Althouse: "Benjamin Franklin pointedly wore clothes of homespun cloth to the Court of St. James's, and Thomas Jefferson sometimes wore slippers when receiving presidential visitors."

April 30, 2025

"Benjamin Franklin pointedly wore clothes of homespun cloth to the Court of St. James's, and Thomas Jefferson sometimes wore slippers when receiving presidential visitors."

"Nowadays, however, Americans enjoy leavening republican simplicity with touchingly absurd attempts at grandeur: There are, surely, communities where Kiwanis Club lunches are held in Holiday Inns’ Versailles Rooms, cheek-by-jowl with hardware stores and grain silos."

Writes George Will, in "Trump’s gaudy-awful Oval Office is all too American/The redecorated Oval Office reflects an American taste for wretched excess" (WaPo)(free-access link, because I've hit the use-it-or-lose it point for April).

85 comments:

Skeptical Voter said...: Ah good old George Will. Pulls out his snotty Scotty hanky one more time and sneers at those Babbitts in Zenith City. Which we all know is an up and coming burg full of boosters, Chamber of Commerce and Elks Club members who all attend Presbyterian church services. You know--those buffoons in flyover country who are not sophisticated. Sorry Mr. Will, Sinclair Lewis covered that beat 100 years ago.; 4/30/25, 2:59 PM
Kevin said...: The media is sure doing their best to maintain their 92% negative coverage of Trump.; 4/30/25, 3:00 PM
Aggie said...: George Will has defined his brand so completely, that there is almost no reason to read the article. We all know where his hole is; it hasn't moved, and he's still digging away to beat the band.; 4/30/25, 3:05 PM
tommyesq said...: We all knew Trump's taste in decor, both from his first term, his appearance on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and considerable other press both pre-politician and as a politician, and we elected him despite this (probably not because of this). George Will, who has written for WaPo since 1974 and is a "regular contributor to MSNBC and NBC News" according to his WaPo bio, can take his fake conservative ass and suck it.; 4/30/25, 3:08 PM
tim maguire said...: Kiwanis Club lunches in the same rooms as hardware store conventions?

Oh my!; 4/30/25, 3:10 PM
R C Belaire said...: What tommyesq said. It's like a re-run of 2017 for these people.; 4/30/25, 3:12 PM
Hassayamper said...: Oh to hell with that purse-mouthed old shrew. If Barack Obama had done it, the media would be praising it to the heavens.; 4/30/25, 3:12 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Pointedly wore!; 4/30/25, 3:17 PM
MadisonMan said...: Maybe Geo. Will should run for President so the decor in the White House can be more to his liking. It must suck to have to write -- due to contractural demands -- such tripe as a column on what the decor of the White House looks like, and why George Will hates it.; 4/30/25, 3:18 PM
Ann Althouse said...: What's wrong with being "all too American"?; 4/30/25, 3:18 PM
Kate said...: One of the joys of moving into the WH is the chance to wander through store rooms and closets, access the Smithsonian, and choose your decor. Who cares what Trump picks? The next POTUS will change it. It's a wonderful tradition.; 4/30/25, 3:19 PM
Dave Begley said...: George Will is completely irrelevant.; 4/30/25, 3:21 PM
Jupiter said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/30/25, 3:24 PM
Leland said...: Will seems snooty.; 4/30/25, 3:26 PM
Larry J said...: Apparently, George Will is still alive (who knew?) with delusions of relevance. I really couldn't care less about his opinions. What has he actually accomplished other than getting paid for his opinions?; 4/30/25, 3:32 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Yeah I used to read George Will before he got TDS. Thought he had retired though. Maybe he should.; 4/30/25, 3:33 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Wait. You're telling me the guy who puts his name on ten foot high letters in gold on his buildings, that guy, has gaudy taste? Huh. The Devil you say!; 4/30/25, 3:35 PM
Jupiter said...: Did he really write "the Court of St. James's"?; 4/30/25, 3:39 PM
Jim at said...: George Will is still alive?; 4/30/25, 3:39 PM
Paul said...: To use the new Democrat terms... F*ck George Will...; 4/30/25, 3:40 PM
Enigma said...: George Will spent YEARS AND YEARS on Sunday news talk shows criticizing "double dipping" chips in dip at parties. Long after that...he became irrelevant.; 4/30/25, 3:41 PM
Aggie said...: "Issued during the blizzard of orders in his first full day in office, “Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture,” was thoughtful and sensible. Making amends for this, the president has redecorated the Oval Office. The style, which is not for the squeamish....."

Sez Bow-tie George: Brutalize me, baby !; 4/30/25, 3:44 PM
Lawnerd said...: I fucking hate George Will. Always did, always will. Even when I was a delusional Bush supporter I thought Will’s writing sucked and that he was an over rated douchebag.; 4/30/25, 3:47 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: I keep thinking George Will is dead, and then Althouse will post about him. Okay, he's still around, but why is he still writing?

Isn't the same ol' Tired George Will schtick? Oh heavens, the peasants are so revolting. Oh, for the days of William Howard Taft and Rutherford B. Hayes!

To me, he long ago turned into a joke. Just another fake "true Conservative" who ended up supporting (or refusing to oppose) the most far-left and corrupt Democrat candidates in USA history.; 4/30/25, 3:49 PM
Mr. D said...: Kiwanis International has done great work in the communities where clubs operate. They've been at it for over 100 years. They also sponsor Key Clubs in high school and Circle K clubs in college. I had some remarkable experiences and made lifelong friends through Key Club. Bill Clinton, Elvis Presley, Brad Pitt and Tommy John were members . Ol' George can sneer at all that, but the world is a better place because of the Kiwanis, regardless of whether their tailoring is up to snuff.; 4/30/25, 3:54 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: "wore homespun clothes of cloth" = seems wrong. Isnt the "of Cloth" redundant?

Anyway, I'm sure Ben Franklin's clothes had a point, not sure what Wills is, other than "Orange man Bad".; 4/30/25, 3:55 PM
rhhardin said...: 195. ... Someone once told me that as a child he had been surprised that a tailor could `sew a dress' -- he thought this meant that a dress was produced by sewing alone, by sewing one thread on to another.

Wittgenstein; 4/30/25, 3:58 PM
Kevin said...: What's wrong with being "all too American"?

The same thing that's wrong with Making America Great.; 4/30/25, 4:03 PM
Lincolntf said...: George Will is still writing? 20-30 years ago, I looked forward to all of his syndicated columns. Glad to see he is still kicking.; 4/30/25, 4:09 PM
n.n said...: Some believe that Middle America is flyover country. Others believe that America is flyover country. #NoJudgment #NoLabels #HateLovesAbortion; 4/30/25, 4:10 PM
Jamie said...: Not our sort, dear.; 4/30/25, 4:10 PM
Dave Begley said...: George Will is 83.; 4/30/25, 4:14 PM
Wilbur said...: I don't hate George Will. He wrote a lot of good stuff, albeit many years ago. Today he is a good example of the warping power of TDS.

And why can't we say that Trump's sense of style and decor is at least as pointed as Mr. Franklin's? That is to say, it is as puposefully American.; 4/30/25, 4:16 PM
Laurel said...: Every biting thought, comment, article from the Left is lacking wit, humor, modesty, self-awareness. I picture them, each and every one, sitting upon a tight sphincter with matching sour-lemon lips as they spit out the seeds.

Truly unpleasant people, our so-called betters.; 4/30/25, 4:22 PM
Political Junkie said...: George Will somewhat recently said he is/was an atheist. I have long thought he was an in-the closet homosexual, even though he married twice and has 2 children. Call him Caitlyn Will.; 4/30/25, 4:22 PM
The Vault Dweller said...: I'm personally not a fan of gold in decoration. If it is used I prefer to be used very sparingly. If there is even half as much gold as the description suggests it would be too much for my taste. That being said, this also means Zelensky literally misread the room if he thought it was okay to show up in his little designer jumpsuit. And if there was a room in the US Federal Government that could most appropriately be ostentatious I think it is the Oval Office.; 4/30/25, 4:24 PM
The Vault Dweller said...: ""wore homespun clothes of cloth" = seems wrong. Isnt the "of Cloth" redundant?"

Clothes can be made of material other than cloth. I think Benjamin Franklin was noted to have frequently worn a coonskin hat while he was off diplomating in Europe.; 4/30/25, 4:28 PM
Readering said...: It's interesting that Trump Oval Office 2 is Oval Office 1 on golden steroids. Is it the absence of Ivanka this tine that accounts for it?; 4/30/25, 4:49 PM
Prof. M. Drout said...: There's what's probably a cut-and-paste revision error in "homespun clothes of cloth." It should be "clothes of homespun cloth." "Homespun" is actually a technical term originally meaning just that (the weaving done by the women of a household), eventually coming to mean basic fabrics hand woven on a simple loom. In the context of the American Revolution, wearing "homespun" was a way of advertising that you weren't buying imported cloth from England.
In Saga-era Iceland, "homespun" was a form of money: you could pay compensation you owed in silver, but there wasn't very much of that, so you could also pay in cows, tanned cat-skins, or ells of homespun cloth.
A standard milch cow was worth between 72 and 90 ells of undyed homespun.; 4/30/25, 4:49 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: This is hilarious. Pure TDS. The WH is now elegant again, after 4years of near trailer trash with the Bidens. Melania has more class and style in her little finger, than “Dr” Jill did in her entirety. DR Jill, who thought looking like a 1960s sofa was dressing up.

Saw a video a couple days ago, by one of the Trump granddaughters, documenting staying at the WH over Easter. This was the one who spoke at the Republican Convention. What a wholesome family, for a change.; 4/30/25, 5:03 PM
Robert Cook said...: "George Will somewhat recently said he is/was an atheist. I have long thought he was an in-the closet homosexual, even though he married twice and has 2 children. Call him Caitlyn Will."

What does any of the above--if true--have to do with anything?; 4/30/25, 5:05 PM
Robert Cook said...: "What's wrong with being 'all too American'?"

Really?; 4/30/25, 5:07 PM
Goldenpause said...: So George Will is now lecturing us about good taste? I’m sure the lefties who read the WaPo will all nod in agreement that Trump and MAGA types all have terrible taste.; 4/30/25, 5:08 PM
Robert Cook said...: "This is hilarious. Pure TDS. The WH is now elegant again, after 4years of near trailer trash with the Bidens."

Really?; 4/30/25, 5:09 PM
Skeptical Voter said...: Hey Bruce Hayden. You go! Especially that comment on Dr. Jill favoring sofa covering from the 1960s for her dresses. Of course everyone to their own taste, but those dresses were hideous.; 4/30/25, 5:09 PM
Prof. M. Drout said...: Immediate and reflexive loathing of George Will probably chased more people away from the Republican party over the past 50 years than all the policies of all the Republican presidents since Nixon.
Is there ANYONE who is more a caricature or stereotype than Will?; 4/30/25, 5:13 PM
Rusty said...: Gee, Robert. Maybe you and George can go shopping for purses.; 4/30/25, 5:36 PM
Big Mike said...: Some 40+ years ago I was a member of a political group that met at George Will’s house at the invitation of his first wife, Madeleine. I wasn’t impressed with his taste in decorating then. Perhaps his second wife was improved his taste.; 4/30/25, 5:39 PM
Readering said...: Prof M Drout: Trump, I submit. Kinda the point of the column.; 4/30/25, 5:42 PM
Big Mike said...: @Prof. M. Drout, George F. Will left the Republican Party decades ago. He claims to have voted for Biden, and further claimed that he planned to vote for Harris.; 4/30/25, 5:42 PM
Readering said...: Rusty: the middle school insult dates you. Today middle schoolers probably wouldn't get it.; 4/30/25, 5:48 PM
boatbuilder said...: Yeah, George, nobody gives a a crap about Trump's bad taste. It's part of the package. MAGA!; 4/30/25, 6:02 PM
Drago said...: George Will's wife is another of the typical, idiotic, herd buffoon, know-nothing establishment political consultants and she bears personal responsibility for taking Scott Walker's initially strong populist positions in the 2016 republican presidential primary and turning them all into useless mushy Mitt Romney/Jeb Bush establishment nothingness.

Nothingness...which is why Walker fell off the face of the political earth right at the beginning of the primary.

And our prissy li'l Georgie has never recovered. He's basically a cross between David French and David Brooks with a little Tim Walz tossed in these days...and looking for ways to sabotage Trump for a "triumphant" return to whomever the dems want.; 4/30/25, 6:03 PM
boatbuilder said...: Readering thinks Trump !!?? is a stereotype or caricature? Of what? Like him or hate him, the man is undeniably unique.; 4/30/25, 6:17 PM
Iman said...: Eff off, George.; 4/30/25, 6:52 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Regardless of ideology, if this is all you've got, you've got nothing. I can't imagine commentary less relevant.

And I think, belatedly, the majority of the American people are coming to that realization. Blue Dress Conservatives, if you like.; 4/30/25, 6:53 PM
Iman said...: “He claims to have voted for Biden, and further claimed that he planned to vote for Harris.”

