Jeff Larson, a prominent Republican consultant and the chief executive of the local host committee for the Republican National Convention, paid for Sarah Palin’s new wardrobe. It’s no shock that the clothes will be given to charity after the election as why would Sarah Palin wear them twice? Let alone claim $150,000 USD as income only to pay tax on it?
Sarah Palin did need a new wardrobe and hair and make-up are an essential part of any make over. In September and October make-up artist Amy Strozzi earned about $36,000 and her hair stylist Angela Lew earned $19,000. It’s true the rates sound high and they are, but travelling with a politician or any A-lister is demanding work, your life isn’t your own.
Here she is before:
Here she is after:
The big question is has it worked? Palin’s dressed simply and looks professional and still looks nondescript. Now that anyone can dress like her, how many more people can relate to her?
Has the focus on the clothes/fashion been intentional, is it meant to be a distraction from her political views? Have we forgotten that she’s a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, opposes abortion and was runner-up in the Miss Alaska beauty contest in 1984? I actually like the beauty queen part. Now that she’s had the makeover do we feel she’s one of us (well not me or you, but somebody else, a neighbour, a teacher)?
I’m not a fan of the puffy down coat. I lived in Winnipeg for a few years and the long down parka is just not a flattering look. When you’re in high school you don’t care about being practical or about being cold, even if it’s -30 and you’re waiting for the bus.
To my shock Uniqlo has made the down jacket fashionable – who knew that could ever happen…
I don’t like to break the illusion of fashion. It’s beautiful, fun, even unobtainable; it’s the dream. I love fashion and everything about it. I’m not the kind of girl who skims a magazine – I read magazines cover to cover. I like things that are aspirational. It might be a beautiful photo shoot, or an image that’s so raw it makes you shudder. Like many jobs, the secret of fashion is to make it look easy – you don’t see the effort. Lots of jobs are like this. A while ago I did a shoot with gymnast Beth Tweddle. Watching her work is amazing, it looks so effortless and beautiful – I told her that and she said it’s not true, there’s lots of effort and hard work, and she told me that she had metal pins in her ankle. Most athletes have survived so many injuries but you probably won’t get injured working in fashion.
Whenever I’ve attended lectures about fashion, the speaker always mentions how hard fashion can be and how competitive it is. I’ve always thought the playing field was even, so if everything is hard what’s the difference? I’ve come to realize that there is a difference. It’s very fashionable to work in fashion. It looks easy: anyone can do it. Whoo, the digital camera – anyone can be a photographer…ya right…. what’s difficult about our jobs, at least for me, is that it’s hard to explain what I do and what my skill set really is. I’m often asked how I became a stylist. It’s a normal question but it doesn’t have a straightforward answer, and it’s the same with most creative jobs. So finding a job in fashion and trying to figure out what all the jobs are in fashion is actually quite a challenge…
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I'm a fashion stylist and consultant based in London. I'm Fashion Editor at Phoenix magazine, and I've styled for many musicians from Kate Nash to... (more)
