The NYT writer Vanessa Friedman interviews the stylist, who says:
For us, fashion is one more tool to speak about Ukrainians, designers and talent. It’s a light way to speak about much more serious things on big public occasions, when the first lady needs to use every detail to support her cause. During the normal week, she can’t leave her compound. She can’t go shopping. She can’t go from her house to her office. Even if she is on some business trip, it is just airport, hotel, meeting. Otherwise, it’s too dangerous....
Friedman opines that "The black and white dress Ms. Zelenska wore for the social dinner was pretty severe." The stylist argued that it was a "combination of refinement and femininity with strength all the women in Ukraine possess." There's a preference for "really calm clothes — nothing too colorful or playful or feminine." The stylist likes suits on the theory that "suits make us stronger. They are like a shield, and Ukrainian women are in a fight every day."
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36 comments:
What would Rula Lenska do?
So there is our answer: The Stylist of a First Lady of a Country at War provides an opportunity to spin up more bullsh*t.
Only the best for the wife of Volodymyr “I am actually America’s highest paid government employee” Zelensky.
""Why Does the First Lady of a Country at War Need a Stylist?""
Why does she need her own "Hail to the Chief" analogue?
"In 2022, Jill Biden raised her scepter to Salieri at the U.S. Marine Corps Band and demanded a bespoke, orchestral, semi-ruffles-and-flourishes walk-on tune worthy of a first lady. Something as catchy as, say, "Hail to the Chief.""
Did she make the Azov Brigade make a special song for her too? I wonder.
Total waste of US tax dollars.
NATO’s sole purpose is to protect Western Europe as it transitions to Islam in order to funnel money to Western politicians and their cronies.
Not a good look.
Solution: Fire the stylist. That will give Madame Zalenska a more stylish look.
Hail to the Thief.
Slow news day.
She wears her traditionally embroidered blouse while standing next to a bro who looks like he just came from a craft beer tasting seminar. Oh, that's Zelensky.
Her look proves that her husband’s war drag is just that: drag. They both are targets who have to live literally underground, yet she is able to craft fashion statements while he can only put on fatigues? Um, ok. Real soldiers know that when the commander’s creases are perfect, boots mirror-shined, beard meticulously groomed, etc, that he doesn’t spend much time in the mud.
Putin has real uniforms and decorations he earned in the KGB, but even he of the triple hat-trick against the Russian national hockey team knows that no one would buy it if he suddenly put them back on to go inspect the troops.
Zelenskyy would show more solidarity with his draftees by going for a Fetterman look that says hey, you people messed things up so bad that I had to come off the couch. All I want to do is go back there.
Only Winston has ever really pulled off the civilian-leader-in-military-garb look, because he actually earned his medals, and because like any good drag queen, he winked at the audience.
JSM
I assume that Eleanor Roosevelt and Clemmie Churchill had stylists. OTOH from Hitler’s home movies it looks as though Eva Braun did her own hair. So the moral of the story seems to be that if you want to win a war the president’s wife should have a hair stylist.
But why are Mr. and Mrs. Zelensky in town for a NATO meeting? Ukraine is not a NATO member.
American First Ladies, including Melania, used stylists during our Afghani conflicts against the Russians and the Taliban. Why should journalists question the act of Olena Zelenska in wartorn Ukraine where respect for leadership is important?
Original Mike said...
""Why Does the First Lady of a Country at War Need a Stylist?""
Why does she need her own "Hail to the Chief" analogue?
"In 2022, Jill Biden raised her scepter to Salieri at the U.S. Marine Corps Band and demanded a bespoke, orchestral, semi-ruffles-and-flourishes walk-on tune worthy of a first lady. Something as catchy as, say, "Hail to the Chief.""
***********
Were it not a certainty he would be stripped of rank and cashiered, I bet the Marine Band leader thought of using "Yakkity Sax" for that walk=on.
When Ukrainians start acting like the war is a crisis, then I'll believe it's a crisis. In the meantime, they're partying like it's 1999. The war is just a means to launder war aid into peoples' personal bank accounts.
Remember, perfectly normal human behavior becomes a mark of evil when performed by someone with whom you have a political disagreement.
The stylist likes suits on the theory that "suits make us stronger. They are like a shield, and Ukrainian women are in a fight every day."
Maybe he should work on that grifting husband of hers then.
she HAS TO spend the money on SOMETHING! (since she had to return the sportscar)
Chanel was said to pioneer crisp outfits that looked especially flattering against a backdrop of Nazi occupation. Perhaps some stylist can look for some muted shades that go well with bomb rubble.
Big Mike said... "But why are Mr. and Mrs. Zelensky in town for a NATO meeting? Ukraine is not a NATO member."
