OBAMA JOINS THE BUTTONED UP LOOK

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POLITICO - The last recorded sighting was in the subfreezing cornfields
of Iowa. It was there that Sen. Barack Obama lost his no-tie,
open-collar style - a trademark look celebrated by fashion critics. The
46-year-old Illinois senator, who long faced questions about the depth
of his experience, gradually shed his casual Friday attire for the
suit-and-tie look of a president as his poll numbers surged through
December.

His wardrobe went the way of buttoned-up Washington. . . Based on a
month-long search of images from such places as Iowa, New Hampshire,
Nevada and South Carolina, it appears the "Obama look" (dubbed so by The
Wall Street Journal) finally succumbed after a prolonged battle with the
pastel necktie. It was more than a year old.

Obama aides insist the demise of the tieless look was neither
premeditated nor calculated. . . David Axelrod, Obama's chief
strategist, didn't offer a simple answer. "We entered the more formal
part of the campaign," Axelrod explained. "For the events we were doing,
it seemed appropriate."

"There is nothing that isn't calculated," said Evangelia Souris, a
Boston image consultant. "Everything is strategy, especially with your
image, from the type of haircut to the type of shoes to the cut of the
suit. Don't let them fool you about that."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8272.html

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