The Inappropriate Sarah Palin Outfit She'll Never Live Down
Former U.S. Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin scandalized viewers when she made a guest appearance on NewsNation in a black mini dress with over-the-knee leather boots. "Why is she wearing her lady of the night boots," wrote one YouTube commenter. "I have always defended Sarah; but I was horrified when I saw her Outfit!!!" wrote another YouTube commenter. "WRONG for the Occasion!!! Did she think she was going on a Blind Date???" This was the kind of inappropriate outfit at a political event that leaves viewers stunned.
From its plunging neckline to the shockingly short hemline, the look seemed more fitting for a night spent clubbing rather than a political dialogue on a national channel. Palin paired the ensemble with rimless glasses and updo, which are signatures of her folksy political style, but that clashed dramatically with the nightlife vibe of her clothes. As with the spicy outfits Lauren Boebert has worn to work, politics just isn't the place for a uber-short skirt. Finally, considering how sticky and hot those thigh-high leather boots look, it seems Palin has abandoned the foundational rules of her former stylist, Lisa A. Kline. After all, Kline once told NBC News that her most important fashion tip includes being comfortable: "Your clothing shouldn't detract from your concentration."
Sarah Palin knows how to make fashion political
Even in her political heyday, Sarah Palin was considered to be fashion-forward, and she liked to foreground her femininity. "She's taken her hair and manner of dress and created an image that works for the goal she's set, which is to appeal to women in Middle America," clothier Wilkes Bashford told SF Gate. "It's not a threatening look. They could imagine themselves with the same hairdo and mode of dress." At the time, plenty of women could see themselves in Palin's personal style; thousands of shoppers rushed to purchase her distinctive eye frames. Her look may not have been super cosmopolitan, but Palin's mode of dress was a calculated political strategy — and one that cost the campaign significantly.
In fact, the 2008 campaign spent approximately $150,000 on Palin's wardrobe, including pieces for her family, sparking controversy. Like the reactions to the many Ivanka Trump outfits that cost more than the average rent, the scandal undermined Palin's play for relatability. "The campaign advisers realized the kids, everybody, needed to be dressed," stylist Lisa A. Kline told The New York Times. "This was a family that was about to stand before the world, and they just came with their everyday-life clothes."