Washington Whispers
D.C. Style: Brooks Brothers Cowboy
It doesn't take much to start a heated debate in Washington, but a tussle over the proper combo of pants and cowboy boots? Giddyap. It started weeks ago when we ran into South Dakota Sen. John Thune, tall and handsome in his black boots and cuffed suit pants. Very urban cowboy. But are cuffs right with boots? Sure, he says. Thune's not alone. Texas Sen. John Cornyn likes cuffed pinstripe trousers with his handmade boots. Fellow Texan Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison even wears boots sometimes. But she defers judgment on the fashion issue. "As far as with suits, that is above my pay grade!" At the White House, President Bush and his Texas staff like to swagger in their roper boots, sometimes with cuffed pants. "West Wing Texans," confides a Bushie, can "go both ways--cuffs or no cuffs--with their boots."
But others say them's fighting words. Virginia Sen. George Allen heads that posse. He wore boots as a boy and has worn them in politics ever since a consultant told him to switch to wingtips in the only campaign he lost. Why no cuffs? "They catch all sort of junk, like grass and burrs," he tells us. To find out who's right, we turn to Brooks Brothers Fashion Director Glen Hoffs. "A cuffed trouser is truly a traditional statement, and anyone who is wearing a cowboy boot in lieu of a dress shoe is definitely breaking with tradition," he says. "My recommendation would be no cuff on a trouser that's being worn with a boot."
He Takes a Licking, Keeps on Ticking
We have proof that White House Chief of Staff Andy Card isn't tired, despite what the critics say about his six years at the president's side. Turns out he wants to be at his desk so bad that he'll play injured. Card often mountain bikes with President Bush. It normally goes well, but on March 11 he crashed. "I'm OK," he chirped, hopping right back on his ride. He even went biking the next day with the prez. But by Tuesday, March 14, he felt a little pain in his left arm; a visit to the doctor revealed a bruised left wrist and a fractured elbow. Of course, he went right back to work--but only after his left arm was put in a splint.
Tony the Tiger in Khakis and Polo
Would Tony the Tiger wear pink? We'll find out this week when Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, former head of Kellogg's, helps preppy fashion giant Ralph Lauren open his new store in Tokyo. We're told that Gutierrez will show up wearing a Polo tie, but we don't know the color. The visit is more than just an administration bid to promote U.S. investment overseas. Turns out the two share a hardscrabble past: Both are the sons of immigrants who started small--Gutierrez selling cereal out of his car and Lauren selling ties at Brooks Brothers. "It's Tony the Tiger meets Mr. Polo," says a Commerce insider.
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