Candidates Seek to Project a Well-Suited Image

Would you endorse a man for U.S. President if you didn’t like his tie bar?

The question came up recently when Nackey S. Loeb, owner and publisher of New Hampshire’s influential newspaper, the Manchester Union Leader, said she found it “irritating” that Republican candidate Rep. Jack F. Kemp wore a tie bar.

“The tie bar lent to the feeling that Jack Kemp was somewhat aloof. For a person who claims to be a blue-collar worker’s friend, it’s not the right image,” she now explains.

Faced with the possibility of displeasing a powerful publisher, Kemp may have been tempted to retire his tie bar. But so far, at least, he has not, says his deputy director of communications, Mary Brunette.

Most candidates in the race have an individual style, but all are trying to fit the presidential image--which may be made up of many small details. In the months ahead, as voters choose their next President, little things can mean a lot.

The plain-speaking Mrs. Loeb maintains “ anything is appropriate to consider when you’re dealing with somebody who’s going to be President. You have to have a person of tremendous strength of character. If there are weak spots, you have to know it.”

To date, no glaring “weak spots” seem to be reflected by the candidates’ style charts.

Whatever is reflected, however, could turn out to be a fashion trend because Presidents invariably affect the way men dress.

Will more men buy suits in bargain basements if Gov. George Dukakis wins? The Massachusetts Democrat prides himself on his cut-rate clothes from Boston’s bargain madhouse, Filene’s basement. But even at those low prices, Patricia O’Brien of the Dukakis staff says: “He has to be coaxed to buy new clothes.”

Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) with his ubiquitous bow ties could set off a bow-tie business boom if he becomes President. (But whether his imitators will do as he does and cut their own hair in the office with desk scissors, as Simon’s assistant Paula Nixon says he does, it is difficult to predict.)

Both Simon and Pierre S. (Pete) du Pont IV, Delaware’s Republican governor, are already fueling a trend toward eyeglasses over contact lenses. Both have kept their horn rims. And lately Kemp and Vice President George Bush, another GOP candidate, have been wearing eyeglasses occasionally. (But in fairness, movie stars like Jack Nicholson and business tycoons like Lee Iacocca may have blazed the eyeglass-fashion trail.)

A staff aide of Democrat Bruce Babbitt, former Arizona governor, said, “Our biggest debate here is glasses versus contacts.” So far, contacts are Babbitt’s first choice.

Du Pont could also do wonders for the men’s cosmetics business. He carries his own makeup foundation when he travels, says his press aide, Anne Brackville. And for television interviews that require an electronic earpiece, he carries his own, even though TV studios routinely supply the communication devices to interview subjects.

Politicians with personal makeup kits aren’t really rare birds. “Maybe they don’t all carry the entire Estee Lauder collection,” jokes political consultant Robert Squier of the Communications Co. in Washington. “But they’ve all been told to keep makeup in their briefcase.” He compares it to TV anchormen’s makeup.

President or not, Republican Alexander M. Haig Jr. will probably go right on using hair spray, predicts his Washington barber of 17 years, Milton Pitts. The same goes for client Bush, says Pitts. He adds that both men have regular manicures at his shop. They like their nails buffed, not covered in clear polish.

Whatever their fashion quirks may be, candidates have to blend them with what voters have come to consider the basic presidential “uniform.”

The requisite outfit consists of a navy blue suit, white shirt and dark red necktie for a pointedly All-American red-white-and-blue combination.

Candidates Bush, Kemp and Haig buy the look at Joseph A. Bank in Washington, where suits range from $270 to $315. (This fall, the company expanded to include a downtown Los Angeles address as well.)

The Washington store manager, Stanley Cohen, says other popular “presidential” looks include navy pin-stripe model and a charcoal-gray style, and regimental stripe ties. “Not real exciting,” Cohen said. “The idea is not to call attention to your clothes.”

The two-button, fitted suit jacket is the most popular, Cohen says, who adds that Bush buys a more traditional, three-button style.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a Democrat, shops in California, dropping in unannounced at Dorman-Winthrop in Culver City, the manager, Howard Craig, says. “He doesn’t buy conservative clothes,” Craig notes. “He likes pleated pants, jackets with strongly defined shoulders, everything up to date.”

Jackson also likes to stop for a shoe shine at airports. “It’s a way of keeping in touch with what basic people are thinking,” his press aide, Frank Watkins, explains.

Simon may be the candidate least likely to get his shoes polished. He just doesn’t, “unless there is a big scuff,” assistant Nixon says.

When it comes to automotive image, the candidates seem to feel that U.S. models are most likely to win votes. “You can’t go out and talk about auto workers and drive a foreign car,” says Bob Shrum of Doak, Shrum & Associates, a political consulting firm in Washington.

All this year’s candidates own at least one American make. And at least one hopeful for the top spot, Sen. Albert Gore Jr., doesn’t mind being No. 2 in terms of a vehicle’s ownership. He bought his family station wagon secondhand, Gore’s press secretary, Mike Kopp says.

Mark Johnson, the press liaison of Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), says his candidate’s car has an extra touch: a cellular phone.

When candidates ask Ken Khachigian how much is too much fashion flare, the San Clemente-based lawyer and political consultant has his answer ready. “You become President by having a message and a sense that you know where America needs to go,” he begins. “Don’t do anything to detract from your message. Don’t look too sharp or too rumpled. People are trying to gauge whether you should lead the free world.”

This advice seems to be followed by some candidates in their off-duty hours as well. Deputy press secretary Tim Archie says of his boss, Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.), “I’ve never seen him in anything but a suit.” However, others dare to wear blue jeans or khaki pants with knit or flannel shirts. And the Rev. Pat Robertson, a Republican and a horse breeder who rides on weekends, dresses down--in Western wear--when he’s relaxing.

While no woman has yet declared her candidacy for ‘88, Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.) explored the possibility before announcing this week that she would not run. Along the way she consulted Dorothy Sarnoff of Speech Dynamics Inc. in New York about her dress style. (Sen. Dole also consulted Sarnoff in 1979, she says.)

Sarnoff dubbed Schroeder’s wardrobe “kind of old lady-ish.” (The Colorado representative’s press secretary, Kip Cherouter, recalls seeing her shop for clothes in an airport.)

Sarnoff recommended that Schroeder trash most things in her closet and adapt the fashion motto: “What (British Prime Minister) Margaret Thatcher can do, I can do.” To Sarnoff, that means pearl earrings, knee-covering skirts instead of pants, scarfs at the neckline; she considers that the fashion basics for any woman running for high office.