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Money can't buy Ann Romney good taste

I hate to get all shallow about it but Ye Gods, Ann Romney simply can't be our next FLOTUS. It would be too embarrassing. She has the worst fashion sense ever. I didn't watch her Leno interview but it appears the only thing notable about it is the horrible outfit she wore for her appearance.

You can see the full length shot with the hideous shoes here. As it's described:

Ann Romney, whose hubby, Mitt, is running to become the next president of the United States, left her campaign-trail cardigan at home while making an appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" on Wednesday. Instead, Romney sported an odd black tiered leather skirt (although it looked a little more like pleather) and matching jacket, along with a pair of lacy heels. Perhaps her next stop was a biker bar? (9/25/2012)

I'm reminded of Condi's debut as Secretary of State when she strode into the arena in full dominatrix regalia. But at least, while it was totally inappropriate, Condi looked hot in her outfit. Ann looks like some weird grandmom on Toddlers and Tiaras. After a certain age, full leather just doesn't work unless you're actually in the S&M scene or at least work out to keep your body looking trim enough to carry the look off. But even then, it's just not appropriate for a wannabe First Lady. [Daily News photo]

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Clothes make the women

I was pretty much glued to the CSPAN livestream through the DNC. So much so, I didn't have the time or energy to post about it until now. I have more to say about it than this silly side story which isn't really worth bothering with, but it's irritating and a good excuse to post a photo of the dress Michelle Obama wore for her speech.

Certainly the speech is more important than the clothes, but one of the things I admire about our FLOTUS is her fashion style. And I'm particularly impressed she pulls her wardrobe together mostly from lesser known, small designers and a lot of ready to wear lines. Her dress was custom made but still low cost. So it especially pissed me off when the odious John Sununu suggested Michelle lied about the cost of her Tracey Reese dress.

But shortly thereafter, the designer proved John Sununu is a sneering idiot.

Reese tells NBC's "Today" show that the hot pink silk jaquard dress with pale blue trim at the hem will cost under $500.

The designer says she was planning the dress for a later season. But now it's being rushed through the production cycle so, quote, "more people can get their hands on it sooner."

Tracy Reese will sell a lot of those dresses because what the FLOTUS, or any high profile woman, wears sets fashion trends. Which makes me love our First Lady all the better for wearing clothes that are affordable to regular people and not just those who can afford to drop 2K or much more for a designer dress. Reese will probably have to hire more people to rush production. So in effect, by her choice of wardrobe, Michelle Obama supports small business and is a job creator. I believe she thinks about that when she makes her clothing choices.

For the record, Ann Romney wore a perfectly lovely, and age appropriate, Oscar de la Renata that I'm told cost about 2K. Not sure, thinking it must be high end ready to wear at that price. Something you might buy at Needless Markup or Saks. I imagine that dress will also generate more interest because Ann wore it for her speech. But it's a much smaller, more exclusive market. Much like the GOP.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Anne Romney doesn't have a stylist

Good Lord, somebody get her one. I don't like to deal in bullshit trivia but Ann needs some help here. I have no problem with Mrs. Romney paying almost a cool grand for only one shirt. Fashion designers need to make a living too, but paying that much for this shirt is a crime.

Worse yet, she had to put some thought into what she was wearing for a morning show interview. I figure she went with the eagle motif to relate to the patriotic proletariat likely to be watching, but it didn't work on any level. This is a shirt that might look good on a skinny, 20 something hipster. Definitely not meant for a 60 something aspiring FLOTUS.

And no, it's not just that it looks bad in the still. It's just as awful in the video of the Romneys awkward interview. Come to think of it, if they really wanted to convince the public that Mitt is actually wild and crazy underneath that stiff demeanor, maybe he should have worn it. Thinking it would have looked better on him.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

The Fashion Police

If we're to believe the pundits, apparently an ugly shirt has ruined the career of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and destroyed his political party too. Granted, it is an extraordinarily ugly shirt, but come on, who among us hasn't been guilty of wearing some hideous outfit at least once? Hell, I hope no one ever takes a photo of me when I've put off going to the laundramat for too long...

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]

Worst Dressed

It's my considered opinion that last night was the dullest Oscar awards show ever. The new format was flat and none of the jokes were funny. Apparently the expansion of the best movie category to ten made it necessary to eliminate the traditional live performance of the best music nominees and they did some uninspired interpretive dance number instead and the dresses weren't all that exciting. This is a good photo gallery that starts with the worst dressed.

Everybody was all agog about Charlize Theron blooming breasts dress. I missed it live both times, but seeing the photo, while I'll agree it was decidedly odd, it was hardly the worst. That honor should have been giving to J-Lo's bubble wrap disaster with an incomprehensible side train. It looked stupid and made her look dumpy. Sarah Jessica Parker's dress looks worse in the photo than it did live, but that another fashion mistake. And the best that can be said for poor Vera Farmiga is the color of that ruffled monstrosity was pretty nice.

Diane Kruger's weird dress inside a flowery tube with a tail was second worst in my estimation. It looked much worse in person. It looked like the tube part was devouring her as she walked and she had to keep flipping the tail out of the way. Miley Cyrus' street hooker thing only escaped complete disaster because she's so young, it's okay to look a little trampy. And breaking from the consensus, Sandra Bullock's silver sheath was widely panned but I thought she looked gorgeous in it. The cut suited her well and it was kind of old time movie star glam without being over-bearing about it.

The only other one that really struck me was Demi Moore. The dress was meh, but I think she chose it to prove that she really is skinny as a rail after the recent flap over whether some cover photo of her was photoshopped to make her look so emaciated. [graphic]

For the Fashionistas - Updated

Okay, so I said I wasn't at all interested in the White House Correspondents Dinner, but I confess. I'm always interested in what Michelle Obama is wearing. HuffPo has some photos. She looks great in hot pink and I'm wondering if that choice wasn't a subtle approval of the Code Pink Mother's Day peace rally. I'm not crazy about the necklace though. Too fussy for me. Would have been better without the big pink flower, but maybe it looked better in person.

More photos of the rest of the gliterati. A better look at Demi Moore's dress. Not bad. And Meghan McCain.

Update: Pure gossip from the NY Daily News and a better look at Meghan's dress. Not attractive.

Shorter Michelle Malkin that I won't link to: "Nobody invited me to anything so I'll just sneer." I will steal her link to the official gossip site but if you just want pix, here's a good gallery of the Bloomberg afterparty.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]