Robin Givhan, in the Daily Beast, reviews early fashion nuances of the 2012 presidential race, noting that the requisite suit-and-tie have all but been vanquished to the closet.
In the pursuit of the presidency, as candidates make use of every form of communication — including style and its nuanced inflections — the earnest rolling of sleeves and strategic mussing of hair has begun. Stick on the flag pins; buy red ties by the gross; stock up on grandpa polos! The Iowa straw poll is just around the bend.
And yet, just when certain costumes are assured — business suits and serious ties, for instance — along come a couple of prominent Republican candidates with something new to say: Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann. Each reflects an evolution of the political species.
Frontrunner Romney, typically polished to a sheen and awkwardly formal, appears to have misplaced all his ties. Even as he confabs with businessmen who have gussied up in a suit and tie for the occasion, Romney sticks to an open-collar aesthetic.
Read Robin Givhan's entire story at the Daily Beast.