Schwarzenegger & Shriver's Daughter Leaves Dressing Room 'in Shambles'

Emily Miller

Columnist

Posted:

11/10/09

Shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue in Washington, D.C. recently, Maria Shriver and her daughter left all the clothes the daughter tried on -- but didn't purchase -- on the floor of the dressing room. The sales staff was shocked that Shriver allowed her daughter, whose father is California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, to leave her rejects in a pile during their visit in mid-October.

"She left the dressing room in a shambles," according to a sales clerk. "Why doesn't Maria Shriver teach her daughter manners and respect for others?"

It is unclear whether it was 19-year-old Katherine or 18-year-old Christina who was shopping with her mother.

First Lady Maria Shriver's office did not return several messages seeking comment.

She'd come to Washington to publicize her new venture with John Podesta of The Center for American Progress called "The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Changes Everything." On Oct. 16, she tweeted: "I'm in our nation's capital today speaking about The Shriver Report. You can read all about at http://awomansnation.com/".

In the report, Shriver writes: "My role model, like most daughters, was my mother. She was my first image and idea of what it meant to be a woman."

Of her own style of parenting, Shriver writes: "I'm trying to teach my boys to understand that the women in their lives will work and will have independent minds. I'm trying to teach them not just how to hold the door open, but how to do their own laundry and make their own mac and cheese. I'm also trying to teach my girls how to advocate for themselves, be smart about their finances -- and to look not for a savior, but a loving, supportive, open-minded partner."

OK, so she never promised she'd teach them to pick up after themselves. . .

But sales clerks notice these things -- and you never know who's going to be coming into the dressing room right after you, do you? (Political daughters Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush always put their discarded clothes back on the hangers before leaving the dressing room, for instance, according to sales staff who didn't have to do it for them.)

Shriver's tweet a few days after her daughter made such an impression is perhaps something she should consider in a new light: "Women have more power than ever before, but how will they use it?"

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