Wardrobe Mysteries Linger
October 23, 2008, 1:20 pm
There are still aspects of the Republican National Committees shopping sprees on behalf of Gov. Sarah Palin and her family that are murky.
Some of the fashion experts consulted Wednesday, for instance, about the $150,000 in purchases that appeared on Federal Election Commission records were puzzled by where all of that money had gone, given what they had seen of Ms. Palins wardrobe.
Consider also the $4,902.45 charge at Atelier New York, a high-end mens store, presumably for Ms. Palins husband, Todd, the famous First Dude.
Karlo Steel, an owner there, said he had gone through the stores receipts for September, twice, and found no sales that matched that amount, nor any combination of sales that added up to the total. Because the store carries aggressively directional mens wear, he caters to a small clientèle and knows most of his customers by name, as well as the history of their purchases.
When The Caucus called Mr. Steel back to ask him to also check August sales just in case, Mr. Steel said he found one purchase that came close to the amount in the campaign finance reports but said that he knew who that customer was and it certainly was not Mr. Palin. Neither was it Jeff Larson, the Republican consultant who showed up in campaign finance records as the one who footed the initial bill before being reimbursed by the R.N.C.
The store carries expensive cut-up T-shirts and tricky suits from avant-garde designers, like Raf Simons, Yohji Yamamoto and Ann Demeulemeester, none of whom typically create beltway-appropriate attire.
We have no recollection of that sale and no idea what they are talking about, Mr. Steel said.
There was similar confusion when The Caucus spoke with Jon and Wing Witthuhn, owners of Pacifier, a high-end childrens boutique in Minneapolis, where records show two charges of $98, one at Pacifiers downtown location and another at its
store in the northeast part of the city.
Mr. Witthuhn clearly recalled one of the $98 charges because it was the night of Sept. 3, just hours before Ms. Palins speech at the Republican National Convention. A woman burst into his store, he recalled, saying she needed outfits for several children, including a 6-month-old boy. Mr. Witthuhn explained they did not carry clothes beyond toddler age but helped her pick out a blue-striped convertible romper by Egg Baby ($60), a matching monkey-ear hat ($32) and Trumpette baby socks ($6).
After the woman explained her shopping was related to the convention and paid with a credit card number she read off of a Blackberry, it dawned on Mr. Witthuhn that he was potentially helping to outfit one of the countrys most famous infantsTrig Palin, Ms. Palins youngest.
Sure enough, when Mr. Witthuhn turned on the television that night, there was Trig Palin wearing the outfit purchased at Pacifier, right down to the socksbut sans the monkey-ear hat.
But as for the other $98 charge, both Mr. Witthuhn and his wife, Wing, were stumped. After going through their receipts, Mrs. Witthuhn found another $98 purchased on Sept. 9 but it was for clothing for a 2-year-old the Palins do not have a 2-year-old.
The purchase was a little black t-shirt featuring the Ramones, as well as a striped hoodie, a pair of pants with a tiger on it and a pair of cargo pants, all from Tea Collection.
Sounds like somebody is using it for personal use, Mrs. Witthuhn said.
When Republican officials were queried, they said they had no concerns about any illegitimate charges and said they considered the matter closed.
At least one mystery, however, has been solved.
The F.E.C. records showed a Lisa L. Kine was reimbursed for more than $2,000 in charges, including those made at Pacifier, as well as others at Macys, the Gap, Steinlauf & Stoller, a sewing supply store in New York, and Oshman Brothers, for tailoring supplies. The New York address listed traces to Lisa Kline, not Kine.
Could this be the mystery stylist for Ms. Palin?
Some blogs jumped to the conclusion that this must be Lisa Kline, the owner of several trendy boutiques in Los Angeles often frequented by celebrities, including Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.
The blog, daddytypes.com, fueled the speculation by e-mailing the Witthuhns a video of Ms. Kline, and Mr. Witthuhn said he was pretty sure its her! CRAZY!!!
Mrs. Witthuhn said today that her husband was 85 percent sure but not 100 percent.
Calls on Wednesday by The Caucus to a business and home phone number found for the R.N.C.s Lisa Kline in New York were not returned.
But a search of business records identifies the Los Angeles Lisa Kline as Lisa W. Kline, not L.
And Kate Diamond, a spokeswoman for Lisa Kline in Los Angeles, e-mailed that she wished she could accept the publicity from the connection but, alas, Lisa has done no shopping for the Palins.
