Friday, March 19, 2010

Carly Fiorina's convention speech manicure

Carly Fiorina spoke at the California Republican Convention this month. She wore red:

And I do mean RED. Obviously, she has a perfectly tailored suit in a bright tomato red that is a bit outside the color palette we usually see on her. It's an interesting juxtaposition between the power color and the femininity of the ruffle details. Reminds us of another woman in politics, doesn't it?

But check out her hand holding the microphone: her nails are painted the same red. Matching the nails to the clothes only works in red, and even then it's a tough look to pull off, although she does. Nail color is probably the only
place in your wardrobe where red can actually be considered a neutral. Try this look in pink and you'll look like a deranged housewife from Edward Scissorhands.

The other important feature of this manicure is that her nails are short and natural. It's just a good buff and a few coats of polish like Essie Red Nouveau.

3 comments:

  1. Sorry. I can't get past the suit. It's just too much.

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  2. Don't get me wrong, I struggled with the suit too. The ruffle details are actually very on-trend, which we don't see a lot in the political arena, in part because it's risky and in part because it dates the look. Although I wouldn't recommend this suit for a day in the office OR a sit-down with Katie Couric, she accomplished an important task in the context of a political convention. She made herself visible in an arena with a lot of other visual information coming at you. She also matches her logo in a subtle way, which any branding expert will tell you is a good thing.

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  3. Where has this blog been all my life ?!
    My two reat passions-one place!

    Carly was right at HP, by the way. The greats are proven over time...

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