美國準第一夫人拼時尚 米歇爾人氣更高

Cindy McCain or Michelle Obama for the White House?

Among Fashionistas, the wives of the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama are drawing the kind of enthusiasm that Nancy Reagan and Jacqueline Kennedy once attracted.

As might be expected, style mavens' critiques focus less on what the potential first ladies say or do than on what they wear.

While Obama won fans for wearing a relatively affordable $150 dress on talk show "The View," McCain drew attention for her expensive tastes. Vanity Fair magazine estimated one outfit she wore at the Republican National Convention this week was worth $300,000.

The choice of John McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who took part in beauty pageants in her youth, also has caused a buzz. But Mickey Blum, director of survey research at Baruch College, said her style could not be compared to McCain and Obama.

"That's a different look because you have to look a little bit more serious and professional," Blum said.

The consensus at New York Fashion Week is that both potential first ladies have style but most designers in the traditionally Democratic-leaning industry would much rather have the chance to dress Obama over McCain.

"I am in the fashion industry, I live in New York -- I'm probably not going to go for McCain to dress," designer Rebecca Taylor told reporters.

"Michelle is really fresh and she could sort of go where Jackie O went given the right sort of tools and grooming," she said. "I think it could be nice for America to have somebody who's a little bit more stylish as their first lady."

Obama, 44, is a Princeton and Harvard educated lawyer who has appeared in Vogue and was named on Vanity Fair's 2008 International Best Dressed List.

誰將成爲白宮下一位女主人？辛迪•麥凱恩？還是米歇爾•奧巴馬？

正如當年的南希•里根和傑奎琳•肯尼迪，如今美國共和黨總統候選人約翰•麥凱恩和民主黨候選人巴拉克•奧巴馬的夫人正引發一股時尚熱情。

在時尚專家眼中，準第一夫人的着裝打扮總是比她們的言行舉止更值得關注。

奧巴馬伕人在談話節目"The View"中穿的一套價值僅爲150美元的套裝爲她大賺人氣，而麥凱恩夫人則憑其奢華的着裝品味吸引眼球。據《名利場》雜誌估計，辛迪在上週的共和黨全國代表大會上所穿的一套衣服價值達30萬美元。

當天麥凱恩的競選夥伴莎拉•佩林的着裝也引發了一陣熱評。不過聖巴魯學院的調研主任邁奇•布魯姆評價說，佩林的着裝風格無法與辛迪和米歇爾相比。現任阿拉斯加州州長的佩林年輕時曾參加過選美比賽。

布魯姆說：“那種場合的造型風格是不一樣的，應該更加莊重和專業一點”。

紐約時裝週的設計師們普遍認爲，兩位夫人的裝扮各具風格，但大多數在這一“傾民主行業”工作的時裝設計師們則更希望能爲米歇爾設計服裝。

設計師麗貝卡•泰勒在接受記者採訪時說：“我在時尚界工作，並且生活在紐約——可能我不太傾向於爲辛迪設計服裝”。

她說：“米歇爾的穿衣風格讓人倍感新鮮，而且她的配飾和着裝選擇有點傑奎琳的味道，我想對於美國民衆來說，擁有一位穿着時髦的第一夫人也是一件不錯的事。”

今年44歲的米歇爾•奧巴馬曾登上《時尚》雜誌，併入選《名利場》雜誌2008年度全球最佳穿着名人榜。米歇爾曾就讀於普林斯頓大學和哈佛大學，現爲一名律師。