During Nancy Regan’s time in the White House her glamorous style was widely recognized by the media, but also heavily criticized. Throughout her husband’s presidency she wore many expensive designers from Micheal Kors to Oscar de la Renta and so many more. In 1983 there was even a paper doll book released after her fashionable looks by Tom Tierny, according to an LA Times article. While the media admired her sense of fashion they wanted to know if she was using taxpayer dollars to afford these clothes. Nancy insisted that the clothes were donations and designers wanted her to advertise their clothes. However Timeline.com found evidence that states otherwise and an excerpt of their findings read “Over eight years, Reagan accepted roughly $1 million worth of clothing that she never paid for. What made matters worse is that she had promised to return all of it, then never did.”. At the time many citizens wrote in to complain about Nancy’s excessive show of wealth through her fashion and she responded by releasing a statement that she would no longer be accepting designer donations and that she often donates her clothes. However, in 1988 it was revealed that she continued to accept designer clothing donations. It was even speculated that there were IRS re-audits at the time. Even after leaving the White House, Nancy Regan continued to defend her expensive fashion taste and once addressed the controversy by stating “What would have happened if I had stopped borrowing dresses and had started wearing only the clothes I could afford to buy? Instead of calling me extravagant, the press would have started referring to me as ‘dowdy’ and ‘frumpy.”. There is no perfect guide to how a First Lady should dress and no matter what she wore her fashion could’ve possibly been critiqued.
Sources:
https://timeline.com/nancy-reagan-designer-clothes-b57a4a94eb2f
https://www.latimes.com/fashion/la-ig-nancy-reagan-lavish-style-reagan-red-20160306-story.html
Thank you so much for your post on this topic. It is interesting to think back on the media's contradictory reception of Nancy Reagan's dress choices while she was First Lady. It shows how women, especially celebrities, are scrutinized more than males. Given her lavish wardrobe, it's unfortunate that Nancy Reagan's style was so often questioned and criticized. It is nice to see that Nancy Reagan correctly noted that she may have been criticized regardless of her clothing. I’m reminded of how the media typically judges women by their appearance and clothing rather than their accomplishments. This emphasizes the importance of media depictions of women that emphasize their accomplishments and personality over their clothes. These prejudices and biases must be overcome to ensure that women are treated equally in public life.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting topic, and I appreciate that you highlighted it. I don't understand why the media contradicted her so much. All she was doing was showing off her sense of style and being herself. For people to criticize and question her is no surprise because women have been condemned since the beginning of time. That just goes to show you how ruthless the media can be. It's good that all the negativity didn't stop her from being her true self.
ReplyDeleteI won't lie, one of the main criticisms of Nancy Regan being her outfits does strike me as a bit sexist. I respect that she responded that she would be criticized no matter what she did. Granted, it was also wrong of her to promise to not wear or return those outfits, and never doing so. I suppose that this is one of the greatest challenges of being a public figure, your choices are open to public scrutiny.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting read. I didn't realize how much clothing would make an impact on people in office. This situation seems like a he-said-she-said debacle, but the evidence seems very clear that Regan wasn't being entirely truthful. Whether or not what she was doing was immoral is a matter of opinion, but it does seem she wasn't the best role model when it came to clothes.
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