Sarah Palin shops resale in real life

Sarah Palin's $150,000 campaign wardrobe has been dominating the news the last two days, but off the campaign trail, it seems the folksy politico isn't a Neiman's shopper -- she regularly peruses the racks at designer resale store Out of the Closet in Anchorage (ironic, considering her stance on gay marriage).

Wearing discounted Valentino and Versace still doesn't put Palin in the financial realm of an "everyday American," but it's a step down from the spanking-new designer threads she's been sporting on the trail.

Retailer Christos Garkinos recently hosted the owners of the Alaskan store at Decadestwo, the designer resale store he co-owns with Cameron Silver in Los Angeles. "I was saying that Alaska's been in the news a lot, and they said that Palin shops at their store all the time," he said. The Out of the Closet owners ended up "buying a ton of stuff," but the L.A. retailer -- a staunch Sen. Barack Obama supporter who recently married his longtime partner -- said he was so skeeved out at the thought of Palin wearing clothes bought from his store, he donated 100% of the sales to the Obama campaign.

A salesperson at Out of the Closet in Anchorage (no connection to the charitable thrift store chain of the same name) confirmed that Palin is a regular customer, but declined to discuss her sartorial predilections. I'm guessing skirt suits.

-- Emili Vesilind

Photo: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

Comments

[GEAH]

So, it's your claim that you have to support gay marriage to shop at Out of the Closet? Do you have to be Christian to shop at The Salvation Army?

What a small little world you seem to inhabit.

[Harold]

The uproar about the extravagance clothes for the trophy female candidate for the Republican party shows once more the absolute contempt this party has for the American people.
They must have a very shallow view that "clothes makes the man/woman/candidate" and expect everyone to ignore their destructive policies for the past 8 years.
The desire to touch the common people, old Joe six pack alias Joe the unlicensed plumber etc and so on is as big a bluff as ever. Thousand dollar dresses do not reach out to 95% of the American people who will see through this facade.

[Joe the Plumber]

She claims to be frugal when it comes to her own money, but wastes it like an Eskimo with a bottle when it comes to taxpayers' money. Somebody please vote for this woman. She's acting like Dick Cheney.

[Steve]

Rather then shopping and campaigning, isn't more important this self absorbed ego be home with her 5 kids she gave birth to for now, one who has special needs and a teenage daughter who is pregnant. I do not get it, what happen to Focus on the Family. Again, what a crock and a pack of hipocrits.

[TooMuchTravel]

Nice save. Not believable, either. Sorry.

Sure: The ex-beauty queen and Gov of Alaska shops at resale shops. This after $150,000 was spent on a wardrobe for her. That's 100 days of new wardrobes that consist of $1500 each, with nothing duplicated among the days.

Just how much do you expect us to swallow??

[Glynn]

Who cares. Does anyone actually think Michelle Obama has not been clothed by the campaign. He is spending, what, 269,000 a minute or some such and this is all we are worrying about. And why the hell blame Palin? I have contributed lots to the RNC and I consider this money well spent. How about worrying about how Barney Frank, Maxine Waters, et al, just saddled the real middle class with billions and billions of dollars on bail out and now he wants more money for food stamps and welfare. Oh, gee, no, let's not worry about that. Let's worry about $150,000 on Palin's wardrobe. Hey libs, the sky is falling...no really, it really is falling and you are too busy worrying about someone's clothing. Grow up.

[Glynn]

Hey, Joe the Plumber up there, don't use his name. You are nothing like him.

[john]

Where is the story about Jolted Joe's Botox & hairplugs? I'll bet they cost just as much as the clothes Palin will soon donate to charity.

[john]

"taxpayers' money" for her clothes? Joe, since you're so clueless, I know you're voting for Obama.

[Angela]

Ex GOP now voting third party person here.

To me, this is typical recent GOP behavior. She's frugal with her money, not so much with other peoples.

Sorry Sarah, I had hoped you were a conservative but the neocons seem to have landed you.

[sigh]

Watch Jeri Thompson destroy Alan Colmes when he starts yapping about the clothes meme.

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/10/24/video-jeri-thompson-nukes-colmes-defends-palins-wardrobe-expenses/

[Doodad Pro]

"(ironic, considering her stance on gay marriage)."

Note to the author:

Obama's opposed to gay marriage, too.

[EdwinG]

Sarah will always remain as Sarah, even she wears Christian Dior or Versache used clothings or brand new compliments of the Republican Party. Will u see her in red carpet ceremonies of Emmy Awards now that she is a celebrity at the SNL shows? No way, she will stay as the folksy Barracuda from Wasila as she loves to refer herself or the rottweiler with a lipstick that spews racism, terrorism and socialism (words that she doesn't understand b/c she was absent when they were taken up in College). No finesse at all to become a socialite but an accomplished the usual and customary dirty politician who would appoint her relatives, political donors, high school classmates in the high office state jobs in Alaska.

[Lisa]

You guys who care about how much is spent on clothes for Gov. Palin, should get a grip and look at the wastefull lifestyle of the Hollywood crowd...
Barack Obama's house has how many rooms? How much space do 4 people need? How much is his heating bill? He has is own plumber, WOW, I don't have my own plumber!

McCain/Palin 08

[Ridge Runner]

Thanks for this post. It has drawn an amazing sample of Palin Derangement Syndrome victims!

