From "Decoding Kyrsten Sinema’s Style/Sometimes a dress is just a dress. Sometimes it’s a strategy" by the NYT fashion critic Vanessa Friedman.
Friedman is being awfully nice here, perhaps because it's dangerous to take shots at a woman's appearance these days. One of Sinema's clothing items is a shocking pink sweater with "DANGEROUS CREATURE" written across the chest. That caused Mitt Romney to tell her she was "breaking the internet," and, we're told, she answered, "Good."
I don't know if she thought it was good because she'd like to see the internet broken or because she loves attention per se or — I'll go with this — she wants a lot of people to contemplate her dangerousness. Everyone with political power is dangerous, so it functions as a warning label, and warning labels decrease dangerousness. We potential victims can, perhaps, take care.
And Friedman does take care. What are the dangerous things that could be said about Kyrsten Sinema's clothes? Well, for one thing, they're in bad taste, and many times, they're unflattering. They're very tight... But don't talk about that. It's dangerous!
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66 comments:
Clothes are fun, not a strategy.
Not returning a 'President's' phone calls after he proclaims protesters harassing and filming you in the bathroom is part fo the process is a strategy.
It's branding. It's good to seem to be not like the others in DC these days. It's good to seem more like the folks back home. It's good to seem to be flouting DC norms.
Can something be speckled with zebra stripes?
She's got one hell of a chest and likes people to know that she does. Now that's something that should unite all political parties.
You go, grrrrl !
I interpret Sinema as a standard example of Generation X, in personality, attitude, and fashion. Older Baby Boomer styles (i.e., mass cookie-cutter conventions) dominated her youth. Levi's 501 jeans. Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses. Woodstock revealed the absolute predictability and narrowness of Boomer "rebellion." Bruce Springsteen of New Jersey was marketed as a roots-rocker and NASCAR fan (per the actually ironic "Born in the USA" album).
Boomers were so narrow and unified in all pop culture tastes (i.e., 3 TV networks, Top 40 radio, Major Studio movies) that they never understood or cared to understand Gen X. I'm feeling that from this post too: Gen X is smaller than Boomers and the echo-Boomer Millennials.
Gen X resorted to "Alternative Rock" after their choices were relegated to low-power college radio for 5-10 years in the early 1980s. Their choices were ignored and squashed. However, there are millions of others with similar experiences and tastes.
I’ve started thinking of her as The Shower Curtain Senator.
Apparently there are no pant suits nor Mao jackets in her wardrobe, so she has that going for her...
Too much makeup. Tits aren't a big deal these days so the question of proper presentation runs into indifference.
Sinema beat McSally because she has an interesting personality whereas McSally is beyond lackluster. I suspect that Sinema took her victory as meaning she needs to play up the personality angle. She has been doing that with her outfits, hair and attempts to appear "moderate". It is her version of the McCain maverick schtick that plays well in Arizona.
While I did not vote for her, Kyrsten has some appeal as a personality in an otherwise very drab Senate. Seriously, does anyone want to watch Diane Feinstein, Pat Leahy or Charles Grassley in action? I will not even mention the utterly repellant Chuck Schumer or Dick Durbin.
I like her. I like her style, I like her character. She's a self-marketer. She's her own woman (seemingly) and I like that in a man or a woman. She knows who she is, makes no apologies, holds to her own convictions, does not clamor to be part of anyone's herd (again...seemingly).
I probably do not agree with a lot of her policy views, but...I like this type of person. She's made a conscious effort to stake her place in this world and she's doing it- her way. She's not blending in with the Pelosi crowd or that horrid 'Squad'- both of whom are repulsive in their manner and character.
It's hard to talk about Sen. Sinema without talking about how she dresses. It's her calling card and it's been carefully curated to be so. It brings your eyes to her and makes you remember her. To me...it works. At first I thought she was a curiosity. Now I see her as more substantive because of her consistency in her personal stands. She's not looking to bargain. She's got firm beliefs and she's sticking to them. She stands out as one of the handful of singular people in the Senate, and one to be taken seriously- zebra stripes and all.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Had to get that out of the way for the collective here. Carry on.
It's been done.
I think her response likely is more of a knee-jerk reaction to someone criticizing her individuality.
I can think of a lot of politicians who should come with warning labels. Maybe we should require it.
Tammy Haddad, “If the other members of Congress had paid any attention to her clothing at all they would have known she wasn’t going to just follow the party line.”
Really? How so? Please pick another Congresscritter and predict their voting pattern using this criteria. More specifically, please elaborate on how exactly her colorful and clingy clothing predicted her present very clear stance on submitting the bill to the House that the Senate has already passed, since it is sure to pass.
Kyrsten Sinema's clothes. . . . [are] in bad taste, and many times, they're unflattering. They're very tight...
If meow is entirely standard American usage for a catty, spiteful remark, isn’t it time we elevated the term me-ouch! too?
More from Ms. Haddad: “She is unencumbered by the norms of the institution.”
So? Those “norms” are only applied to Republicans and only then when they violate the rule that casts R critters as the Washington Generals always destined to lose to the D party Globetrotters every time. See how Nancy is globetrotting now despite the alleged fierce negotiations allegedly going on?
Yep. Political theatre. So we have here an entire article devoted to the deep meaning of one cast member’s costume. Thanks NYT! NOw explain why Kamala can’t wear anything except Hillary’s hand-me-downs. And please please have Ms. Haddad dumbsplain it to me just like this cringeworthy article.
I am constantly amazed by how vicious women are toward other women about clothing and body, usually as a cover for making some other point (like political disagreements). With men, fistfights might settle things, but I guess some women prefer the stiletto (in both senses of the word).
It's all about the 'personal brand.'
She is doing a good job at it.
Like George Will with bow ties...he's 'that guy.'
And not to be mean (because she is a good-looking woman), but from the recent photos from her bathroom adventures, it seems like she's been doing too much shopping at Häagen-Daza lately...
'Dazs.'
An awful lot of people in the public eye are exhibitionists. People cheer them on when they agree with them, but then turn viciously on them after disagreements begin. Sinema is definitely more than a little unbalanced, but she's right about the budget and she represents her state well, which is what politicians were supposed to do before moving in lockstep with the party became a requirement.
"With men, fistfights might settle things, but I guess some women prefer the stiletto (in both senses of the word)."
Elaine: (on boys giving wedgies, etc.) Boys are sick.
Jerry: What do girls do?
Elaine: We just tease someone 'til they develop an eating disorder.
To quote Jim Bouton… “table pussy”…
"Friedman is being awfully nice here, perhaps because it's dangerous to take shots at a woman's appearance these days."
Friedman is being awfully nice here, perhaps because it's dangerous to take shots at a liberal/leftist/democratical woman's appearance these days....and long before these days as well.
I was wrong about Sinema.
She has done a better job of outing the regime than McSally would have.
I don't live in Arizona so can't say much about her as a person or a politician. As a straight single male in her age group who shares some personal commonalities that would put us in the same dating pool I can say the Hanna Barbera dressing style is a mistake. I have the same hair color and skintone as Sinema and several girlfriends have educated me to stick with blues, greens, grays, and blacks and avoid orange, yellow, and red at all costs.
"Can something be speckled with zebra stripes?"
I'm contemplating the question by testing the notion of being striped with speckles?
Speckles seem to need to be more dot-like, and zebra stripes are less regimented than, say, the stripes on the American flag or a pinstripe suit, and yet, I don't think they are ever irregular enough to read as speckles.
Question whether you get more room to maneuver with "speckle" as a verb. This is giving me a flashback to the childhood art project that involved creating a image by putting an object on paper and dipping a toothbrush in paint, then using thumb to rain a spray of paint dots onto the paper.
Insulting her and threatening her is not working. Time to move on to complementing her wardrobe.
The OED ties the verb securely to the noun, and the noun is defined as "A speck, small spot or mark, esp. one occurring on the skin, body, etc.; a natural marking of this nature; a small patch or dot of colour."
Which makes you wonder why we have "speckle" when we have "speck." It seems that there were 2 different paths, one from Old English and the other from Dutch. A trip through Holland picked up that "L."
I love Sinema's clothes. They're not the clothes I'd pick for myself (different body type and personality), and I'd go a size larger because I don't feel comfortable in skin-tight clothes, but hers are stylish, colorful, and fun. Most women dress so drably these days. And you never see Sinema in a pantsuit, the bane of female Democratic politicians. Sinema has an excellent hourglass figure, and she shows it off well.
My theory is that she is a political survivalist. AZ likes their Mavericks, and after McCain died, she effectively stepped into his shoes. I don’t see Dems, except maybe for Sinema, winning in statewide races in the next several elections, because the Republicans and many of the moderates here know that the last election was massively stolen. We are talking right now over maybe 700k questionable ballots so far, with Biden winning with a 10k margin and Gabby Gifford’s husband by 20k. We (AZ Republicans) know what the Dems did last time and will be ready. Making things worse, the Dems have screwed the pooch here with the border. It’s easy to talk about open borders up in NYC, Boston, Chicago, etc. But this is Ground Zero. And one of the ethnic groups most opposed are 2nd-Nth generation Mexican immigrants. Good people. Well assimilated. They have nothing in common with the Haitians streaming in, and not that much with the illegals from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. A lot of bad people mixed in there, and everyone (here) knows it.
