Obama's leather jacket

Originally Posted by harvey_birdman

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Anybody know what kind of jeans he's wearing? Are they produced in China or some other sweatshop?

[sarcasm] Yeah, because the entire country of China is one huge machine for making t-shirts. [/sarcasm]
Seriously, I would not trust a president who favored an inferior American product over a superior foreign product, and I don't think you can do better in the suit department than good old European tailoring. Besides, Obama doesn't have the classic American build that most American suits are cut for -- he's not a huge bulky cylinder, so he shouldn't wear huge bulky cylindrical suits.

While I agree that he looks awful in all the casual wear he owns, he is a father of two, a husband, and the leader of the ******* third largest country in the world. I should hope he has better things to do than buy APCs and Rick Owens jackets.

Just saw a pic of the front of the jacket with a huge patch on the chest.

Nevermind.

I like how Steve Jobs dresses. He doesn't want to impress anyone with what he wears.

Yet as a CEO he cares about quality of a product and understands what quality means. I respect this immensely.

Did you see George Soros and Warren Buffett pictures? They wear suits.

Originally Posted by cjmorris21

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I don't think that Obama dresses Presidential or Statesman like at all. I have seen him on television on numerous occasions wearing a button down shirt without a tie. How hard would it be to throw a ******* tie on just for a few moments while you are addressing the media and the public? I have never seen a President wear a tie so seldomly as Obama. He is also one of the first President's I noticed wearing jeans.

The lack of tie is a result of focus group testing - I remember an ABC news report mentioning this.

^^ That is so depressing.

Originally Posted by Listi

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I think Obama should dress better, sloppy is not a good look for the executive of the USA. What ever happened to the idea that leaders were supposed to be well dressed and awe-inspiring? When you have the president dressing like your average Wal-Mart shopper, you're not making any special connections with the blue collar population, you're a Harvard lawyer and the "most powerful man in the world," to try to fool them into thinking they're like you in any way is just disrespectful.

Originally Posted by thenanyu

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The lack of tie is a result of focus group testing - I remember an ABC news report mentioning this.

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding

Seriously guys times change, movements change, demographics change. The working class / lower middle class is way more powerful then the real middle class these days so Obama really needs to appeal to them, especially since he is really putting the squeeze on the true middle, middle upper classes with tax increases / monetization / deficit spending / on going conflict.

If you were a leader back when the power was in the higher class then you had to play that political game, you had to be 'one of them' i.e dressing like them, going to the same social groups as them etc etc

Dressing well isn't going to impress me, or inspire awe. Having good leadership will. Leaders haven't been awe inspiring in my time, except for a few with genuine policy, programs and a plan for the future, which is, as I'd said, rather rare.

Originally Posted by Capable

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Did you see George Soros and Warren Buffett pictures? They wear suits.

Finance is kinda wierd, in that investment bankers roll in crazy expensive gear "models and bottles" lifestyle, but in wealth management it's not always like that, as the client might look at you and say "well he blows too much money on clothing / models / bottles or doesn't have long term stability etc I'll find someone who is more conservative" and that's from a funds manager themselves.

Originally Posted by BB1

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The irony is he would probably catch more flak for wearing a pair of $200 LVC jeans that are actually made in the U.S.A. (I know some of them are) than he does for wearing these piece o' **** K-Mart brand "Levis" made by some 12-year-old in a Chinese sweatshop. Everyone would say he's an elitist, but come on... the guy went to Harvard. How is he NOT part of the intellectual elite? And why doesn't the average American want their political leaders to be more intelligent than the average American? I've never understood this -- why 'we' look down upon intelligence, or as a corollary to this, free-thinking when it comes to a man's style (or anything else, for that matter). Anyone who deviates from the norm is perceived as snobby, and everyone hates a snob. It's just too bad he dresses like such a tool now, when he obviously was a pretty cool cat back in the day. He just looks like a slob in anything casual, and I can't imagine he feels like 'himself' in those clothes. As most others have said, I agree that it's mostly to 'fit in' and look like a 'regular guy', which is what most Americans want in their President.

