2012

MB Endorses: Paul Ryan's Endorsement of Gingham

August 20, 2012

Left to right: Iowa, August 13; Colorado, August 14; Ohio, August 15; Virginia, August 17

In the week or so since fellow Wisconsinite Paul Ryan was selected by Mitt Romney to be his running mate, it's become clear he has some significant sartorial shortcomings. He wears:

Before making the pick, Team Romney should've looked less for skeletons in Ryan's closet and more at the clothes.

Four years ago the RNC spent $150,000 to get Sarah Palin out of polar fleece. You'd think this time around they could've spent a few grand on a style consultation and a tailor. The GOP is clearly getting serious about fiscal restraint.

At any rate, the point of this post isn't to go negative, but to highlight the positive of Ryan's obvious thing for gingham, a pattern we highly endorse. Since the Romney announcement on August 11, Ryan has been on the stump for seven days and appeared in gingham in four of them; a gingham-to-appearance percentage of a whopping 57%, even exceeding our own.

Paul Ryan's First Day on Stump Marred by Fused Spread Collar Shirt

August 13, 2012

We're kinda proud a major political party selected one of our state's reps as a VP candidate, but in his first day on the stump Paul Ryan did not do Wisconsin proud with a fused, spread collar shirt — that looked like it might actually take flight — over a crewneck tee.

Earlier: Spread or Point Collar?
Earlier: Brigitte Bardot vs. Pam Anderson is like sewn collars vs. fused collars

Wisconsin Recall Election Results: Scott Walker Still a Toolbag

June 5, 2012

Whether you're voting for Tom Barrett or Scott Walker, or abstaining out of principle like us — this is what regular elections are for — one thing all parties can surely agree on is that Scott Walker is a toolbag. Shown to the left at Quad Graphics last Friday sporting not one, but two cause wristbands. (Not pictured: Walker's pleated pants, belt-clipped cell phone, and Crocs.)

Earlier: Top 10 Ways to Look Like a Total Toolbag

Ask the MB: Mitt Romney Mom/Dad Jeans

February 21, 2012

Q: Can you please help Mitt Romney with his light colored dad jeans? Thanks.
—Larry

A: Late last year Esquire suggested Romney was wearing the light-wash Obama Fit denim (left) to connect with Iowa farmers — not to mention Iowa's jean-wearing moms — which got us wondering: Is Mitt Romney the first presidential candidate to not only say anything to get elected, but also wear anything to get elected?

Apparently not, as he campaigned in New Hampshire in early January in the Iowa Jeans, but then abruptly abandoned his mom jean-wearing principles after withering ridicule, including a mom-jean cartoon from the Los Angeles Times' David Horsey, and adopted a more fitted, lower-rise, faux-distressed look, as shown at a campaign stop in Boise on Friday (right).

Is this a little better, Larry?

Earlier: Chart! How to Determine What Brand of Jeans to Wear Based on Your Age
Earlier: Obama Mired in Permanent Fashion Recession

Rick Santorum, Iowa Voters Set Sweater Vest Cause Back 25 Years

January 4, 2012

A fringe candidate seemingly just days ago, Rick Santorum's first-place (or second-place) finish in the Iowa caucuses has vaulted him — and his sweater vest — into national prominence.

Unfortunately he gets it all wrong, from the rolled-down sleeves to the pleated pants to the Gingrich-sized gut, dealing a blow to a look we strongly endorse (below).

Whew! Tim Pawlenty Can Now Stop Trying to Look Presidential

August 15, 2011

He put on his best ill-fitting President's suit. He knotted up his shiniest President's tie. And he still only got 2,293 votes in the Iowa straw poll. Sorry, Tim, you were born with a face made for overalls. (We should know. We're from rural Wisconsin.)

Donald Trump: Network First

May 17, 2011

Yesterday Donald Trump announced he isn't running for president.

We didn't realize Trump's run was an either/or proposition between leading the country and giving up his Celebrity Apprentice gig. After all, President Obama finds time to golf every weekend — why couldn't Trump just tape his show on Saturdays?

But apparently his bosses at NBC don't want the host of one of the network's few successful franchises spending any time solutioneering issues like Social Security and health care when more pressing matters of state are at hand — like whether or not to fire Meat Loaf. And given that Trump makes rougly six and half times more money for a single episode of Celebrity Apprentice than President Obama makes in a year, it was easy to see which way the wind was blowing on this one.

Donald Trump Shows You How Not to Wear a Tie

April 18, 2011

Every morning, we eat a plate of bacon that looks more youthful and dewy than Donald Trump's face. Because Trump has presidential aspirations and America rarely elects geezers, Trump appears to be taking his habit of wearing excessively long ties to even more comical lengths than usual. At a recent Tea Party rally in Florida, the Donald was sporting a tie that was long enough to tickle his nads — no wonder he's making that bellowing O-face while those in attendance cower behind a wall of ferns.

While we like the width of Trump's neckwear, the length is all out of proportion. At most, a tie should kiss the top of your pants — and it should only kiss the top of your pants in the way you kiss your best friend's wife — with absolute restraint. Let it dangle any lower, and you begin to look like a kid trying on his father's suit. Which, we assume, is the effect Trump is after — he's trying desperately to look boyish, to distract people from the fact that even though he's just 64 years old, his face now exhibits the stunning orange hue and petrified grandeur of a slab of ancient Moab slickrock. Alas, the average American voter is more likely to mountain-bike him than elect him, and not even a 70-inch tie is going to change that.

Tip the MB: British Commando Sweater

September 21, 2010

How about it! It's Anglophilic, made of natural materials, exclusive, and not just derived from a military inspiration, it's actual military surplus. Why go designer when you can go right to the source?
--Broski

A: Yes, it's all those things, and it's also modeled on a (flat-out ugly) woman, which is appropriate since military is big for them this fall. Military buttons, sleeve tabs, skinny cargo pants, and camo denim are the rage for women, but the closest thing to military you'll see us in this fall is a peacoat.

By our account military is on the 4-year election cycle. Men are on the presidential, women on the midterms. Look for lots of camo and epaulets available for the 2012 Obama-Palin tilt.