Sinema knows that her only route to political survival is to take on McCain’s maverick role. A lot of moderates here will give her slack in DC because of that. Good, she isn’t returning “Biden’s” phone calls. And you can see her coming a mile away. Part of her persona. The attempts by the left to other her (including attacking her fashion sense here), or to intimidate her, just make her more visible, and more likely to get re-elected. My guess is that she is having the time of her life right now.
Wow, incredibly apt lyrics!
"And she is despised by the squad"
The Great Speckled Bird.
What a beautiful thought I am thinking
Concerning a great speckled bird
Remember her name is recorded
On the pages of God's Holy Word.
With all the other birds are flocking 'round her
And she is despised by the squad
But the great speckled bird in the Bible
Is one with the great church of God.
All the other churches are against her
They envy her glory and fame
They hate her because she is chosen
And has not denied Jesus' name.
Desiring to lower her standard
They watch every move that she makes [in the toilet?]
They long to find fault with her teachings
But really they find no mistake.
She is spreading her wings for a journey
She's going to leave by and by
When the trumpet shall sound in the morning
She'll rise and go up in the sky.
In the presence of all her despisers
With a song never uttered before
She will rise and be gone in a moment
Till the great tribulation is o'er.
I am glad I have learned of her meekness
I am proud that my name is on her book
For I want to be one never fearing
The face of my Savior to look.
When He cometh descending from heaven
On the cloud that He writes in His Word
I'll be joyfully carried to meet Him
On the wings of that great speckled bird.
“I like her. I like her style, I like her character. She's a self-marketer. She's her own woman (seemingly) and I like that in a man or a woman. She knows who she is, makes no apologies, holds to her own convictions, does not clamor to be part of anyone's herd (again...seemingly). “
…
“It's hard to talk about Sen. Sinema without talking about how she dresses. It's her calling card and it's been carefully curated to be so. It brings your eyes to her and makes you remember her. To me...it works. At first I thought she was a curiosity. Now I see her as more substantive because of her consistency in her personal stands. She's not looking to bargain. She's got firm beliefs and she's sticking to them. She stands out as one of the handful of singular people in the Senate, and one to be taken seriously- zebra stripes and all.”
I sure don’t remember this of her, when she was the safe liberal Congresswoman from liberal Tucson, running for the Senate. Maybe a little, but it is easy for a woman to be flashier than McSally. I liked McSally, but blah. But now, Sinema has developed her brand - the most noticeable Senator out of all of them. Mostly identically dressed men, with a number of dully dressed women mixed in. When she is walking in a crowd of them, she is inevitably in the middle, and your eyes go first to her. That is power. The power of her brand.
Temujin put it best - or, anyhow, my way.
Achilles: "I was wrong about Sinema.
She has done a better job of outing the regime than McSally would have."
Sinema has just a bit of Tulsi Gabbard in her. Sinema's politics across the board are solid liberal but there is just a bit of Tulsi Gabbard in her and its clear that she is cleverly marketing herself as the new Arizona Maverick to keep those nominal republican/soft dem suburban chicks on board.
The squishy middle in AZ is, for her, a good strategy going forward.
McSally is the classic loser selected by the Washington Insider "brain trust". McSally should have just stayed in her House seat as She has zero capability of winning statewide office on her own.
I will give McSally credit for this though: she didn't surrender to CNN talking heads the way Milquetoast Romney did.
She looks way hotter when she rocks the old school (George Reeves) Clark Kent glasses.
I suppose it would be better if Sinema wore Mao clothes like Hillary.
Could be strategic bear bait for femdom.
She’s bold and her clothing choices back that up. I, frankly, love that’s she’s resisted simply falling into line with the Democrat female victim crowd. She’s standing up to insane pressure right and I presume it’s because she thinks it’s some combination of the right thing to do (I think it’s the right thing to do) and the right political move (no clue - it’s Arizona so maybe).
Tulsi Gabbard is also bold but in a different way. But together, these are the only two democrats that make sense to me. Manchin motivations are clearer to me as he’s taking the only viable option afforded to him by the voters of WV.
I frankly hope Sinema, Gabbard, and Manchin leave the democrat party to be independents. We need enough independents to swing house and senate control, restoring a middle ground to both chambers of congress.
She’s pretty hip for an old gen x lady, and has the figure to pull off the tight stuff. I see these around and they remind me of Sinema.
According to Roy Acuff, the great speckled bird was despised by the squad and so is the great speckled zebra.