He’s the quasi-male version of Peggy Noonan. Not to be envied, that I can tell you.; 4/30/25, 6:55 PM
Randomizer said...: Oh no! I regret voting for Trump because we could have had an Oval Office decorated by a joyful brat.

I used to enjoy George Will before the TDS.; 4/30/25, 7:06 PM
Roadkill711 said...: I find the George Will bashing by hyper-partisan commenters here both disrespectful and ill-informed. Granted, Will has assessed Trump as too boorish and undignified to hold the Presidency, which is a view held even by some Trump supporters. Nevertheless, Will has been a strong conservative (even leaning libertarian) observer of the national scene since the 1960’s, publishing thousands of conservative-themed columns, writing numerous books on political philosophy (and baseball), and working on the Goldwater and Reagan campaigns along way. His strong anti-Trump themes and jibes of the last 8 years disappoint me, since I believe the disruption and realignments Trump is doing are necessary to reign in the Administrative state, but George Will remains a prominent voice for conservatism as evidenced by his 2019 book “the Conservative Sensibility” – an opus magnus which properly describes American Conservatism, identifies the cancerous problems wrought by 20th century Progressivism, and provides remedies for the metastatic growth of government and the loss of popular/electoral control of the government. And to his credit, he makes his case in the book without once mentioning Donald Trump.; 4/30/25, 7:07 PM
William said...: Is it any wonder that Trump decorates the way he does. They're always trying to make him feel gilty........I'm partial to Ralph Lauren/Martha Stewart stuff. It's mass produced good taste, but I don't have any particular trust in my own taste so I'll settle for their take on old money. I don't share Trump's taste in decor, but you've got to admit that it's his own taste and he doesn't mind trumpeting it. He doesn't want to be old money.; 4/30/25, 7:22 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: DJT has made a career out of wretched excess. It is part of his brand. George Will sure gets grumpy about the demotic elements of democracy--but I am sure he would instruct me from his Olympian seat that we have a representative republic, not a democracy.; 4/30/25, 7:40 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: Ralph Lauren described his metier perfectly: old money with a little cowboy thrown in.; 4/30/25, 7:41 PM
Lazarus said...: George Will went native in DC. DC thinks JFK was stylish and sophisticated and forever wants to get back to Camelot. They want their Augustan Age, but during the Kennedy years appearances and pretenses came to be more important than realities. Truman and Eisenhower weren't stylish or fashionable, but they were better presidents than Kennedy, because weren't swayed by pretentious nonsense.

George Will's "The Conservative Sensibility," with its contrast between James Madison and Woodrow Wilson was seen by some reviewers as a throwback to an earlier George Will.
Perhaps it was a concession to today's right wing. In practice, Will had already made his peace with DC progressivism if it behaved with a properly sententious decorum.; 4/30/25, 7:41 PM
The Middle Coast said...: Grain silos, where we store the grain that feeds the world. Hardware stores, where we buy the tools and supplies to feed the world. All-too American.; 4/30/25, 7:59 PM
The Middle Coast said...: I feed the world, Mr. Will. What do you do for a living?; 4/30/25, 8:01 PM
Steven said...: Roadkill711 wrote "George Will remains a prominent voice for conservatism as evidenced by his 2019 book “the Conservative Sensibility” – an opus magnus.... And to his credit, he makes his case in the book without once mentioning Donald Trump."

The book doesn't seem to rank very high in any Amazon category:

#154,190 in Books
#228 in Political Conservatism & Liberalism
#276 in Political Commentary & Opinion
#392 in History & Theory of Politics

Will certainly remains a heavily promoted voice of conservatism, but whether he is still an influential voice among conservatives is another question.; 4/30/25, 8:01 PM
narciso said...: homespun, was the rejoinder of thomas cromwell, when asked about his wardrobe, eventually that trick failed him in the final episode of the mirror and the light, he had the final laugh, the war he had cautioned henry v111 from engaging in, turned out to be a disaster,; 4/30/25, 10:31 PM
narciso said...: franklin was an older version of musk, an iconoclastic liberty loving inventor publisher, scientist; 4/30/25, 10:49 PM
Jupiter said...: Mr. Will is a conservative, in the sense that his political and aesthetic preferences are those commonly associated with conservatism. However, he is prepared -- indeed, eager -- to make common cause with any progresso-fascist, however crude and barbaric, if the alternative is to support someone who might actually put some of those supposed preferences into common practice, but does not knot his bowtie the way George knots his bowtie. George is a bowtie knotzi.; 4/30/25, 11:12 PM
bagoh20 said...: Maybe Mr. Will should visit America. He could ride in one of those safari jeeps with a guide. Everyone should do it at least once.; 4/30/25, 11:13 PM
Drago said...: Roadkill711: "I find the George Will bashing by hyper-partisan commenters here both disrespectful and ill-informed."