From the NYT article: "This time, surrounded by numerous other NATO spouses, Ms. Zelenska was again dressing with purpose."
"Other"?
So that's where some of those billions went.
That’s Dr. Zelensky to you.
Now I cannot get that F-Troop song out of my head.
The woman must be worth at least $100M or else her hubby isn't doing it right.
She can wear what she wants...
Well at least she's not Imelda Marcos with her 400 pairs of bespoke shoes or was flaunting a multi million dollar jewelry collection FFS. Assuming Madame Zelenska survives this war she can only start dressing in a style more pleasing to the fashionista scribe at the NYT after she has safely gone into exile first. There are protocols about this after all.
"The woman must be worth at least $100M or else her hubby isn't doing it right.
She can wear what she wants..."
Whatever she wears, I'm sure it will look stunning in front of the backdrop of their Tuscan or El Gounan villa.
The democrats should have a Make Ukraine Great Again day at their convention in Chicago.
Ukrainian women are in a fight every day.
Well, the Ukrainian men certainly are, and certainly some Ukrainian women have acquitted themselves well, but most of them who could flee have done so.
It's a pretty common meme these days to contrast a photo of a dead and mutilated Ukrainian soldier in a muddy trench with another photo of a very attractive Ukrainian woman in a bikini, enjoying a tropical drink on the deck of a rich man's yacht in Capri.
Not necessarily condemning them for doing so -- after all, one of my gripes about the so-called "refugee" crisis of recent years is to note the predominance of young males of military age, and ask where all the refugee women and children and old men are -- but it smacks a little too much of Hillary Clinton claiming women to be the "primary victims of war" because their menfolk are killed in battle.
Con artists extraordinaire, the both of them.
Slow news day
More like slow commenter day, snark is no substitute for substance. Why wouldn't the missus want to know how to dress for the meeting? Everyone at these meetings dresses up, the men too.
I'm more curious why Ukraine is having to conscript men over 18 to fight the war against Russia, because they don't have sufficient numbers of volunteers.
Chuck @5:35 PM is correct. It's just the NYT "doing it's thing" but on fashion pages this time. Madame Z. isn't some frumpy old babushka from the old Soviet Union days. Nowadays the trophy wives of the oligarchs, first ladies, royalty, & Hollywood types gotta look the part, or the whole Potempkin Village propaganda thing just collapses, right?
Oh please. If she'd show up like a shlump as her husband does, they'd be all over her for it.
Hassayamper (5:01pm):
I've never seen your "very common meme": if you're seeing it on the 'For you' side of Twitter, it's a reflection of the kind of tweets you like.
I do know that the number of Ukrainian women serving in combat units (all volunteers) is over 10,000, so your meme sounds like Russian propaganda.
Half the people on this thread:
I almost wish I sold time-shares or was a Nigerian scammer, because a lot of you are incredibly gullible when it comes to Russian propaganda. They don't even have to make competent PhotoShops: people are eager to believe. The evidence that Zelenskyy had bought a mansion in Florida, or a $4,800,000 Bugatti for his wife, was laughably inept: someone put it together in less than ten minutes, and two minutes was enough to show that it was false.
Of course, even after one such scam blows up, people will still believe the next one. "Just because the Florida mansion story turned out to be fake doesn't mean the Egyptian mansion story is fake!" It doesn't absolutely prove it's fake, but every proven fake makes the next sensational "Zelenskyy's a thief!" story even more implausible - like all the "Trump is a tyrant!" stories. Some of you seem to have a policy of "Fool me once, fool me twice, fool me thrice, no problem: eventually one of these stories will be true!"
Michael K (1:44pm):
No, that's not "where some of those billions went". Zelenskyy was one of the most popular actors for many years in a fairly large (though not rich) country, and he's also a lawyer, and he produced a lot of TV shows he didn't appear in. I've read that he's worth $20,000,000, all money made before he entered politics. Not much by Hollywood standards, but still a lot of money.
He can certainly afford to buy his wife nice clothes. And it's not like there are many other things to spend his money - and presidential salary - on: he's working long hours while dodging bombs and assassins, so evenings at the theater or nice restaurants or cocktail parties are few and far between. Like everyone else in Kyiv, they both spend a lot of time in bomb shelters. There is no reason to believe that a single penny of U.S. aid has ended up in Zelenskyy's pocket.
john mosby (10:56am):
Putin has real uniforms and medals - for his KGB work! Putin makes people sit at the far end of a 30-foot table when they meet with him, and hasn't been anywhere near the front lines. Zelenskyy has many times visited troops at the front lines within 2-3 miles of Russian troops. The idea that he's a gutless phony and Putin some kind of gutsy soldier is the reverse of the truth: utter bullshit.
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