They say that in politics, it"s women who win elections. In the past, pundits were referring to female voters. Now it"s the leaders" wives who have real pulling power - not through what they say (heaven forbid) but what they wear.
Forget the designers at London Fashion Week this week: all eyes are currently on the Style War being launched before our eyes between Sarah Brown and Samantha Cameron. Every day, we"re treated to another picture that paints a thousand words - about their husbands.
Last Thursday, the opening salvos were fired. Sarah was pictured hugging her new best friend Naomi Campbell at a Haiti charity event wearing a frock from Issa (Kate Middleton"s favourite label) that cost around 350.
On Friday, Sarah opened London Fashion Week in an Erdem dress that sells for around 1,300. Hey presto, on Monday, Samantha Cameron was to be found in the front row at the Erdem show wearing, er, a 665 Erdem number.
Yesterday, at British Burberry, Sam was frontrow wearing a Stella McCartney jacket (British, young, and daughter of Fab Four god), Diesel jeans and LK Bennett shoes (British again). Get the message, voters? Crikey, Sarah will have to come out naked draped in the Union flag to top that!
But this fashion ding-dong is not about fashion. This is aboutfashioning public opinion, about manipulating Joe and Josephine Bloggs"views of the leaders" wives - and through them of their husbands.
With both Gordon Brown and David Cameron still in with a chance of victory at the General Election, and Dave"s poll lead slimmer than a Size Zero model, never have the wives mattered more.
That"s why the hitherto shy Sarah Brown sometimes seems like she is never off the TV, the catwalk or the charity circuit. It appears every moment is devoted to the man she calls "my husband, my hero", and their bid to keep him.
Samantha Cameron, undeniably the more naturally stylish of the two women, is playing a more cautious game - for the time being. But the moment the election is called, these women will each become an integral part of Team Gordon and Team Dave.
Make no mistake, as Michelle Obama proved when she campaigned immaculately, exuberantly and stylishly beside her sometimes aloof husband, the right political wife is electoral gold dust in the modern, image-driven world of power.
In some ways, it"s an unfair comparison. At 38, Sam is eight yearsyounger than Sarah but looks more than a decade her junior. She"snaturally slim and perfectly poised, without a hint of artifice. Andshe has that glossy hair you know she just wakes up with. That womannever has a bad hair day.
And speaking of hair, Sarah"sfriends put it about that she pays just 33 to have her hair cut.Where? In Kosovo? Her hair now looks as though it"s come straight froma top-end salon.
Sam has her hair coloured at celebrity colourist Louise Galvin, where half a head of highlights can cost up to 200.
More...London Fashion Week: Burberry makes history with world"s first star-studded catwalk streamed live in 3D Princess Beatrice lends royal polish to London Fashion Week as Alice Dellal treads the catwalk at Issa show
Poor Sarah, you might think - competing against Mrs Cameron in the style stakes is a tough task. But voters like Sarah because she has to make an effort. In that respect, she"s more like the rest of us. And, ironically, the more fashion faux pas she makes, the more women connect with her.
WhileSam can take a pair of cheap-as-chips 29.95 shoes from Zara and, withthose legs, make them look like Louboutins, Sarah, unfortunately, hasthe ability to make even a pair of 450 Jimmy Choos look like Camilla"sLK Bennett rejects circa 1987.
And while Sam accessorises like the designer she is (she works forupmarket stationer Smythson), Sarah sometimes manages to put the wrongnecklace on the wrong frock.
While Sarah was in head-to-knee Erdem print last Friday looking asthought-through as the mother of the bride, with matronly mid-heelshoes, Sam turned up for his show with a trademark 300 Erdem blouseunder a navy jacket - as colourful and refreshing as a Pimms on a hotsummer"s day.
Oh it"s all just fashion, you might think, but the way these women look is not trivial at all. It"s crucial.
Whilebehind closed doors Gordon Brown and David Cameron are now plottingtheir battle plan with their most trusted inner circle, each wife willhave her own dedicated team drawing up their own campaign strategy.
