See, this is where you just defied the right wing nutter stereotype. I like Ms. Rice. (Has anybody else noticed that she is dressing better and better these days? Right after she became Secretary of State, she showed up on This Week With Snuffalupagus in a pair of gorgeous, black leather,4" stiletto heeled, "elect me" boots. I don't know if the rest of you mere mortals get it, but that was a HUGE moment in political history. The girls just don't dress that way in Washington. Condi's gutsy. Me likey.)

See, that's where you're wrong, IMHO. We right rightly stereotyped right wing nutters are crazy about Condi.

Did you mean these boots? I think Rice has made a calculated gamble: knowing that in order to be president she'll have to shatter all kinds of stereotypes anyway, she's decided to ditch some stereotypes which probably won't help much anyway. Very gutsy, very cool. If she wins, what'll it mean for women's fashion in business in general? H+P, take it away...

Oh,good Lord, I have to stop shaking from pure joy. All hail queen Condi, I say. This is an incredible statement. Women effectively neuter themselves in corporate/ political environments typically. (Less true in creative environments, of course, BUT the higher you rise in the corridors of power, the duller the clothes you wear. Kid you not.) I NEVER expected Rice to take her June Cleaver hairdo, WASP-ish accent, concert pianist/Stanford provost background,foreign policy wonk status, and Bush's-second-wife-ishness and add crazy/sexy/cool to it.

For her to be confident enough to rise higher in fashion and feminity than any other powerful woman in the Western World is a profound statement of confidence and power. (Okay, maybe there have been exceptions in Spain and Italy- remember the porn starlet in the Italian parliment a while back? Of course, she wasn't really all that powerful.)
Rice doesn't do that cheesy, southern belle kind of simpering feminity that uses looks and sexuality to seduce people into doing what it wants. What Rice is saying with her clothing choices is that she doesn't have to ask anybody's permission, kowtow to anybody, or fear any reprisals for her sense of freedom and power as a woman, an intellectual, a citizen and a politician. What's poweful about what she's doing is that it's the truth about her, and frankly the truth about any woman who chooses to rise up to meet her destiny. She's bleeping gorgeous. Makes me wanna get up and dance.

Rave on...

...don't mind if I do! Back in the 90's, I think, Donna Karan designed a women's collection of beautiful pinstriped suits over black lace bustiers. She ran an ad campaign for that collection featuring her vision of the first woman president of the United States- heavy pearls and secret service as accessories, of course. Her vision feels prescient right about now...

If Condoleeza Rice becomes President, or even just factors heavily in the run up to the nomination, she will leave most American and many European designers rolling in her wake. A designer's job is to profoundly free up their creativity while tuning in precisely to the zeitgeist and watching the bottom line. (It's a weird profession...)

Anyhoo, you will see versions of Rice's style- refined, classic but very, very sexy. This is not a flibbertigibbet, Hollywood, "I'm a dirty, dirty girl" in semi-demure couture, kind of sexy, but very real, powerful and womanly.

To break that down: strong, solid colors (mid-range to dark with light exceptions for formal occasions/ church.) Luxurious fabrications. Simple trims. Elegant and unfussy details. Genius tailoring that understands a woman's body. Simple, perfect, sexy shoes. And a take-no-prisoners gaze.

Je do wonder if she will update her hair/ makeup and jewelry... She may be doing a slow morph so as not to give too great a shock to the planet's system. I'm watching these three things, I guess.

Did I mention that I'm a fan?

(Delirious me- forgot- yes, THOSE boots.)

Also, I'm betting she'll rock the darker colors for a good while. Sleek, strong and VERY authoritative presence that way.

(Wow, love makes me a nerd, doesn't it? Fashion, je t'aime.)

lol, I'm really diggin' the funky fusion of fashion and politics. The last time I can remember anything so hip in politics was...hmmm...I can't remember anything this hip.

I can't believe she ruled it out this morning! Me and my broken heart...

Maybe, however, we have to try to crown Caesar three times. Is there such thing as political stalking? I swear, I am gonna start a letter writing campaign to Bush to ask him to talk her into it.

Mike Pence for 2008!!!! Spread the word!

Mike Pence...I can so totally dig that.

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