So-called business casual dress has changed the face of the main shopping street in downtown Minneapolis--no Dayton's or Donaldson's or Justers or Powers or Macy's or Saks (except an "outlet store")--but, judging by the tastes of conservative white men operating in Republican politics, the very most elegant garments are still for sale, somewhere--mainly, it seems, where you wouldn't expect them to shop, like in midtown Manhattan and Beverly Hills. Back when Paul Manafort's legal troubles were first in the news, it came to light that, over a two or three year period, he spent well over a million dollars on clothes. I noted at the time that he would enter an upscale Manhattan haberdashery and say things like, "Give me fifty thousand dollars worth of neckties" as casually as I remember my dad saying to filling station attendants, "Three dollars of regular, please." Then he'd pay with a wire transfer from an offshore bank--Manafort, not my dad. Buzz Feed has an inventory of Manafort closet items here. He's wearing an orange jumper today. Whom the gods would destroy they first dress up for a MAGA rally.
If it weren't for Manafort I'd hardly credit the latest news about Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Association. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal (it's behind a paywall so you can if you want read this summary), the advertising agency with the lucrative NRA account paid $200,000 for suits for LaPierre, all or most of them "from a Beverly Hills vendor of menswear from Italian luxury brand Ermenegildo Zegna." Thanks to Manafort, I've been disabused of the notion that $200,000 worth of suits wouldn't fit in a MAGA guy's walk-in closet--it's probably only a couple dozen at most. Presumably these are the suits LaPierre wears while denouncing the "elitists" who are alarmed by the epidemic of gun violence in America. Since the payments for his European and Caribbean travels were likewise funneled through the ad agency, it appears he's been bankrolling his personal extravagances with the dues of NRA members.
One thing I'll say in Trump's favor: he doesn't appear to care overmuch for clothes. He devotes his energy instead to his hair and his tan (if that is what you want to call it).
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