Originally Posted by JoyDiffusion

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I agree that it's mostly to 'fit in' and look like a 'regular guy', which is what most Americans want in their President.

ugh, I guess we have GWB to thank for that precedent (he cuts brush!), though in fairness I guess this has been a trend in American politics for a long time. The silliness of 24/7 cable news sure doesn't help, either. I can only imagine what they would do if the nation's first black president started dressing with the slightest bit of style.

You guys don't think there's some kind of middle ground between wearing $1000 outfits and wearing stuff that's two sizes too big? Because I do.

Originally Posted by JoyDiffusion

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Everyone would say he's an elitist, but come on... the guy went to Harvard. How is he NOT part of the intellectual elite? And why doesn't the average American want their political leaders to be more intelligent than the average American? I've never understood this -- why 'we' look down upon intelligence, or as a corollary to this, free-thinking when it comes to a man's style (or anything else, for that matter). Anyone who deviates from the norm is perceived as snobby, and everyone hates a snob.

I read an interesting article in which the author observed that in the 50's, American's liked to be awed by game show contestants - they wanted to see someone larger than life - which is what led to the whole scandal shown in "Gameshow". Fast forward 50 years, and we have "Who Wants to be a Millionaire", the first few questions of which nearly every American can answer and shout at the t.v. "How can you be so stupid?"

Originally Posted by Jekyll

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You guys don't think there's some kind of middle ground between wearing $1000 outfits and wearing stuff that's two sizes too big? Because I do.

To most Americans this is homosexual talking.

Originally Posted by Jekyll

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You guys don't think there's some kind of middle ground between wearing $1000 outfits and wearing stuff that's two sizes too big? Because I do.
Definitely, I was going to mention this in my post but then erased it because I felt like I was rambling. Wearing a conservatively tailored Brooks Brothers/Polo button down, "classic fit" chinos, and some loafers (ie, Weejuns) would probably give him the type of look like "I just got off work, so I slouched out of my tie and sport coat to be more relaxed" type look that anyone who's worked in an office building should be able to relate to... $85 for shirt $50 for pants $100 for shoes A $200-250 outfit, not unreasonable or pretentious whatsoever, and that's at retail prices. I think that's the trick here, to look "smart" and not necessarily "stylish" or "fashion forward." A good balance between whatever bullshit focus groups say, and the fact that he went through an Ivy League education and should certainly know how to dress the part...

Obama is in good company-- Ahmadinejad favors the tie-less look too.

Originally Posted by JoyDiffusion

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Everyone would say he's an elitist, but come on... the guy went to Harvard. How is he NOT part of the intellectual elite? And why doesn't the average American want their political leaders to be more intelligent than the average American? I've never understood this -- why 'we' look down upon intelligence, or as a corollary to this, free-thinking when it comes to a man's style (or anything else, for that matter). Anyone who deviates from the norm is perceived as snobby, and everyone hates a snob.
That's because America is a far less elitist society than say Europe or Canada. America is a very equalitarian society that finds the notion of status or "right to rule" based on one's intellect or class level to be repugnant. I don't think Americans truly want dumb leaders. But if a leader attempts to assert such rights by implying they know what's best due to their education, intellect, class, wealth, or whatever then Americas will generally find it distasteful. Relatively speaking, Europeans and Canadians are more likely to buy into the idea that their leaders are smarter than them, can be trusted, are deserving of their position, desire to do "good", and that they as average citizens should accept their place in society as a lower class beneath the wise vaulted leaders.

I've always had a problem with the "American Dream" alluding to the ability of the common man being able to succeed in American society... When in reality getting anywhere in American society definitely requires you to be very shrewd. The fact is, the average person is not very intelligent. And half of the population is less intelligent than your average person...

I've mentioned it before that I feel like when I'm in the US, people in service businesses seem to hate their jobs and take it out on everyone else... As if they got shafted with a ****** life and don't deserve it. While I'm not sure how your average service worker thinks of themselves in Canada, whatever they feel like, it certainly doesn't reflect negatively in their demeanor during their jobs. Again, both cases have plenty of exceptions, Canada has its asshole service workers too, and I've definitely had meaningful conversation with some American ones. But it's the difference between these things happening on a weekly and monthly basis...