Barbara Boxer's new hair style

Senator Barbara Boxer has been sporting a shorter and lighter hairstyle since June. Have you noticed? Here she is last week in the Senate, discussing the Affordable Care Act:
 
http://youtu.be/mfAOvL7WPVU


As my regular readers will surely remember, Senator Boxer's hair made headlines in 2010, when her opponent Carly Fiorina called her long bob "so yesterday."

Three years later, is this style more modern? Definitely. The long sideswept bangs are very much of this decade. And I suspect it's easier for her to care for as well - remember, a short hairstyle is only less work if it also fits with your natural texture. If the cut needs a straightener, curling iron, or multiple products, it will be work at any length.

Boxer and Hutchison face the neckline

Senators Boxer and Hutchison were on CNN this weekend for a discussion on taxes. Each of them wore a blouse with a jacket over it, but with two different techniques for complimenting face shape using "balance points." Look at http://youtu.be/9-CNkHlXlCg (you can see both of them on screen at about 2:15):


Senator Boxer's neckline compliments balance point 1: the distance from the top of her face (below her bangs) to her chin is equal to the distance from her chin to the neckline of her blouse. The oval shape of her face is perfectly echoed in her clothes.

Senator Hutchison has highlighted balance point 2: the distance and shape from the widest point of her face to her chin is the same as from the top of her shoulder to the neckline of her blouse. Her rectangular face shape is in harmony with her high rectangular blouse.

Either technique can work for you, no matter what your face shape. You can even combine them, hitting one balance point with your neckline and the other with a necklace. Jewelry also works well if your first balance point is lower on your chest than you would like your neckline to be.

The image of fur

Senator Boxer was on MSNBC this week discussing America's dissatisfaction with Washington. She wore a gray jacket with a fur collar:

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It's not completely clear to me if this is real or faux fur (my guess is faux just from the texture) but the effect is the same either way in this case. As one communications expert said to me: "It just looks like she's wearing a fur coat--not exactly the right visual for a party trying to talk about how Washington works only for the wealthy."

Fur trim is a tough look to pull off in the daytime, no matter what message you're trying to convey. But this is a particularly unfortunate juxtaposition. You don't have to be trying to make a political statement with what you wear to make one when you get dressed. In this instance, the statement doesn't even have anything to do with the politics of wearing fur itself and whether that's ethical. It goes more to the iconography of fur. It's what the fur implies about the wearer. Namely, wealth and privilege.

This is not a new issue for Washington, so there's no excuse not to make a conscious decision when choosing those garments.

Senator Boxer goes minty fresh

Senator Boxer spoke at a Democratic press conference last week about proposed changes to Medicare and the debt ceiling. Her jacket was mint green:


This is a tough color to wear, for anyone, and I'm not sure that I would recommend it for Senator Boxer in particular. There are two features of this outfit that help rescue it though:

1. The relaxed silhouette of the jacket - too much tailoring makes unusual colors look even more strange.
2. The French blue shirt she paired it with - placing a color that is within your recommended palette closest to your face helps you wear more challenging colors further away.

How to wear gray

Senator Boxer spoke on the Senate floor this week about Planned Parenthood and women's health. She wore a gray blouse under a pink blazer:


This combination works so well on the Senator because the contrast between the shades of pink and gray is low, similar to the low contrast between her skin and hair color. The heathered variation of the gray blouse makes this a less formal look (as do the big hoop earrings) but the structured jacket keeps her looking appropriate for the Senate.

Pointed Purple

Barbara Boxer spoke on the Senate floor this week about foreign oil. She wore a purple blazer:

A one button blazer a a bright, saturated color like this can veer in the direction of the cliche of the woman politician in the "colored suit." But this blazer works quite well - it is a flattering color for her, it is perfectly fitted, and it is paired with simple jewelry and a plain white shirt.

The key to wearing this much color is frequently to make that single garment the showcase and let the rest of the look recede.

Three Senators, three looks

Senate Democrats held a press conference last week on the Small Business Jobs Creation Act. This clip shows in quick succession three women of the Senate with three very different looks: Mary Landrieu, Barbara Boxer and Maria Cantwell.