If B.O. had as much experience as Sarahcuda, he would be qualified to run for Vice President too. As it is, it figures that The One would pick a moron like Biden for his running mate. Face it, class B managers who cruise on their charisma are fearful of being out-shined by subordinates, so naturally they pick class C subordinates. The fact that the electorate seems to be poised to pick the class B candidate only goes to prove Mencken's definition of democracy.

[Common Sense]

She didn't shop for the clothing you freaking idiots. I hate the way you punks in the media distort things to make her look bad.

She was presented with the clothing at the night of convention.. She had no input when it came to buying the clothing because the freaking governor was on a plane to Ohio. She was given clothing to wear and she took it... I frankly don't understand what's the problem here..

Geez, I am done... I can't take this anymore....Let Obama win... Just stop trying to pretend that objective journalism is still alive. You guys make me sick..

[Alan]

Isn't there something more important the LA Times should be working on? Isn't there a war going on in Iraq? Haven't seen nearly as much about that as I've seen about a candidate's wardrobe.

[Immolate]

The money for Palin's new duds did not cost the taxpayer a thing. They were purchased by the RNC and belong to them. Palin doesn't get to keep them. The RNC will no-doubt auction the garments off after the election and I would be surprised if they can't at least recoup their investment, given Palin's rock-star status among a large swath of the electorate.

I would be surprised if Palin's normal wardrobe were not significantly better than the average Josephine's. She is the Governor of Alaska, with a much higher profile and somewhat higher paycheck than most folks. But even with that considered, there is no way she would have a wardrobe that is sufficient for an intense, national presidential campaign. Who does?

I think the reason that the huge amount of money spent on her VP duds is interesting is because we identify with her as a normal person. Nobody is interested in how much Obama, Biden or McCain spend on their campaign wardrobe, although the amount is probably significant. I haven't seen Obama appearing anywhere in off-the-rack suits from Walmart. But hey, those guys are part of the inside-the-beltway elite, and would only make news if they wore something that didn't look tailored and expensive.

So we judge Sarah Palin by a completely different scale than we use for the guys in the same race. Not surprising, but also not fair. She isn't campaigning in rural America alone, and even us hicks from flyover country expect to see our leaders dressed professionally and smartly.

[Emily Bennett]

Super silly tie-in to gay marriage...anything to slam her. Gosh, it's just so shallow.

But surely you all must have seen her public statements about this. Most of the clothes are still on the plane and as yet, have not even been worn. She does not own them. She did not purchase them herself, they were bought for her by aides. All the clothes will be donated to charity once the campaign is over. What on earth else is there to say?

Mrs. O and her children wear designer threads and use a stylist. Who is paying for all that? Who dresses Mr. O? Where do his suits come from? Who pays for his campaign trail wardrobe and grooming? Surely there is a reporter brave enough to research this??

What about the 5M Greek stage for the 45min acceptance speech?? Sounds like an incredible waste to me...and not exactly something you can donate to charity, eh?!

[J]

You people attacking Palin are simple tools. She did not know the price of the clothes that were provided and they are goiing to charity later. I see more of the sexism telling her to stay home.

I noticed an attack on Joe the Plumber RATHER than OBAMA who wants to spread the wealth.

So many IDIOTS...no wonder the dems lead. It would be interesting if you were actually educated.

[JimAK]

Sarah Palin has repeatedly denied getting the mythical $150,000 in clothes. Maybe the RNC spent that money but it went to someone else, it did not go to her.

[Vern]

Well, the last gasp of the Bush debacle may be how they have ruined this great everyday American. First the keep her away from the press, turning the worst interview she has done in the main view Americans have of her. Now this. It turns out Bush handlers did all the shopping and just handed her the clothes. She had no idea they had racked up such extravagance.

Expect to see an entire wardrobe on EBay this November, with proceeds to go to Downs Syndrome research or something like that.

She's already starting to go rogue. It won't be in time for 08, but before all you haters write her off, look at how much Hillary turned it around. Go Sarah Go!!

[JP]

You people are a joke!!!!

I can not believe that everyone can be outraged about something as ridiculous as this. However, Obama can give $800K to Acorn and spend Millions on stage sets and no one blinks an eye.

Please! Please! People of America put whatever you are drinking/smoking down and WAKE UP! Stop acting like sheep and start THINKING!!!!!

I can not believe how many people in America are just plain DUMB!!!

[Anne W.]

"She didn't shop for the clothing you freaking idiots. I hate the way you punks in the media distort things to make her look bad."

You're telling me she didn't know? She acquired $150,000 worth of clothing WITHOUT TRYING ANY OF IT ON?

I don't know a woman in the world who would believe that. Women's clothing pretty much has to be tried on. Many things that are the right size aren't comfortable on a particular body because of the cut. Not to mention that some things just don't look as good in the dressing room as they did on the rack. A particular color may be unflattering, even though it's a nice color.

Sarah Palin's clothing is very flattering and it fits her perfectly. I just don't believe it was selected blind for her by someone else.

But even it was, what about "Thanks, but no thanks"?

And what about the charges for her makeup and hair? Does someone just come and do that while she's asleep?

[Tom]

Palin didn't buy the 150k of clothes. It belongs to the RNC.

It will be auctioned off at the end of the campaign and will make a million bucks easy.

Anybody who knows Palin, knows that she and Todd are frugal.

The travel costs of the governorship in Alaska is running roughly at 20-25% of the cost under Murkowski.

The woman is a fiscal conservative not only with the state spending but with personal spending.

But, the facts don't come out during the campaign because journalism is dead in this country.