternoon on C-SPAN2. It belonged to Sen. Hillary Clinton.

She was talking on the Senate floor about the burdensome cost of higher education. She was wearing a rose-colored blazer over a black top. The neckline sat low on her chest and had a subtle V-shape. The cleavage registered after only a quick glance. No scrunch-faced scrutiny was necessary. There wasn't an unseemly amount of cleavage showing, but there it was. Undeniable.

It was startling to see that small acknowledgment of sexuality and femininity peeking out of the conservative - aesthetically speaking - environment of Congress. After all, it wasn't until the early '90s that women were even allowed to wear pants on the Senate floor. It was even more surprising to note that it was coming from Clinton, someone who has been so publicly ambivalent about style, image and the burdens of both.

To read the entire article, click here...