On Friday I'm headed down to San Diego for Tiki Oasis 9, which bills itself as "the largest and longest running tiki event on planet Earth" to follow up on my article last fall about the resurging interest in Polynesian pop culture.
I've long appreciated the way the Obama campaign -- and later Obama administration -- has realized the importance and power of typefaces, symbols and logos (most recently in March, when I parsed the Recovery Act logo.
So my curiosity was piqued when one of the top Google searches popping up on my screen this afternoon had to do with Organizing for America's recent branding effort -- a round logo reminiscent of the campaign trail "O," partially filled with red and white stripes and topped with a caduceus, a herald's staff entwined with two snakes and topped with a pair of wings that is often used to symbolize the medical profession, though an argument rages as to whether it -- or the single-serpent, wingless "rod of Asclepius" is the more accurate mythological callback.
But that's not precisely the debate burning up the bandwidth today. Apparently some folks (including Rush Limbaugh) seem to feel the new insignia is reminiscent of some Nazi symbol or other.
That's a long way to go for a little in my book. It actually looks more like a "Golden Snitch" to me -- that's the winged, walnut-sized ball used in Quidditch -- the game Harry Potter and cohorts play on broomsticks in the J.K. Rowling book series.
And it actually makes more sense -- any young wizard will tell you the game isn't going to end until someone captures the Snitch.
Rush Limbaugh, rev up your Nimbus 3000 broom, posthaste!
-- Adam Tschorn
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Logo from Organizing for America
Our compatriots over in the Calendar section have posted the news that President Obama has made the grade -- style-wise anyway -- and has joined his wife (who has made the cut twice before) on Vanity Fair's 2009 International Best-Dressed List.
That should come as a bit of a shock to those who pilloried the POTUS for the so-called "dad jeans" he wore while throwing out the first pitch at the MLB All-Star game (even "Today's" Meredith Viera felt the need to ask the leader of the free world about his jeans).
During the campaign season, I noted that candidate Barack Obama was wearing what looked like high-waisted "dad jeans." Maybe that was a one-off fashion faux pas, a bad camera angle or he likes to just hike 'em up high, but Tuesday night when he took the pitcher's mound to throw out the first pitch of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in St. Louis, in addition to his beloved White Sox jacket the president was wearing what a Levi Strauss rep confirmed were Levi's Red Tab 501 jeans.
It's worth noting that his predecessor in the Oval Office was a die-hard Wrangler man, and wore that brand during his frequent brush-clearing excursions to the Crawford ranch.
Though I'm certainly not the first to note the shifting denim allegiance -- in an April 4 "Saturday Night Live" opening sketch (see below), Fred Armisen's Fauxbama rattled off an interminably long list of what companies and brands, under his administration, would be supported and which ones wouldn't: "Blue jeans-- Levi... YES. Wrangler... NO."
It underscores my observations about brand preferences as a reflection of the two different kinds of people in this world, the same way the Coke versus Pepsi and Mac versus PC debates do.
No matter, though. It's pretty clear that whatever side the leaders of the free world come down on, they still have to put those pants on one leg at a time.
-- Adam Tschorn
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Photo: President Obama throws out the first pitch of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game on Tuesday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Photo credit: Tim Sloan / AFP/Getty Images
As you may have heard, many women want a piece of First Lady Michelle Obama's wardrobe. Now Pitzer College alum Nancy Judd has found a way to create feminine looks from the street style of the Obamas' pre-White House days -- territory that was largely unmined until now.
So does a built-in "recycle and reuse" theme that would resonate with our 44th commander in chief. Muchnic says "the eye-popping dress" is a product of Judd's Recycle Runway company "that aims to transform waste into a valuable resource."
This ensemble, as well as other trash-to-treasure looks, is part of a one-day exhibition Saturday at Pitzer's Nichols Gallery in Claremont. Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
-- Whitney Friedlander
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Photo: Nancy Judd modeling the "Obama cocktail dress." Credit: Pitzer College
The folks who gave us the presidential candidate paper dolls last year released a new book last month titled "President Barack Obama and His Family Paper Dolls: The Inaugural Edition." And while he may be the commander in chief on paper, the star of these pages is Michelle Obama (and to a lesser extent Sasha and Malia, who were given scant attention in the earlier book).
