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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.

On Wednesday, we learned from Politico that the Republican National Committee had spent $150,000 on clothes and accessories to outfit Sarah Palin and her family. Whoa, I thought. Now that is a whole lot of flag pins. So, what kind of campaign duds would a cool 150 grand actually buy you? To find out, I headed over to Saks Fifth Avenue—one of several high-end department stores where Palin has shopped since John McCain tapped her as his running mate.

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Suits and separates

A raspberry collarless suit by St. JohnI've never had a job that required me to dress up. The last time I bought a suit, I think, I was getting ready for a high-school speech and debate tournament. So here was my chance to finally put together a fantasy grown-up wardrobe. If I were running for vice president, as Palin is, I figured I would need a lot of smart-looking separates to get me through the endless rounds of rallies, town-hall meetings, and photo ops. Flush with all my make-believe cash (no, Slate does not have a clothing expense account), I headed straight for the Saks section dedicated to Escada, the swanky brand favored by both Palin and Cindy McCain. There I found several campaign-appropriate blazers in the bright jewel tones Palin likes so much: I happily put a red one, a checked one, an orange one, and a purple one into my, sadly, still-imaginary shopping bag along with a few matching skirts. I fell in love with a kelly-green, two-button suede jacket. And then I looked at the price tag—$4,550, or about four months' rent for my tiny studio in Brooklyn, N.Y. But today I am Sarah Palin! I reminded myself. Think how nicely that bright color would show off my fresh, outdoorsy complexion. I added it to the list and then high-tailed it to another boutique, sensing that my grad-student-giveaway messenger bag and beat-up sneakers were starting to attract too much attention from the saleswomen.

Akris Punto fashionsI breezed through the racks of clothes by St. John, the knitwear line Angelina Jolie hawks. The saleswoman suggested I buy multiple black shells and skirts, which could be swapped out underneath an array of blazers. Good idea: Who has time to do laundry while zigzagging from Indiana to Pennsylvania to Colorado and back? I got a dozen plain, sleeveless tops and four black skirts for a total of $5,100. I added two jackets—one in a vivid red provocatively named "wildfire." Then I decided I needed some neutrals. I grabbed a navy wool crepe dress and matching jacket from Loro Piana ($4,965 for the set) before hitting the jackpot at Akris Punto, where I found a slew of well-cut jackets and skirts in sensible black and gray. When I told the saleswoman that I was fake-shopping as if I were Sarah Palin, she told me that the governor had once worn the salt-and-pepper fleece jacket I was currently eyeing. Success! Unbeknownst to the candidate, she and I were achieving some kind of long-distance Vulcan mind meld. Obviously, I needed to really stock up here. I bought seven more jackets, three crisp white blouses, two pairs of black pants, a dress, and another skirt.

Now I had enough outfits to take me through at least two weeks on the trail without doubling up on anything distinctive—surely it was time to go look at shoes? But no, when I tallied the bill so far, I was only at a measly $40,970. Somewhere, Palin was laughing at my pathetic spending strategy. I screwed up my courage, walked up to the floor where they kept the really fancy separates, and picked out two black Michael Kors pantsuits, a gray-flecked Carolina Herrera blazer, and two jackets from Akris, the high-end sister line to Akris Punto. The last two alone cost me a cool $7,000, though my untrained eye couldn't tell the difference between them and the lower-priced lovelies I'd already scooped up.

Total price tag for suits and separates: $56,000, or about $61,460 with taxes

Shoes

In the shoe department, I looked for things that said sexy librarian—namely, lots of Palin's beloved peep-toes. A good start: two pairs of Cole Haans (black suede and black patent—mrowr), two pairs of Christian Louboutin (a black peep-toe and a very sensible camel-colored square toe), and one pair of Jimmy Choos in gray and black. I added a classic pair of Ferragamo patent-leather bow-tie heels and a pair of Taryn Rose pumps, which are designed by a former podiatrist and therefore would help me through all that walking and standing and waving. I also picked up two pairs of high-heeled Gucci boots, in brown and black, with very subtle leather piping up the back. For the first time, I was genuinely sorry that all my spending money was pretend. But as much as I wanted to linger over shoes, there was no way I was going to meet my spending goal if I stayed in this department, even if I bought 15 pairs of Gucci's $1,125 knotted-leather tortoise-trim platforms. (Mavericks, certainly, but perhaps not in the way Sarah Palin would want.)

Total price tag for shoes: $6,244 with taxes

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?