# Fashion Disaster at the White House! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 7, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270 "2006-12-07T21:48:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/1 "2006-12-07T21:48:21Z")
At a White House holiday reception,[three women, and Laura Bush appeared wearing the same red dress! It was an $8500 Oscar de la Renta gown.](http://www.neatorama.com/2006/12/07/fashion-incident/) I’d’ve saved a few nucks, and gone with the [Blue brushed satin PJ’s myself.](http://shop.nordstrom.com/SR/0~2376776~2374325~6005612?mediumthumbnail=Y&mode=pfind&tuid=00000418-006c-085e-6361-745f6d656469&catID=6005612&color=Blue&searchorigin=ProductFinder&findertypereqd=N)😃 ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/2 "2006-12-07T21:57:54Z")
That gown costs $8,500, huh? You’d have to pay me at least that much to be seen in that thing. But at least it isn’t [see-through](http://www.snopes.com/photos/risque/kerry.asp). ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/3 "2006-12-07T22:02:41Z")
For $8500, you’d think it’d look good more than 1/4 of the time. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/4 "2006-12-07T22:10:27Z")
I thought the appeal of designer fashion was that it isn’t mass-produced. And it only comes in red? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/5 "2006-12-07T22:19:15Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] I thought the appeal of designer fashion was that it isn’t mass-produced. And it only comes in red? [/QUOTE] It’s the Christmas season. Either red or green, and if they wore green, they’d look like cute little elves, which isn’t necessarily what you’re going for at a White House party. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/6 "2006-12-07T22:48:21Z")
[QUOTE=Ethilrist] It’s the Christmas season. Either red or green, and if they wore green, they’d look like cute little elves, which isn’t necessarily what you’re going for at a White House party. [/QUOTE] Your quite right. The elves come out at Federal Reserve and Treasury functions. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/7 "2006-12-08T14:57:12Z")
At 8 grand a pop, and with literally millions of colors and patterns of fabric at their disposal, designers should be ashamed to offer identical dresses in the same city. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/8 "2006-12-08T15:58:53Z")
[QUOTE=According to Pliny] At 8 grand a pop, and with literally millions of colors and patterns of fabric at their disposal, designers should be ashamed to offer identical dresses in the same city. [/QUOTE] What makes you think these dresses were all bought in the same city? These types of people all travel about a fair amount. Unique dresses are more in the realm of haute couture, and then you’re probably looking at a whole lot more than 8 grand, which is just upscale off-the-peg. Makes me glad I can get away with wearing the same penguin suit to every function. It’s good to be a guy! ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/9 "2006-12-08T23:44:54Z")
Laura looked the best in it though. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/10 "2006-12-09T00:26:25Z")
Is there any actual reason (aside from utter silliness) why women are never supposed to show up in the same dress? I’d be willing to bet that at any major function, a third of the guys are all wearing the same basic suit and no one bats an eye. I mean, banning white gloves between Labor Day and Easter makes more sense than making it a _faux pas_ for two women to wear the same dress. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/11 "2006-12-09T00:34:30Z")
It’s _fashion_. It doesn’t _have_ to make sense. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/12 "2006-12-09T01:00:40Z")
[QUOTE=ouryL] Laura looked the best in it though. [/QUOTE] Yes, and when she spied the problem she had the sense to run upstairs and change: [Three ladies in red send the First Lady rushing to change](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2493188,00.html) > [@](#): > > When Mrs Bush saw the other guests, she made an executive decision and went to change into a black lace dress. > > “She didn’t want the other guests to feel uncomfortable,” Ms Whitson told The Washington Post. > … > “Jacqueline Kennedy, when she was First Lady, made sure — and her couturiers made sure — that nobody else wore that dress that season,” Ms Baldridge told CBS News. She added that Mrs Bush’s decision to change “was the right thing to do, [to] take the heat off the other women. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/13 "2006-12-09T02:05:22Z")
Well, give her credit for _savoir faire_. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/14 "2006-12-09T02:13:32Z")
[QUOTE=Johanna] Well, give her credit for _savoir faire_. [/QUOTE] I take it she had an exit strategy? ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/15 "2006-12-09T02:14:44Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] Is there any actual reason (aside from utter silliness) why women are never supposed to show up in the same dress? [/QUOTE] I assumed it was to prevent comparison of who looks better in it. Everyone can be gorgeous, but if they are all wearing the same thing, one will be better? Yeah, its still dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/16 "2006-12-09T17:24:36Z")
I paraphrase a letter printed in this morning’s edition of _The Times_: The source is one of E.F. Benson’s _Mapp & Lucia_ stories set in the 1920s. When Lucia discovered that Miss Mapp intended to wear a better version of her own dress at a party at Lucia’s house, she arranged for her own dress to be worn by her maid. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/17 "2006-12-10T07:05:40Z")
Let’s just say it is hard for me to shed a tear for those poor women who shelled out $8000 for a dress to wear at a Christmas party. As I see it, karma worked that night. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/18 "2006-12-10T09:00:52Z")
I was up watching them close down the Senate on C-SPAN, with that looong wide shot of everybody milling around the floor, and at least 3 women Senators/aides had on the exact same shade of screamin’ Xmas red suits. I also wish to acknowledge my gratitude to Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) for repeatedly and gracefully gratifying my dangle fetish. …No, you needn’t read that into the record. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/19 "2006-12-10T22:07:38Z")
I’m torn between “That’s just dumb” and “If they were men you wouldn’t want to kiss them”. Some things about women I find just inconceivable, but then I try to remember that the world doesn’t act just like I. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270/20 "2006-12-10T23:55:27Z")
It doesn’t matter if a few men wear the \*same \*suits, because ALL the men are wearing \*similar \*suits. The suit is not an indicator of your creativity, taste and uniqueness the way a woman’s dress is. Sure, there may be touches of individuality, like ties and cufflinks and silk squares, but the overall suit is supposed to be practically a uniform (unless we’re talking the Grammy Awards or something.) I definitely notice it if two candidates are wearing the same tie during a debate, or the interviewee is wearing the same color shirt as the interviewer. The rest of the suit is just sort of a backdrop and I barely look at it unless I’m trying to date or replicate it for a costume piece. Handlers will routinely carry a couple of ties in their briefcases to switch out if their boss needs a different tie because he matches someone else. It’s a lot harder to schlep a full gown and appropriate foundational garments to a dinner party. I mean, at paparazzi distance, can you honestly tell the difference between these [two](http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000CLOC7Y.01-A3HS64JP3NS7SF._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V66429366_.jpg) [suits](http://polo.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pPOLO2-2119012_standard_v330.jpg)? The difference is about $700. The first one is an Armani, the second Polo (Ralph Lauren). Either one would be appropriate wear at a White House function. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fashion-disaster-at-the-white-house/383270.md?page=2)