Sometimes I get the feeling that what's driving articles like this is a deep abiding fear that the style of the person being criticized will become popular. Women like Vanessa Friedman would then be compelled to dress that way lest they be ostracized.
The Great Speckled Zebra
What's black and white and tight all over?
Now do ugly Rosa Delauro from Connecticut. Now there's a fashion plate that progressives can be proud of!!!
"Can something be speckled with zebra stripes?"
It could if Georges Seurat did it!
"speckle" vs "speck"
I always thought of the first as a verb and an adverb alone or modified by s or ed ("you should speckle this egg" and "this egg is speckled"), while the second is definitely a known noun ("you know, by adding a speck here and there"). This seems oddly related to my reading about the Greek iota early this morning, the smallest letter.
I do find it interesting that Ms. Sinema is getting all this attention versus crickets when it comes to that US Rep (?) from Texas whose outlandish cowboy hats always match her suits. And in her case we have 'spangles' rather than 'speckles'.
I have no beef with her style of dress - other than perhaps watching the hemline a little. When you get to a "certain age" some short hems can be too short.
I think the clothes she wears are awesome. I love the way she stands out.
This article is part of the effort to get her vote for the gigantic "Looting Bill". Of course, the writer is going to be nice. If she continues to oppose the bill and it never passes, then the topic of her style will be revisited in a savage fashion.
"De gustibus non est disputandum."
Coronas gyrari.
No question Synema fascinates. A brash, brassy babe with a ready smile, she knows well how to charm both her friends and foes.
But as the years and the pounds pile on, the act may lose its punch. Will she tone it down and still keep her edge? Can she move to a more modest "presence" and remain "dangerous"?
Maybe she can with substance over style. She seems to be a hard worker and a serious thinker, at least about politics. Maybe policy, too. If she keeps investing in these assets and navigates the style maze, she may collect good returns as the years roll by.
"Can something be speckled with zebra stripes?"
Sort of...
Cats’ Stripes and Spots Are Tracked to a Gene
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/science/the-gene-behind-cheetahs-spots-and-tabbies-stripes.html
One of Sinema's clothing items is a shocking pink sweater with "DANGEROUS CREATURE" written across the chest. That caused Mitt Romney to tell her she was "breaking the internet," and, we're told, she answered, "Good."
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wait my good man Romney was looking at what/where - did she add : my face is up here
cheetah or leopard as speckled
tiger / zebra as striped
------
let us go for gene-mod
“Clothes are fun, not a strategy.”
No clothes is more fun, AND a strategy!
The more she eschews the Pantsuited Pantload look pioneered by Clinton, the better she looks.
Hey if you've got it flaunt it---as every 22 year old hottie knows. And if you are an older woman who likes to dress for attention--why not?
But dressing for attention--as a personal brand--can be expensive.
Dolly Parton was on point when she said, "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap."
Being an adult means you can dress how you like without giving a rat's ass what other people think about it, and that includes political attacks. You don't like it? That's your problem, not hers.
I'm 70 and I wear shorts every day because it's comfortable and I don't care what anyone thinks about it. I'll put on a pair of pants for a meeting, but I think the last time I wore a suit and tie was for a funeral. Too many of those, I have to say.
Delivering the goods with skin-tight clothes, not socialist-wannabe legislation: Best of Both Worlds.
LA_Bob: "But as the years and the pounds pile on, the act may lose its punch. Will she tone it down and still keep her edge? Can she move to a more modest "presence" and remain "dangerous"?"
Time doth make wrecks of us all.
Ann,
Speckles seem to need to be more dot-like, and zebra stripes are less regimented than, say, the stripes on the American flag or a pinstripe suit, and yet, I don't think they are ever irregular enough to read as speckles.
Of course not. Speckles are discontinuous and stripes are continuous. There are intermediary cases; a leopard, for example, has spots that sometimes fuse into short stripes. But a leopard's spots aren't "speckles."
That said, you could have a zebra-striped dress whose white areas were punctured by black speckles. Which I think is what Friedman is talking about, if we're remembering the same dress.
And that said, why are we talking about her clothes? At all? Are we due for a complementary review of Joe Manchin's wardrobe?
Sinema's kind of hot and Ann's not; hence the criticality.
Paul J.
'But as the years and the pounds pile on, the act may lose its punch. Will she tone it down and still keep her edge? Can she move to a more modest "presence" and remain "dangerous"?'
She seems to be hitting the Cinnabon on the way out of the airport lately.
Not to worry. She will only be gaining square footage on which to 'advertise.'
The pink sweater clashes with the blue covid mask.
Paul J:
If you're talking about Althouse, she had the courtesy to post your comment, as insulting as it is.
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