Spanish prime minister's daughters in 'Goth girl' controversy

 

In one of the sillier Internet controversies, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero visited New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art last Wednesday with his wife and two daughters and posed for a photo with President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. The ensuing controversy is not so much over the photograph of the teenage girls posted on the White House Flickr page (Spanish law allows the prime minister to request the images not be published) but that Zapatero’s daughters, Laura, 16, and Alba, 13, are wearing Goth-inspired black dresses, heavy eyeliner and chunky boots not unlike many rebellious teens. And now blogs have had a go at the family via Photoshop morphing the teenagers into members of the Addams Family and the ghouls from "Scream."

-- Max Padilla

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Credit: The White House

Style appreciation: Ted Kennedy, the patron saint of little brothers

For his entire life, Sen. Edward Moore Kennedy, who passed away Tuesday night at age 77, was defined by his birth order. Even in the last years of his life, the youngest brother carried -- and then paid forward -- the legacy of the brothers who predeceased him.

The story that sticks with me the most was repeated on the morning news cycle today; how, at age 14, at an event honoring John F. Kennedy, the then-14 Teddy stood and asked to remember the brother who wasn't there: the eldest, Joseph Kennedy Jr. who had died in WWII.

Few would use the words "Ted Kennedy" and "stylish" in the same sentence -- especially when compared with JFK, often cited as one of the more stylish occupants of the Oval Office, who has a commemorative Omega watch and Brooks Brothers' suit silhouette (the Fitzgerald) among his fashion bona fides.

Celebrate the 'aloha administration' at Tiki Oasis in San Diego

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.

Obama's new healthcare logo causes a Web frenzy

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

Revenge of the 'dad jeans' -- president joins wife on Vanity Fair best-dressed list

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).

Sonia Sotomayor's Fendi connection

It's tough being a Supreme Court nominee. Everything you've said about everything suddenly comes under scrutiny.

Sonia Sotomayor has been grilled on gun ownership, property rights, abortion and integration. To say nothing of the "wise Latina" remark. And those rotten media types pick on your family too! Sotomayor's twin nephews were photographed, well, it might be interpreted that they were dozing during the first day of her confirmation hearing. (At least Al Franken,  make that Sen. Al Franken, thinks her nomination is "pretty cool." )

We want to know why no one has grilled her on her connection with Fendi, the purveyor of luxury leather goods, accessories and clothing. (In case you missed it, the Washington Post reports that Serena Williams, relatively fresh from her Wimbledon triumph, recently purchased Fendi shoes and pearls at a Chevy Chase Bloomingdale's.)

Politics of style: Obama cocktail dress

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.

"[The Obama cocktail dress is] a slinky, body-hugging number crafted from the president's campaign posters," reports Suzanne Muchnic in The Times' Culture Monster blog. "As the 'fabric' winds around the body, from above the knee to below the armpits, white letters form a crisp graphic pattern on a black background and the name 'Obama' pops up over and over."

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

New Blagojevich shampoo -- for bouncin' and misbehavin' hair?

We knew it was only a matter of time. Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's horrid helmet of hair has apparently inspired a line of shampoos and conditioners, reports our sister paper the Chicago Tribune.

The brainchild of Dennis Fath, owner of Elk Grove Village, Ill., Delta Laboratories Inc., the Blago shampoo and conditioners come packaged in black and gold bottles that have a vaguely malt liquor/energy drink look about them.

According to the website, the shampoo contains silk protein, keratin and panthenol to strengthen hair and add body and shine as well as vitamin E, and a host of extracts, including green tea, rosemary, comfrey and orchid (for their "anti-oxidant and stimulating qualities").

The end result is described as "a beautiful golden hue," a reference, like the name, to a particularly notable naughtiness he allegedly uttered on a wiretapped conversation.

Hollywood celebs had nothing on these African First ladies

With the ascendancy of First Lady Michelle Obama, who has a higher approval rating than President Barack Obama these days and is well on her way to becoming a style icon for the ages, it’s no wonder other first spouses are dressing up and stepping into the spotlight. Fifteen first ladies from different African nations visited the Skirball Cultural Center in L.A. this week for a health summit.

Michelle Obama gets all dolled up in newest 'flatwear' collection

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

"President Barack Obama and His Family Paper Dolls: The Inaugural Edition," by Tom Tierney (Dover Publications April, 2009).

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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