Among the six outfits included (the girls share four looks, the president himself has six, most of which are variations on his Hart Schaffner Marx suits) are the J. Crew cardigan, Italian Deco tank top and sheath skirt outfit Mrs. O was wearing on her Oct. 27, 2008, appearance on "The Tonight Show," the black-on-red Thakoon number she wore to the Democratic National Convention acceptance speech, her Jason Wu-designed silk chiffon inaugural ball gown, and the sunshine-yellow, custom-made Isabel Toledo dress and Jimmy Choo shoes she wore to the inauguration.
But our favorite is "Plate 8": the red-and-black satin Narciso Rodriguez dress and Loree Rodkin diamond bangle bracelets and earrings she was wearing on election night in Chicago.
And maybe it's just us, but Mrs. Obama looks pretty good on paper.
-- Adam Tschorn
Photos: The Obama family in Chicago's Grant Park on November 4, 2008. Credit: Joe Raedle / Getty Images. At right, the paper doll version of Michelle Obama's outfit from the same night as depicted in "President Barack Obama Paper Dolls."
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After our cousin blog The Dish Rag posted the news that our commander in chief would be making a presidential pit stop on "The Tonight Show," we got to wondering how he might be dressed (yup, that's what we do over here at the Rage).
The Obamas have already been the recipients of more than their fair share of sartorial sniping since taking up residence in the White House, from her bare arms to his graying temples and everything in between. But few things have drawn more wardrobe wailing from the previous administration than President Obama's Oval Office business casual attire -- jettisoning the jacket, rolling up the sleeves and taking off the tie (even though photos of dressed-down Bush surfaced just a short time later).
So what's No. 44 going to wear on the NBC sound stage when he takes a seat on the couch? When he last appeared -- as candidate Obama -- he wore a white button-front dress shirt and navy blue suit. Will he -- and more important, should he -- do the same or does his new job mean he has to kick it up a notch and wear a necktie?
Or perhaps he should forgo the tie and the jacket -- and roll up his shirtsleeves like he did on the campaign trail when he was trying to get his message out to Johnny Lunch Bucket in the Rust Belt; a way of telling us he's hard at work on bailing out the U.S. economy.
The way I see it, anything short of those high-waisted Drew Peterson jeans are fine by us -- as long as he's keeping his eye on the ball.
What do you think?
-- Adam Tschorn
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Photo: Then-Sen. Barack Obama on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" on Oct. 17, 2007. Credit: Reed Saxon / Associated Press.
Sure, First Lady Michelle Obama's wardrobe is generating a lot of buzz -- what with the upcoming Vogue cover and all -- but those of us who keep tabs on men's style have been keeping a close eye on the president himself. I dutifully reported that the newly minted No. 44 would be wearing a Hart Schaffner Marx tuxedo to the inaugural balls, and that he buys that label's suits five or 10 at a clip.
NEW YORK -- Grace Jones, Chanel Iman, Alek Wek, Tyson Beckford and others walked the runway for Arise magazine's African Fashion Collective show on Friday night, featuring clothes by Tiffany Amber, Xuly.Bet, Stoned Cherrie and Momo, including this Obama dress.
--Booth Moore
Photo: Obama dress from African Fashion Colletive show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson
Looks like Michelle Obama isn't the only one with an eye on fashion.
Barack Obama is shaking things up by challenging the supremacy of the business suit in the one town in America where a suit still equals power. According to several reports, casual Friday style is becoming everyday style in the Obama White House, with the president encouraging staffers to take off their jackets, even in the Oval Office. (Lord knows they have enough work to do; they need to get comfortable and roll up their sleeves, even though that won't do much to help suit sales.)
In an interview with Matt Lauer on "Today," Obama broke with the suit-and-tie uniform again and wore a casual button-down shirt sans tie. It was a Sunday afternoon and Obama was hanging at home before the Super Bowl, but it was yet another indicator of the dawn of a more relaxed Washington wardrobe.
Besides reflecting Obama's easygoing nature, the casual approach to dressing sets him apart visually from the corrupt "suits," the CEOs and Wall Street opportunists that he's trying to bring down to earth.
Do you think Obama's casual style is appropriate for the White House?
-- Booth Moore
Photo: President Obama, sans jacket, meets with National Security Advisor James Jones, center, in the Oval Office last month. Credit: EPA / Pete Souza
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