44 Comments

To paraphrase another dapper man, "How Old Joe Biden? Old Joe Biden fine. How you?" Which, tbh, he kinda said to that reporter asking about abortion today!

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Melania’s sharp features make her look hard and unapproachable like shards of glass. Any designer who wanted to “dress her” would have been burdened by that look as his brand. No thank you.

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Who can forget Melon's other bold fashion statements? Her wet T-shirt choice at some red neck jamboree on July 4th, and wearing a pith helmet on her trip to Africa, are just a couple of her vulgar, inappropriate attempts to impress, which no competent stylist would have let her be seen in.

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“ You’re the human version of a polyester blend.”

Hilarious!!

Also, I wondered why Miller was talking about how great Trump looked. Of course it was in response to the media praising Biden, and he can’t stand anyone getting any of the attention unless it’s him.

What a pathetic, sad, shallow, small orange man

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I really enjoyed this essay. It's interesting that Miller doesn't respond by ridiculing the fashion plate sensibility, but by asserting that Trump shares it.

I was a teenager in '74, and even so the level of cringe and misogyny in that article is shocking, although seeing that it was written by Kitty Kelley makes a lot of sense.

Regarding the Gatsby reference - it's difficult to overstate the effect the film had on American culture. Yes, it was terrible and the critics hated it, but everyone saw it and its aesthetic hit '70s American consumers HARD. After a decade of brown everything, punctuated with harvest gold (brown-gold) and "avocado" green (brown-green) American designers, editors, and tastemakers were eager to embrace the crisp, light pallet of Gatsby's airborne silk shirts. In a college production design class, I remember my professor said that after Gatsby, manufacturers started selling white refrigerators again.

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Thanks!

Yeah, I discovered the movie much later and never realized its impact on pop culture/fashion of the period.

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The clothes Gatsby wore were gorgeous, and a perfect metaphor for his attempts to camouflage everything about his past.

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First of all, Heimie’s is an excellent place to shop for clothes that fit and look good while you’re staying across the street at the gorgeous St. Paul Hotel and, if you’ve lived in the Midwest as long as I have, you know both things are exceedingly rare north of Chicago. Second, when is Taylor Swift going to dedicate Biden’s version of “We Never Go Out of Style” to old handsome Joe?

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Miller must be watching Hitler tapes because his speech cadence sounds very third reich, and also demented.

Not sure I’d take fashion tips from this little weasel. He reminds me of a line from Evita: didn’t say much but said it loud.

Also I always think of Randall from Monsters Inc when I see this guy.

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Perfect description of that creep, Eva!

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Biden really is a good-looking guy and yeah his suits fit.

I bet he could pull off a pink suit ala Gatsby.

Love the way Herr Miller's little forced meme is going to work its way through the rightwing media human centipede though. Because yeah, President Klan Robe wearing a tie all the way down to his groin is sure "fashionable."

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He looks put together in every photo. Staying slim means that clothes hang perfectly. I’m sure most of it is genetics, but he’s an active guy.

Such a relief after four years of poorly-fitting blue suits, red ties puddling around the knees, and Melania’s breasts.

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I agree. I also like the polo and ray bans look. Not bad for an old guy.

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Mr. Painted-On Hair has zero authority to issue fashion critiques

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“You’re the human version of a polyester blend.” is my favorite insult ever. I am currently getting ready to sell things at an upscale mall and it is how I am feeling about the commitment wealthy people currently have to Beige.

All that to say, Stephen, you are the greatest.

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Ditto!! Oh my gay friends would applaud that for sure.

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Thank you!

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If crass is a style, the Trumps have it in spades.

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RE: Trump's 80's 'look'... 'It takes a lot of money to look that cheap'

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Gotta admit, you can pull it off if you are likable and have charm, like Dolly Parton. I could see people saying "yeah, he dresses like crap, that hilarious rascal" but when he's a boorish elitist ass, it's not endearing at all.

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'poor man's idea of a rich man'

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When the Reagans ushered in eight years of Evil Anti-Camelot, their style was everywhere. Not the least of which was reflected in female reporters who should have known better adopting flaming red dresses. "I have a master's degree in political science, and I covered the war in Beirut - PICK ME MR. PRESIDENT PICK ME!"

Meanwhile Ronnie switched back and forth from Sexy Cowboy to Number One C.E.O. without pausing to catch his breath. I hated those evil, selfish bastards, but they could vogue with the best of 'em. Credit where it's due.

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"that single facial expression" 🥂

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Melania, you will never be Beyonce, even if you stole 'lyrics' from Black women who were far better than you.

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Just think of Melania's trajectory--a fledgling model, attractive back in the day, and Trump comes along and she thinks "ok, he's rich and famous and even has a hit TV show, surely this will be my ticket to glamor for the rest of my life, I'll be hobnobbing with the best of them, treated like America's version of royalty". Then turns out Trump is a total shit to everyone around him, especially his wives, and the glamor dries up when he gets more vocal with his wacko politics, and more toxic when those wacko politics are laced with not-so-hidden racism (turns out, that's a turnoff for people who need the adulation of the public!). Not long before she is cold-shouldered by the people she most wants to impress, and the only crowds she can hang with are the gross sycophants trying to win favor from Trump, and the grotesquely unstylish people who genuinely adore him. She got herself the shit sandwich, and is trying to figure out how to make the best of a deteriorating situation.

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Still a shit sandwich.

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Yep--I don't feel TOO sorry for her, she can always bail, and she's not exactly destitute. There's a lot of disappointed spouses I'd pity before her.

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Yeah, and this happened fast! Up until 2016, Trump was somewhat welcome in New York circles. Ivanka has also felt the burn. Notice that Don Jr has benefitted more post 2016 bc he was never “hip,” and was perfect for MAGA

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Yep--to their discredit NBC kept his show on right up until the 2016 cycle began, and even Ivanka for a while got the "maybe she'll be a normalizing influence, she's so poised!" treatment until that became untenable.

I mean, Melania thought she was marrying an aged Robert Redford, turned out he was a (possibly rich) Archie Bunker but without the charm of Carroll O'Connor. Sorry lady, sometimes marriage can be a crap shoot!

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Miller is stuck on "kiss Trump's ass" autopilot so he seems to have forgotten that a key part of Trump's appeal to his MAGAs is that he is hopelessly lacking in style. They may not be poor--most of them are better off financially than Biden voters--but they always feel unstylish and uncool, which fuels their resentment, so they identify with a guy who is often described as "a poor person's idea of a rich man"--despite being born rich, Trump always dressed and acted like a guy who fell into money in adulthood and never learned how to act rich. It's party because he dresses to hide his girth (hence the long neckties and oversized suit coats and baggy pants) but also because he's too cheap to hire tailors to hide it better. ,

And Melania--she thought she was marrying into high society, but her mistake was that when you marry someone that toxic, all the money in the world won't make you acceptable to the sort of people you were going for. They're now stuck with the sort of people who attend MAGA rallies dressed in American flag pants.

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As ever, you'd expect someone with money to get nicely tailored clothes - you don't even have to be a millionaire.

My theory is that tailors can't stand to be in close proximity to TFG (and his rumored stench) any more than anyone else, so they either take his measurements really quickly, or just ask him for his measurements over the phone.

Or else he has so little imagination that he just buys them off the rack.

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When you don’t pay, people are not inclined to work with you.

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