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Palin's fashion frames send locals to eyewear stores

By LAUREN IRIZARRY, ALLIGATOR CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Lipstick isn’t the only thing that separates Sarah Palin, Republican vice–presidential nominee, from a bulldog — it’s also her glasses. 

Across the country, Palin’s $375 designer frames are flying off store shelves. 

Locally, it’s hard to find the 704 No. 34 gray frames by Japanese designer Kazuo Kawasaki. 

Tamie Lange at Lange Eye Care and Associates, said they’re nearly impossible to keep on the shelves. 

 “We order 50 pairs a week to split between our nine locations,” Tamie Lange said. 

She said each office averages about 10 to 12 requests for the frames per day and sells about eight a week. At the Gainesville store, only two pairs were left Saturday. 

Pearle Vision in the Oaks Mall isn’t carrying the frames. Still, four or five people a day ask if the glasses are in stock, said sales associate Amber Pounds. 

Pounds said employees have been offering customers other rimless styles similar to the ones Palin wears. 

Tamie Lange said celebrities like Sally Jessy Raphael, Larry King and Tom Cruise inspire people to buy certain styles of glasses. Even Harry Potter increased demand for circular, plastic frames with kids, he said.

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“Whenever a celebrity wears a frame, everyone wants it,” she said. It’s been a while since a political figure has made such an impact on the world of vogue. First lady Jacqueline Kennedy was the last to blur the line between politics and fashion, said Sharon Austin, a UF associate professor of political science. 

Today, Sarah Palin and Michelle Obama’s personal styles are hot topics in the fashion industry, Austin said. 

“Both the media and public are fascinated with fresh faces and want to know how someone could rise to fame so quickly,” Austin said. 

UF telecommunications professor Lynda Kaid said the public is going through a “necessary acquaintance phase” with Palin, in which people find out as much as they can about a new public figure. 

Until that’s over and demand slows down, Tamie Lange said her stores would continue to triple their orders for the Kawasaki frames. She said she hopes the period lasts for the next four years.

Article taken from The Independent Florida Alligator 9/16/2008
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