Fashion Smackdown: Ann Versus Michelle

Posted by Lambchop

My favorite Pulitzer Prize winning fashion critic Robin Givhan (not Tyson’s ex-wife) does it again. She manages to trash Ann Romney, who will be the arguably be THE most attractive First Lady ever to grace the White House steps. And what is the problem with Ann Romney’s style according to Givhan? I guess she is too rich and too white.

Givhan’s article must be autobiographical - it reads like a middle school girl’s bully posting on Facebook about the new head cheerleader, filled with insecurity and angst that the cheerleader has something she, herself, does not.

At some point during the Republican National Convention—a political petting zoo of tamed politicians and talking points packaged in patriotism—the candidates and their wives will almost assuredly snuggle on stage in victory, wave in unison, and periodically point into the audience as if they have just spotted an old college roommate.

Our critic goes on to mock Ann Romney with a political shot, “When necessary, she has spoken in teasing tones, spilling secrets from the hearth: the grandchildren love mussing Mitt’s hair! And when the media ask about the couple’s tax returns, she shuts them down with the condescending edge of a mother reprimanding wayward children.”

And continues with more hard-hitting journalism:

Her style has ricocheted from the clichés of a suburban PTA mom to the sleek tailoring of a savvy company woman to the look-at-me idiosyncrasy of a lady of great wealth. A white shirt that wraps and ties around her waist, a wide pastel pink belt with a gold buckle, golf-ball-size faux pearls, ankle-cropped trousers, and vertiginous patterns are all in regular rotation.

The style is modern, but not particularly savvy. She is neither informed by fashion glossies, nor wholly unaware of them. After all, no one uninterested in fashion chooses off-putting zebra-striped dresses, sheaths in Custo Barcelona–meets–Etro–style prints, and a shirt with the image of a bird divebombing her chest.

To date, no signature style has emerged. No aesthetic point of view has been delineated. For all the power to be found in defining oneself visually, Ann Romney is merely amplified cacophony.

Not sure who Ann is being compared to – I assume Michelle Obama who has mastered the look of the wannabe “idiosyncrasy” of a lady pretending to someone of great wealth and style.

Michelle’s fashion problems being with her lack of grace and femininity. She constantly screws up her face, reveling in her displeasure at having to deal with the “little” people and their pathetic requirements of patriotic pomp and circumstance (you know like military funerals). Sadly, she walks like former defensive lineman great William “Refrigerator” Perry. Michelle clunks around in yoga pants, one-shoulder wraps, and the hideous contrived 1950s chic look complete with ¾ sleeve sweaters, pearls, empire waist blouses, and A- Line poodle skirts - looking for all the world like a groupie for the B-52s in the 1980s. Her lack of grace is only trounced by her preference for bright, tacky colors. Michelle’s prefers to wear the bold colors of bruises – red, black, highlighter greenish yellow, and purple.

According to Givhan, Michelle has elevated her cause and style, taking control of her image. As did Hilary Clinton and Laura Bush. But poor, plain, mousey Ann Romney, the unsophisticated, not -ready -for -prime- time, trivial rich lady, just can’t seem to handle it. Whatever.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/27/ann-romney-s-political-style-on-mitt-romney-s-republican-campaign-by-robin-givhan.htm