Page 26 - Allure - November 2016 USA

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Portrait of a POTUS
Like many of you, I’ve spent a lot of time recent years thanks to Barack
marveling at this monster-truck rally of an election year. The hubbub over Hillary Clinton’s $12,495 Armani jacket got me thinking
about how often the conversation has circled back to candidates’ appearance. Let’s replay some highlights (or, er, lowlights?):
• Donald Trump talks smack about Carly Fiorina: “Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that?” • He mocks Marco Rubio’s heeled boots.
• Rubio swings back at Trump’s “small hands” and spray tan.
• Jeb Bush calls out Trump’s expensive wardrobe. • Trump stirs the crowd at a rally: “Do I look like a president? How handsome am I, right? How handsome?... Does Hillary look presidential?”
I could go on and on about the negative tone of the election, but all this talk of appearance also raises the question: What does it really mean these days to “look presidential”?
Of course, many of us harbor some preconceived notion of what a president should look like. Before the roster of prospects was whittled down, I heard plenty of people say that they couldn’t imagine voting for candidate X or candidate Y because “he just doesn’t look presidential.”
For decades, history and Hollywood served up the image of a POTUS who was a salt-and- pepper-haired, moderately slim white guy. But I’d like to think that cliché has been shattered in
Obama and any number of diverse depictions of the commander
in chief in entertainment (hey there, Julia Louis-Dreyfus).
If we’ve chipped away at the walls
of color—black, brown, white, everything in between—and gender, I suppose the larger question is: How much should candidates care about their appearance?
Frankly, office seekers have to walk a fine line. Caring too much about—and particularly spending too much on—one’s appearance is generally perceived as vanity, as weakness.
A politician would undoubtedly be skewered for getting Botox or an eye lift. John Edwards shelling out $400 on a haircut in 2007? Get your pitchforks, people.
I get it: It’s human nature to take looks into consideration. But let’s all remember to look at the bigger picture when we head to the polls. What I really want is a president who looks, sounds, and is sane, intelligent, and trustworthy. Is that so much to ask?
Michelle Lee, Editor in Chief
@heymichellelee
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20 ALLURE NOVEMBER 2016
JOSEPHINE SCHIELE