LAT Fashion Critic Booth Moore deconstructs Sarah Palin’s style to reveal a “clever” strategy; the Alaska governor claims to aim for frump, but in reality pieces together an effective, deliberately feminine look.
She wears skirts that are quite form-fitting and often goes without stockings. As ZZ Top might say, she’s got legs, and she knows how to use ‘em. When Sen. John McCain introduced her at an Aug. 29 campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio, she was wearing open-toed red patent leather shoes. The only difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull is lipstick, she said in her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., on Wednesday. She could have added to that joke the black pencil skirt and shiny, oyster-colored jacket she wore that night, a more modern take on Clinton’s power pantsuit. It looked darn good.
Times celebrity blogger, Elizabeth Snead, meanwhile, dishes on Palin’s eyewear — a smart frame she reportedly narrowed down from a pool of 300 styles.
…[Palin] recently updated her eyewear and had new lightweight, titanium, rimless rectangular frames made for her by Home Optics, a retailer in Chugiak, Alaska. The frames are designed by Kazuo Kawasaki, from the 704 series, in 34 gray…
Indeed, Palin is making moves in her titanium Kazuo Kawasaki 704s — described by an online retailer as “extremely durable, yet lightweight, offering the most sophisticated design for any occasion” — a frame perfectly à propos for the rigors of the vice presidency.
What’s more, USA Today revealed last week that Palin’s winning pick is within reach of us ordinary Americans. Priced at $375 — less than a DC haircut — opticians have been caught off guard by the sudden demand for “Palin glasses” and find themselves scrambling to keep the frame stocked. In the wake of a McCain–Palin win, it’s a trend that threatens to “rock” the $27 billion vision care industry, says market research firm Jobson Optical Research.
But already, the trend has reporters and bloggers buzzing — from the UK, Italy, and Netherlands — even Turkey. The Observer (UK) contacted Joy Leedham, owner of Home Optics — Palin’s optician — in Chugiak. Leedham told the Observer she’s seen an avalanche of interest in the Kawasaki 704s, by phone, email, and even proxy through the Governor’s office. Each request polite and urgent: “Sarah Palin glasses please.”