It"s no accident that Sarah appeared beside Kate Moss and NaomiCampbell at Fashion Week last week. She wants to connect with youngvoters, and Cocaine Kate and Naughty Naomi are, sadly, role models formany young women.
Right now, both Samantha and Sarah willbe choosing the events they should attend in the lead-up to theelection, the charities they will support, the interviews they willgive. And then there are the frocks - dozens of them, up to fourchanges a day: a political minefield worthy of Prime Minister"sQuestions.
TODAY"S POLLWho is winning the style wars in this election battle?
Sarah Brown Samantha Cameron VOTE
POLL RESULTS Close All polls Click to view yesterday"s poll results Their choice of clothes can say so many things. Wearing a Britishdesigner says they"re patriotic; patronising a young designer likeErdem that they"re supporting youth; an expensive handbag signalsprofligacy; a high street range that they"re just like you and me.
You only have to look at pictures of Sarah over the past few monthsto see how seriously she"s taking things. She"s been transformed fromfrump to fox. She"s lost loads of weight, and she has ankles again.
Asa size 14-16 (average British woman), Sarah opts for classic suits andtailored dresses, prefers plain and simple designs, and likes to appearfrugal. She comes across as mostly mumsy, with moments of glamour.
Everythingshe does and wears has a political message. She hired her outfits forthe G20 summit - a way of saying: "I can"t afford all this. I"m likethe rest of you, I"m economising."
One of the brands sheprefers is Britt Lintner, a professional woman who started designingclothes after realising there was nothing for working women to wear.Nice PC message.
The frocks are under 500, which sounds a lot to the average economising mum, but is positively modest for our First Lady.
She"s also a big fan of the Scottish designer Graeme Black, who has become something of a style adviser to her. His clothes cost thousands - so Sarah rents them.
The Britt Lintner knee-length navy dress she wore to welcome the Obamas to Number 10 on April 1 was a classic - sophisticated and understated. What"s more, she held her own up against the eye-wateringly well-groomed First Lady.
The green chiffon 1,250 Catherine Deane dress Sarah wore in November to the Cosmopolitan Style awards was daring and chic; a triumph. She always wears clothes that real women - the voters - can imagine themselves wearing: modest, calm and warm.
The size 10 Samantha, meanwhile, has that Michelle Obama gift ofblending High Street with high end. She doesn"t tend to favour Britishdesigners but, predictably, given her husband, is pro green products.
Andshe"s just very, very cool. Not overly polished and pristine likeMichelle Obama; not plain and simple like Sarah; not a slave to labelslike Carla Bruni.
Like any busy mum - yes, here"s thepolitical message - Sam is down-to-earth and low maintenance. Herfavourite High Street brands are Reiss, Topshop, Zara, Marks &Spencer and Jigsaw; her favourite high-end designersare the AmericanPhillip Lim, Smythson bags and Erdem.
Her 400 Phillip Limemerald green shift dress at the 2008 Tory Party Conference waseffortless chic. The 29.95 Zara heels worn almost every day at the2009 Tory Party conference were a triumph for Everywoman.
Andthe 65 Marks & Spencer polka-dot grey dress worn to the conferencelast year for her husband"s speech was a masterstroke of elegantunderstatement and recession chic (no matter how many strings she hadto pull to find it).
Sam doesn"t do the grandstanding Sarah spends most of her life now doing. Like most Tory wives, she stands beside her man - but she lets him get on with the job.
With her constant appearances beside C-List celebrities and fashionistas, Sarah is attempting to broaden Gordon"s appeal; but she is possibly in danger of becoming over-exposed, and also becoming that thing the British public do not like - the centre-stage political wife.
Cherie Blair"s love of the limelight worked against her husband in the end, as did Glenys Kinnock"s. This is not America. Brits elect politicians, not their spouses; and in that sense Sam Cam gets it right every time. She"s strong but not strident, supportive but not centre stage.
Who knows who will be the victor in this intriguing battle between two highly intelligent and politically savvy wives. But know this: in the Sarah v Sam Style Wars, every outfit is a potential vote winner - or loser. There"s a lot riding on the (padded) shoulders of this attractive pair.
No comments:
Post a Comment