After Voters Clean House, Will They Clean Closets?

O ne of the less consequential, but nonetheless remarkable, ways in which a new President influences the country is through his personal style of dressing. Presidential sartorial trademarks abound in American history. And, since the days of the fashion-conscious Dolly Madison, First Ladies’ fashion preferences also have made their way into the American mainstream. Are we about to become a nation of Bill and Hillary fashion clones? If so, what will we look like? And what images of the Presidents of the past do we still cling to?

HE: The quickest way to get a good idea of what we have ahead of us is to look back 30 years. During the Kennedy presidency, looking young, stylish, vigorous, current and elegant was the rule. I think we’re about to see that again, with the added fillip of a sense of the comfortably casual.

We’ve got our first honest-to-God boomer couple in the White House. They both grew up learning not only how to dress up but how to dress down, and how to do both properly and successfully. I don’t believe we’ve had a presidential couple yet who could get away with having it both ways like that. Not even the Kennedys, who were too patrician for Levi’s.

SHE: But let’s not forget Hillary Clinton’s make-over. To attract votes, the image-makers discarded her homespun silhouette and gave her a modern one. Will she continue to act upon someone else’s interpretation of how she should look? Or will she go back to her old, black headband ways?

It’s my bet that Hillary and Bill’s hairstyles will have the greatest style influence. Get ready for a wave of men with short, permed hair and women with chin-length pageboys who have regular appointments with the peroxide bottle.

HE: Influence, yes, but I’m sure we won’t be seeing the kind of copycat mania that happened during the Kennedy Administration. Every woman in America wanted to look exactly like Jackie Kennedy: hairstyle, clothes, mannerisms. Some even cultivated a breathy voice, learned to horseback ride and made a point of having two kids.

America thought the Kennedys were royalty. We’re more comfortable with the Clintons. They’re like the nice young couple down the block (if you happen to live on Pennsylvania Avenue). They’ll make a rep for themselves for stylishness, but they won’t dictate style.

SHE: Every move they make and every breath they take will dictate style. Madison Avenue will make sure of that.

Remember the pearl-necklace craze that raged after Barbara Bush moved into the White House? The run on her preferred Scaasi gowns? The mega-trend toward less makeup?

Remember the ‘80s love affair with Reagan red? Adolfo knits? Face-lifts?

Whether a First Couple dictates it, people emulate their stylish (or unstylish) ways. There’s nothing so intoxicating, style-wise, as the sartorial doings of America’s Power Couple.

HE: I note that none of your examples make reference to the man of the house. That may be because we haven’t had a President with a true sense of sartorial dash since Truman. Being a former Kansas City haberdasher, though, he came by it honestly.

His uniform was the trim, well-cut double-breasted suit, a handkerchief in the breast pocket and, more than likely, a hat. He knew how to dress for the seasons too. Take a look at some of those photos from his summit at Yalta. Perfectly tailored summer suits. Churchill and Stalin look like old sea bags next to him.

Still, even a snappy dresser like Truman didn’t really influence American men’s fashions (although he should have). The First Ladies get that nod.

SHE: True. I can’t remember ever seeing an exhibit of inaugural ball suits .

From now until Clinton is sworn in, the country’s fashion focus is going to be on Hillary’s inauguration wardrobe. What color will her swearing-in outfit be? Will it be a dress or a suit? Will she don fur ? What color will her inaugural ball gown be? Will it be plunging and figure-hugging? Or an all-covered-up number? Who will her preferred designer be?

The second any of this is known (watch for the early-bird revelations in Women’s Wear Daily) Madison Avenue will cook up a copycat design campaign that will have Hillary Clinton clones attending power lunches, afternoon teas and gala parties.

HE: Yep, Bill will have to do something quirky and dramatic and maybe a little goofy to set a style trend. Teddy Roosevelt did. Shot a bear, crowed about it and pretty soon there were little stuffed bears in stores all around the country that got to be known as “Teddy’s bears.” But the only thing Teddy wore that anyone remembers were his pince-nez glasses. Hardly a whopping fashion trend.

My Clinton style/consumer tip: buy stock in the Henri Selmer Co. of Paris. They make saxophones.

SHE: Well, I’m laying my pearls to rest, deflating my Jackie Kennedy bouffant and cutting my Mamie Eisenhower bangs. And while I’m at it, I may as well lose my royal blue Scaasi and my red Adolfo. Something tells me I’m going to have a passion for power suits and pageboys.