Knit Picking with Robin Givhan

We tend to stay out of the political arena here at Haute Concept. But when others are talking about it we may lend an ear. This happened a few days ago with Robin Givhan, she of the sartorial beat for the Washington Post, not to be confused with the actress.

Robin Givhan handed a sartorial smackdown to John McCain for his dress method on the campaign trail. She specifically goes after his sweaters, which seem ill-suited on the senator.

“Sweaters — crew-necks and cardigans — have warm and kindly connotations. Public figures, male ones at any rate, use them to soften their public image or to appear more lovable or paternal. Dan Rather wore sweaters on the air during his anchorman days when he was trying to be cuddly. Jimmy Carter was a sweater man. Occasionally, Captain Kangaroo wore a cardigan.

“Privately, McCain very well may be sweet and fuzzy. But that is not the impression he gives in public. During a recent debate, his head looked as though it just might explode in anger during a brawl with Mitt Romney over waterboarding. Cranial eruptions and crew-neck sweaters don’t go together.

“McCain has a dress-shirt problem compounding the sweater conundrum. His collars always appear a smidge too small. They fit so snugly that they give the impression that his head is caught in a vise. Add the layer of a sweater and McCain looks as if he is engaged in a wrestling match with his attire.

[….] “There is an uncomfortable Peter Pan quality to McCain’s clothing, a sense that he hasn’t quite moved beyond the affectations — as well as the collar size — of his youth. Is there Winnie the Pooh embroidered on those sweaters? Is his name scribbled on the label in Magic Marker?”

Oh. Snap.

Picking Knits [Washington Post]