Dressed for Success on Capitol Hill

2 years ago

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Woman Up Editor

Washington, D.C., is not known for its glamorous style, but what would a column written and edited by women be without at least a nod once in a while to fashion? Last week, Emily filled our WomanUp quota with her review of "The September Issue," the new documentary about Vogue Magazine.

Today, in honor of Congress returning from recess and the Supreme Court gearing up for a new session (with an additional x chromosome!), I want to mention Adam Liptak's New York Times report about Justice Sonia Sotomayor's lace neckwear, the frilly judicial collar she received as a welcome gift from bench colleague Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Liptak includes a link to C-Span's seminal reporting about garments for female justices.

On the low-brow end of the fashion spectrum, I also note that former U.S. Congressman James Traficant of Ohio recently traded his orange jumpsuit for more colorful civvies. Traficant was expelled from Congress after his conviction for bribery, tax evasion and racketeering in 2002, but for 17 years he was an influential member, known for his toppling toupee, down-home way of speaking (he referred to the IRS as "Internal Rectal Service") and flamboyant dress code.

Earlier this month he was photographed leaving the federal penitentiary in Rochester, Minn., wearing white Bermuda shorts and matching knee socks. Despite his prison record, Traficant was welcomed home to Youngstown with a rally where many of the 1,200 supporters dressed in outfits that mimicked the criminal congressman's style: skinny ties, denim suits and bell-bottom pants. As for his return to politics, Traficant declared, "I plan to get right back in it!"

Filed Under: Woman Up

Tagged: fashion, James traficant, JamesTraficant, sonia sotomayor, SoniaSotomayor

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