What was most striking to me about these three women was the difference in their makeup styles. Consider:

1. Mary Landrieu has the "no makeup" makeup look. Maybe a little too "no makeup." I would recommend a foundation with a little more coverage, especially around the nose area, where it looks like she got a little too much sun. Even a so-called 5 minute face can feel like a lot of work when you're going on little sleep and have a full day ahead, so I'm always looking for shortcuts, both for myself and for my clients. Personally, I really like Stila One Step.

2. Barbara Boxer has gone to the other extreme and is really wearing a lot of makeup here. The combination of heavy foundation and thick eyeliner has given her face an almost mask-like appearance. A lighter, glossier lip and peachier blush would also make her look more naturalistic.

3. Maria Cantwell got it just right. With subtle lavender eyeshadow and a creamy rose lip, we see past her makeup and focus once again on her words.

No matter how much makeup you're wearing, it's important to take it off at the end of the day, lest you regret it in the morning. As I said, shortcuts are key, but you've got to find the right ones. I recently tried Payot Eau Demaquillant Express, and I'm extremely impressed. [Full disclosure: I received a free sample during New York Fashion Week. But I'm going out to buy a bottle now!] Payot is a French heritage brand that is just now coming in to the US market via Beauty 360, the fancy-makeup offshoot of CVS. Although they carry a number of Payot products on their website, you'll have to go directly to the DuPont Circle store for a bottle of this one. It's quick, it's effective and it's not drying. Try it.

The irony of Fiorina's hairstyle opinions

Carly Fiorina inadvertently made a candid comment about her opponent's hairstyle on camera while waiting for an interview to start today:

There are two things that I don't understand about this.

1. Barbara Boxer's hair looks great. The style is appropriate for her age and flatters her face. Here she is in her latest campaign video:


 2. Fiorina's present hairstyle, which is short and undyed, has come in the aftermath of chemotherapy treatments for cancer that caused her to lose all her hair. But before that, she sported a style that was remarkably similar to Boxer's:

Has Fiorina's taste really changed that much in two years? Or are we just having a middle school moment here?

Are Barbara Boxer and Carly Fiorina trading closets?

As Barbara Boxer heads into an intense period of re-election campaigning, she appears suited up for battle - literally. Here she is on CNN discussing the Gulf Coast oil spill:

The light blue is a good color for her, and the wide open collar brings that color near her face where she needs it most. I wish this suit wasn't black though. It's too harsh and too sharp a contrast with her coloring, and she starts to merge with her surroundings a bit. But everything about this outfit says no nonsense, ready for business. She's sporting the tough look most often seen on her opponent, HP CEO Carly Fiorina, while Fiorina has gone in the opposite direction, bringing a new softness to her look in recent days. Perhaps the sartorial grass is always greener on the other side of the aisle. 

Barbara Boxer on the Senate Financial Regulations Bill

Senator Boxer gave her thoughts on the Senate Financial Regulations bill last week, in emphatic agreement with Senator Dodd. She wore lavender:


You know how obsessed I am with color, and in this case, the color is right. Senator Boxer often wears shades of purple, and this one in particular is nice on her. My concern here is the fit of the jacket - it's too tight across the front. See how the buttons pull and there's a gap at the bottom? Not so good. It also seems to be flattening out her chest.

It's easy for these things to sneak up on us - something fits well, then it fits a little tighter, then it doesn't fit, but it happens so gradually, you can miss it. Most of us think about whether something fits the first time we put it on, or put it on again after a while. But we often don't think about whether something fits if we wear it frequently. It's a question worth posing every once in a while!

Barbara Boxer on Health Care

Barbara Boxer spoke about health care on the Senate floor last week. She wore a red jacket:

Tomato red is a good color for the senator. But the wide collar of this jacket combined with a turtleneck sweater makes for a heavy look - again, a bit like outerwear.

What I really want to talk about is her hairstyle. The shape of this cut works well for her face, although she could probably go with even a bit more length and do well. My concern is the color. The highlights have so much contrast that they've become distracting. The senator should consider brown her friend here. Darker hair and brighter makeup would actually look younger, I think.