Style Evolution: Cindy McCain

In all the furor over Sarah Palin's $150,000 wardrobe, you might have overlooked the other Republican fashion story: the transformation of Cindy McCain. Gone is the candidate's wife of the 2000 primaries, the woman with the pixie haircut and the wardrobe designed to be as unobtrusive as she was. This season features a bolder Cindy, with longer hair, brighter colors and, yes, designer labels more suited to the millionaire businesswoman that she is back on the ranch. Of course, for the party of Joe Six-Pack, the new Cindy could represent too much of a good thing. At the Republican National Convention in September (left), her pricey baubles -- including a four-strand pearl necklace (which Vanity Fair valued at $11,000-$25,000), three-carat diamond studs ($280,000) and white ceramic Chanel watch ($4,500) -- got more ink than her opening-night speech.

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Back in 2000, Cindy McCain spoke softly and projected a demure -- dare we say, dowdy? -- image. Here, as the McCains celebrated the Senator's New Hampshire primary win over George W. Bush, Cindy wears one of the knit suits that were her campaign signature at the time.

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Her husband may have been joking around with a Ken doll during a 2000 campaign flight, but, in her uninspired knit suit, Cindy McCain would hardly be mistaken for Presidential Candidate Barbie.

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Were Cindy McCain and Laura Bush reading from the same campaign playbook? It sure looked like at a 2000 presidential rally for George Bush in Arizona, where both women showed up in make-no-waves teal blue suits.

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In a Reagan Red suit, Cindy McCain (with daughter Bridget) stands by her husband's side as his announced his bid for the White House in Sept., 1999.

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Same color, different era. This time out, Cindy McCain's red suits -- like the one she wore during a February rally in Arizona -- are as razor-sharp as her up-do's.

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The softer side of Cindy was on display at a Nevada town hall meeting last July, where she opted for a short sleeved boucle jacket and a swingy skirt.

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What a difference a season makes. During the 2008 primaries, Cindy's look was classic country-club-Republican -- boucle suit, simple pearls, no-nonsense flip. But spring's basic Cindy (shown here in New Hampshire) gave way to a more fashion-forward Cindy by convention time.

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She may be 41 years older than Willow Palin (holding baby brother Trig), but Cindy McCain takes lots more fashion risks. McCain opted for a front-belted green trapeze on the second night of the Republican National Convention, while Willow wore a more, um, conventional taupe sheath.

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On the tarmac in St. Louis this summer, Cindy glowed in a houndstooth dress -- and a neon pink wrist cast (the latter necessitated by too-vigorous hand-shaking).

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