Liz Smith | 10/13/2008 12:00 am

Liz Smith Presents Fashion's Simon Doonan in an Anti-Hockey-Mom Mood

Pretty soon, dear wOws, we won’t have Sarah Palin to kick around any longer and then – what will we do? Well, maybe we will have the governor who will then be the veep. In that case I don’t want to miss a few fond words about this phenomenon who has so enlivened, enraged and enchanted the 2008 election, either before she goes home to Alaska or moves into the White House.

And now not my words, but the words of a fashion arbiter who has become a celebrity himself. I do mean Simon Doonan, the fashion maven of Barney’s on Madison Avenue in New York City.

Recently our Etceterist told us all about how a well-known Washington socialite has been advising Sarah Palin on how to dress. Well, that was fascinating but now comes the man who helped make Barney’s famous – Simon, and following is a bit of what he wrote in last week’s New York Observer:

“Sarah Palin and I are opposites. We have nothing in common. Simply put: I believe in the power of style; she is a veritable anti-fashion crusader.

“While La Palin herself is a snappy, pulled-together kind of a chick – expertly applied maquillage, sculpted tight black silk shantung suit – her utterances vehemently discourage and disallow any stylish expression among the rest of us. It’s that typical beauty queen mentality: I’m the glam ruler and y’all are my earnest-but-dowdy serfs. According to the Republican candidate, we, her subjects, are a homogenous nation of ‘hockey moms and Joe Six-Packs.’ This relentlessly panache-free vision of the United States is gruesomely uninspiring, to say the least.

“In Sarah Palin’s America, there are no Diana Vreelands, hip-hop queens, Janis Joplins, Zelda Fitzgeralds, Gwen Stefanis, Edie Sedgwicks, Annie Oakleys or Babe Paleys. There is a chilling absence of stylish daring. In its place are hockey moms, masses and masses of hockey moms — all attired, one imagines, in those denim dresses, worn over turtlenecks, Uggs in winter, Crocs in summer. Holiday-themed sweaters
…

“My America, I am happy to report, is bursting with swaggering boulevardiers and fashion-lovin’ divas. My ‘Main Street’ is filled with showoffs who live to gird up their loins with a stylish garter or two.

“ … So, gosh darn it, style mavens of America, show Sarah Palin what you’re made of! Go shop! Go feed the economy! Go gussy up! And, for God’s sake, take a hockey mom with you.”

Read more about: Fashion, News, Sarah Palin, Simon Doonan, Style

104 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

You seem to not understand what a “rebuttal” to the “original poster” is. The itemized list is in “response” to the original posters “list”. Taking them out of context, the way you did with Palin’s Kids and Marriage, as well as others show questionable analytical skil. I doubt you are truly interested in “the facts” for “all” of your retorts. If you really are? Than no problem. I’ll do it for everyone…However, a response to a few. We have a Constitutional Second Amendment Right that protects ‘all citizens rights’ not just the ones you do not like. The entire firearm issue is clearly too emotional for you to absorb. Obama has a 100% anti-firearm voting record. The ‘basic right to self defense’ in your own home, as well as, eliminating common ammunition (30-30) that millions of hunters have used since 1898. President Bush has TWO DEGREES (LOOK IT UP). Undergraduate degree from Yale AND a Masters In Business Administration from Harvard! I know the truth hurts. You completely ignored what it takes manage a “budget” more than your household. Especially one that is audited and of $11 billion dollars. Mr Obama has only been a Senator for an equal time, will no major legislation to his credit!. NONE! Show me the McCain/Feigngold Act (2002) on campaign finance reform, or the Lieberman-McCain Climate Stewardship Act (2003) on global warming, or McCain-Kennedy Immigration Reform Bill (2005), etc, etc. There ARE NONE! Notice the choices depict REAL BI-PARTISAN governance. Again, I say, show me “anything” of a serious national issues that Obama has done that is not a straight partisan bill. There ARE NONE! You must be joking that you have not seen or heard of the Infanticide and late term abortion Bills he has voted for. Illinois State - Born-Alive Infants Protection Act (2003), Voted “present” on a bill to notify parents when their minor children seek an abortion (2001) Voted “present” Twice on an Illinois partial-birth abortion ban (1997) Senator Obama Requested $1 Million For Construction Of A New Hospital Pavilion At The University Of Chicago. In 2006, Obama requested that the University of Chicago receive $1 million to support its Construction of New Hospital Pavilion. For more than 75 years, the University of Chicago Hospitals (UCH). Michelle Obama was promoted to vice president for external affairs OF THAT HOSPITAL and had her annual salary increased from $121,910 to $316,962. …regarding the Socialist New Party….you have got to be kidding? He now states he ‘wants to spread the wealth” from the haves to the have nots!!!! If you want a big government, tax and spend liberal, who IS a card carrying Socialist than, move to Europe. Otherwise expect a ‘fight’ from those of use who prefer the present system for the last 236 years!

By Susan Duffy on 10/17/2008 5:36 pm

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I asked honest questions with no emotions, just asking questions. I don’t know why you have to be such an asshole in your response. Do you always respond to everyone is this supercilious, rude, smart ass manner? Maybe you think you know it all and your opinion is the only one that counts.I thought this was supposed to be a place for open discussion but, if people have to be so nasty, I don’t think I care to waste any more time on it.