LOL

You forgot the requisite 3 "harrumphs" and "Well, I never" and the always useful "That's just not cricket laddies!".

Will is now an operational democratical, which, by necessity, aligns him with the New Soviet Democraticals.

But you go right on White Knighting for this squish that I wouldn't allow within a million miles of a fighting conservative/populist political foxhole.; 4/30/25, 11:19 PM
bagoh20 said...: In stark contrast to Trump, nobody ever asks what Mr. Will thinks about anything, including interior decorating.; 4/30/25, 11:22 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Trump is a real estate guy. It’s not complicated. Project an image of wealth and success and they will come.; 5/1/25, 3:57 AM
rehajm said...: Will is a poorly dressed dandy…not the yankee doodle kind…; 5/1/25, 4:43 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: I'm personally not a fan of gold in decoration. If it is used I prefer to be used very sparingly. If there is even half as much gold as the description suggests it would be too much for my taste.

Well find a photo then and see if it meets your preference. Mostly IMO it's the several gilt frames that give off that almost-gold look. It is used sparingly compared to Trump's penthouse in NYC. You'd probably appreciate my '84 Gibson SG in wine red with all-gold hardware.; 5/1/25, 7:02 AM
Howard (not that Howard) said...: Not to my taste, but is this not the least important thing on which to focus?; 5/1/25, 7:19 AM
Tina Trent said...: Roadkill711, Will's Conservative Sensibility was derivative of non-turncoat conservatives whom he shamefully does not cite. I didn't bother finishing it -- a rare thing for me. It is a plagIarized and utterly dishonest representation of Will's actual intellectual choices and behavior. The excuses he's made for utterly perverted Democrats while excoriating decent conservative elected officials and ordinary citizens plant him firmly in the greasy Buckley clan ... minus the panache. Anything to destroy real conservatism. And a few here are right: Franklin was making a very specific choice with his clothing. Jefferson's mores were common to his class and time. Will needs to disappear in shame for all that he has betrayed. He is a flyspecked, diseased thesarus. And baseball hates him.; 5/1/25, 8:10 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: I love your brain Tina Trent; 5/1/25, 8:19 AM
Tina Trent said...: Right back at you, Mike.; 5/1/25, 8:37 AM
Rusty said...: Readering said...
"Rusty: the middle school insult dates you. Today middle schoolers probably wouldn't get it."
Just an observation, Readering. Which was directed at Robert, not you. Strike a little too close to home, did it?; 5/1/25, 8:42 AM
Charlie said...: GEORGE WILL IS STILL ALIVE?????; 5/1/25, 8:53 AM
Tina Trent said...: You know who else had gold Oval Office curtains, much like these ones? Jackie Kennedy. In fact, aren't Trump's the same gold curtains Joe Biden had? If not, they're barely different. Nor are the gilt picture frames.

Michelle Obama once wore panty-high, 3-D glowing stiletto rainbow boots and a bizarre, open to the coochie yellow sack to meet Sarah Jessica Parker, though I admit she often wore quite lovely clothes as First Lady.

The Carters couldn't help the way they decorated or dressed. Their Oval Office was done in avocado and orange kitchen appliance tones. But in fairness, it was the Seventies.; 5/1/25, 9:39 AM
Anthony said...: I have some fondness for Will's past writing, even though TDS has now made him insufferable.

He used to be on one of the Sunday morning talk shows with Cokie Roberts and they started discussing some story or other about Princess Diana and her kids, and Roberts was being all sympathetic because Di was "a single mom". Will was doing his best confused/exasperated look and was like "She's richer than God and met her children on her boyfriend's yacht in the Mediterranean!"; 5/1/25, 10:38 AM
JIM said...: George Will is a sourpuss.; 5/1/25, 11:09 PM
Zach said...: Franklin was in the Court of St. James *before* the revolution. The colonies were boycotting English goods like fabric as a protest against the stamp act. He wore homespun to the royal court to remind everyone that this was going on, and that they needed to pay more attention to the colonial concerns.

People forget that Franklin lived in London and worked in the royal court from 1757 to 1775. He wasn't some bumpkin who didn't know the dress code.; 5/3/25, 12:17 PM