HOME / xx factor xxtra: Women writing about politics, etc.

My Saks Shopping SpreeHow to spend $150,000 just like Sarah Palin.

By Nina Shen RastogiPosted Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008, at 7:53 PM ET

Read other views on Sarah Palin's wardrobe on XX Factor. Nina Shen Rastogi chatted online with readers about this article; read the transcript.

(Continued from page 1)

RSS

Coats and Bags

As I trekked up the floors of Saks' mammoth building, I confess I was starting to get exhausted. I hadn't even spent half of my fake clothing allowance, but I felt as though I was beginning to run out of things to buy. I considered ducking into the bridal section and just splurging on a really nice dress for Bristol. But that felt like cheating, so I soldiered on. A candidate needs to be prepared for all kinds of weather, so I turned my weary inner shopper to coats. Nothing too flashy, I reasoned. Maybe a couple that might relate to all those parkas I used to wear as governor of Alaska. Sure, the McCain campaign probably made me burn all my old clothes, or at least leave them at home, far far from the lower 48, but they wouldn't stop me from coming up with some tasteful reminder of home, would they? I picked up a Peter Som magenta coat with toggle buttons, a gunmetal quilted coat by Max Mara, and a long, sleek parka by Postcard. I hesitated over a long, black wool double-breasted coat by Burberry, worrying that the label would be too East Coast elite, but I figured I'd need something to wear to fancy fundraising dinners (or even the inaugural ball? A girl can dream), so I added it to the pile. At this point, I had to call in reinforcements because my deadline loomed. Sophie Gilbert, an intern in the Slate New York office, attacked the handbag department on my behalf and picked out two Yves Saint Laurent bags, a Longchamp purse, and two Judith Lieber clutches, enough to take even a purse-horse candidate from day to night. One of those clutches alone—a simple crocodile bag with an Austrian crystal trim—brought us $6,000 closer to our goal.

Total price tag for coats and bags: $18,889 with taxes

Jewelry

We have no idea whether Palin bought jewelry on her shopping sprees, but she definitely wears the stuff—and how! Check out the beaded earrings and the sparkly shout-out to her home state in this photo. Beads and baubles, Sophie and I decided, were going to bring us home. We were on the lookout for tasteful, classic pieces. Nothing too big, nothing too showy; stuff a politician could wear again and again without attracting too much attention. We started with big-ticket items: a Chopard diamond-studded crucifix for $11,830 and a string of South Sea and Tahitian pearls from Mikimoto for $25,000. We finished off with a pair of Faraone Mennella white-gold, diamond-studded hoops, a pair of rose-quartz-and-diamond earrings from David Yurman, and an elegant Cartier tank watch—or so we thought. Still about $10,000 short, we added a gold pearl ring from David Harris.

Total price tag for jewelry: $63,331 with taxes

Total for the whole Saks shopping spree: $149,924 with taxes

Here's what I learned at Saks, trying to mind meld with Sarah Palin: Blowing $150,000 in a department store in an afternoon is a lot harder than it sounds. Of course, if my vice-presidential fantasy extended to scooping up some gorgeous but totally campaign-inappropriate Alexander McQueen party dresses and Carolina Herrera ball gowns, that would be a different story. But unless she's squirreled a bunch of glam formal pieces back to Wasilla, you have to think that most of Palin's purchases were off-the-rack suits and accessories like the ones I picked out for her. And in that case, coming up with a hefty-enough spending total was a job for a woman far more dedicated to pantsuits and peep-toes than I.

On the other hand, when I got back to the office and looked over the virtual purchases I'd scribbled in my notebook, they seemed somehow puny. Especially when you consider that, by the time the election winds to an end, Palin will have spent nearly two and a half solid months in front of the camera, striving to look polished, professional, and ready to govern at a moment's notice. A couple dozen suits might seem like a lot to me. But when clothing is your armor of choice, as it seems to be for Sarah, can you ever really have enough?