By Sylvia Horais on 10/17/2008 6:38 pm

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You are right. I must admit that my tone, however similar to the many lefty posters here, regarding some of the comments do get my blood boiling and my prose as well. I am sorry for that. Self control is a work in progress when the fingers are slower than the mind. If you find my comments difficult to deal with then ‘take ‘em apart’ and throw them back at me. Nothing wrong with spirited debate “before an election”. Let me remind you that I have not used profanity, as you have.

By Susan Duffy on 10/17/2008 7:36 pm

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Sarah Palin is such a throwback; I expect her to appear, winking and smiling, with pearls on while she vacuums and bakes up those brownies. So frightening to think that she could, one day, be our president. Alessan O raises so many of the reasons she is scary, a neanderthal mentality, pushing not only women’s rights but all people’s rights back so far. Giving legitimacy to ignorance.

By Andy C on 10/15/2008 8:07 am

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Sorry, I just can’t see SP vacuuming or baking brownies. I’ve been known to vacuum and bake brownies on occasion, but I get the impression she has far bigger fish (or whatever) to fry than common housewifery and mothering. Why, God means for her to rule the world, doggone it!

By Susan B on 10/17/2008 4:44 pm

Gimme a break! Just yesterday she stopped the campaign bus to get diapers for Trig from Walmart. She “hunts and fishes” and “butchers” the game herself. Her father taught her. Could anyone reading this do that? Can you “bone a chicken”? That is truly a “bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan’ kind of woman.

By Susan Duffy on 10/17/2008 5:43 pm

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Actually, I think quite a few people on this site could do all that, including me. I bone a mean chicken, and can gut a fish with the best of them. Except for dressing a moose, which is a skill limited to those out of shoot’n distance of a Safeway. But I just don’t see her as the typical housewife, pushing a vacuum and cleaning toilets and doing wash for 5 kids and a hubby while she deftly executes her many responsibilities as Governor. I worked at the director level in corporate America for many years, and I can tell you that I needed help to keep the domestic scene in order for my husband and children. And that diaper stop at Walmart … the cynic in me tells me that was staged. She has people to do that sort of thing. But I could be wrong.

By Susan B on 10/17/2008 6:09 pm

I appreciate your candor and mutual kitchen skills. In your personal experience you gave your husband a pass on many of these responsibilities. Todd Palin has repeatedly stated that he picks up the slack with additional help from her parents. Their tax returns indicate that “she is the bread winner” and he is often a stay at home dad. This is how many people do it. As for the Walmart episode. The video i saw showed her clearly there “for a purpose”. She picked the diapers and paid for them herself. Although she did sign some autographs, she looked like she really needed them. The Secret Service look a bit unsettled by the “unscheduled” event too. FYI: You might want to look at “last years” interview done by CNBC (business) with Maria Bartiromo regarding energy. It Shows a Governor Palin that, prior to her pick as VP, might have elicited a different opinion of her by many.

By Susan Duffy on 10/17/2008 8:00 pm

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You assume to know much about others’ personal lives. The Palins. Mine. You know neither family personally. Perhaps you should stick to what you really know. Like your own business. My husband does more than “take up the slack” in our marriage, he shares the domestic responsibilities equitably. We both work full-time, and without parents to support us, we have help from outside. This is how many people do it. I don’t buy that she personally needed to stop and get those diapers. That’s what her ss detail or her assistants are there for, especially with her on the road and in the public spotlight. She was “there for a purpose,” alright. The only good reason for that televised bit of mundane slice of life is for a photo op. But you believe what you want. I worked too many years in PR to not know a staged event when I see one, and I saw that one. Your report on the Palins’ tax return made me chuckle, and it only reinforced my views. Once again, you certainly profess to know a lot about someone you don’t know personally. And you clearly have formed an opinion about Governor Palin, as have I. At this point, I couldn’t read another word about her, to be honest. I feel like I’ve read it all, and I probably have. You need not defend her to me, because you’d be wasting your breath.

By Susan B on 10/17/2008 9:07 pm

By Susan B on 10/17/2008 10:07 pm You need not defend her to me, because you’d be wasting your breath. Amen to that!!. Susan Duffy is very angry and a staunch supporter of Joe the plumber, McCain and Sarah Palin. The rest of us are socialist whose sole purpose is to keep her from being a successfull small business owner. Liberals are amoral and lacking in work ethic. We just really get under skin and she wants us out of her business. Hello we share the same planet. Lets make the best of it.

By starry Nite on 10/18/2008 11:13 pm

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I accept her politics and views as vastly different from mine. C’est la vie. But what bothered me was the baseless and condescending assumptions she so quickly drew about my personal life. Why would I, or anyone else, consider the opinions of such a blindly judgmental, sanctimonious person?

By Susan B on 10/19/2008 12:37 am

HI Yes, get this thing a stylist who knows what they are doing. She is more than an embarrassment.

By Gail Pierris on 10/16/2008 3:26 pm

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By Susan B on 10/19/2008 1:37 am Why would I, or anyone else, consider the opinions of such a blindly judgmental, sanctimonious person? This my point exactly - I am willing to compromise and try to see things from different perspectives. As I said before I thought we all were having discussions to either agree or disagree. Thanks Susan B. for your posts.

By starry Nite on 10/19/2008 2:25 pm