Since Kathryn brought it up: Last night was the very first time I’ve thought Cindy McCain looked really good this season. All through the campaign she has favored very sharp-shouldered jackets, (an 80′s, Dynasty look), usually in hard and bright colors like tomato red. Her naturally thin frame doesn’t need, or benefit from either the hard shoulder or the wasp-waist it is constructed to suggest.
Her hair, in that that glaring shade of platinum (too bright for a woman her age — see the combination of highlights and lowlights that Hillary has settled on for current state of the art “natural” artificial blondeness at a certain age) is usually pulled back into so taut a bun that it stretches her skin a bit around the eyes and cheekbones. That suggests both stiffness and an affinity for discomfort. Because she is tall, thin, and has exceptionally angular features to begin with, the overall look has seemed quite brittle. Brittle is not inviting. (Though tall and thin are indisputably an asset.) Nor does it suggest the kind of empathy that we want to see in a First Lady. (For that empathetic look, Michele Obama’s rounded, hooded eyes, and softer features — which are also animated by intelligence — work wonders; Ann Romney’s softer features worked too, as do Laura Bush’s.) Indeed, and I say this knowing full well that Cindy McCain comes from money, and has done real work, that whole look is redolent of a lower-class secretary with good bones striving to mimic a version of WASP “class.” I get that this is, to some extent, a sunbelt aesthetic. But now she needs to appeal to mainstream women across the country.
Last night, by contrast, Cindy looked very good. The difference was in the cut of her suit. The jacket had a softened, more natural shoulder. That alone gave her body a more relaxed, comfortable-in-her-own-skin look. That, in turn, made her look more approachable. And, let’s be clear, it is not so easy to look comfortable when your major public job is to stand at your husband’s side, knowing when to mirror his expression, when to give a small smile of wifely pride, trying to anticipate and guide audience reaction. The lemon yellow color of her silk suit was also a big plus. The shade is elegant; neither too warm (like Hillary’s atrocious taxi-cab yellow suits of late) nor too cool. Furthermore, her hair was in a much looser, wavier bun, softening her features and making her look prettier and much less brittle. That is the direction to go.
Not that I’ve given this much thought…. (The sad things is, I haven’t. This stuff just glares at me while I am trying to pay attention to the substance….)