Update! McCain paid 22.8K—more than anyone else on the campaign receives—for two weeks for makeup stylist for Palin, brilliant!

A while back, when Governor Palin was named Republican VP candidate I wasn’t so excited about her clothes. As the campaign went on I noticed that Sarah looked smoother, svelter.  Her suits were of better quality fabrics, perfect fits and pretty much just a general improvement from her Anchorage bought suits. I have to say I was impressed (with her stylist that is).

Well, I ain’t so impressed anymore.

It has recently been reported that Sarah Palin went on a huge shopping spree to many US upscale shopping centers in September. She said it was for clothing for her family and work attire.

Fair enough, a new suit for the big job, sure. But come on! $150,000?!#^$?%^!&@!!?

Pause for breath…

A hundred and fifty grand is a lot of money. It could mean college tuition, a house, medical bills, AIDS or poverty relief for a small country, 50 of your closest friends and family on a reunion trip to Hawaii…Whatever.

It’s a ridiculous amount of money to spend on clothes. Especially when you are campaigning for vice president. Especially when we are smack dab in the middle of a major recession and ordinary Americans are hurting. Especially…um, never actually. 150 grand on clothes is never okay, and I am a fashion designer saying this.

I bet if she spent that money on something a little more positive for Americans as a whole and not for herself she would have made a lot of people very happy and like her. I mean really like her not just because she is pretty and winks like a pro. If any one of those people and you know who I am talking about -yes the greedy politicians-  actually took money like that and spent it on important things for their citizens then maybe their party wouldn’t be in the doghouse right now.

But maybe the doghouse isn’t so bad after all. It has a collection of diamond encrusted collars, pashmina pillows, cashmere curtains and the best Sturgen caviar money can buy.

Thankfully the ones in the doghouse aren’t taken seriously.

The full shopping list for Ms. Palin and her family, according to records of the Federal Election Commission, looks like this:

• $75,062.63 spent at Neiman Marcus on Sept. 10.

• $41,850.72 to Saks Fifth Avenue in New York on Sept. 10.

• $7,575.02 to Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis on Sept. 10.

• $5,102.71 to Bloomingdale’s in New York on Sept. 10.

• $789.72 to Barney’s New York on Sept. 10.

• Charges of $4,396.94 and $512.92 at Macy’s in Minneapolis on Sept. 10.

• $4,537.85 to Macy’s in Minneapolis on Sept. 22.

• $349.50 to Lord & Taylor in New York on Sept. 25.

• $4,902.08 to Atelier New York, a men’s clothing boutique, on Sept. 10.

• Two separate charges of $98 to Pacifier, a high-end baby store in Minneapolis, on Sept. 10 and Sept. 25.

• $98.50 to Steinlauf & Stoller, a sewing supply store, in New York on Sept. 25.

• $133 to the Gap in Minneapolis on Sept. 25.

From the New York Times: Sarah Palin’s wardrobe joined the ranks of symbolic political excess on Wednesday, alongside John McCain’s multiple houses and John Edwards’s $400 haircut, as Republicans expressed fear that weeks of tailoring Ms. Palin as an average “hockey mom” would fray amid revelations that theRepublican Party outfitted her with expensive clothing from high-end stores.

Cable television, talk radio and even shows like “Access Hollywood” seemed gripped with sartorial fever after campaign finance reports confirmed that the Republican National Committeespent $75,062 at Neiman Marcus and $49,425 at Saks Fifth Avenue in September for Ms. Palin and her family.

Even the non-liberal media had a problem stomaching it: