More regarding Rudy Giuliani's head (from the Washington Post).
With Rudy, Less Becomes Much More
By Robin Givhan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 13, 2002; Page C01
The world's most famous comb-over has
vanished. New York's former mayor Rudy
Giuliani has at last given in to baldness, allowing
his naked scalp to rise -- unashamed -- from a
ring of smooth, graying fringe.
The public debut of this more flattering hairstyle
was Tuesday, at his mother's funeral in Brooklyn.
But his unabashed baldness was revealed to the
wider world on Wednesday, when Giuliani made a
series of television appearances and read from the
list of the dead at the memorial ceremony held at
the World Trade Center site.
The comb-over was no more unattractive on
Giuliani than it is on the legions of men who use it
in an attempt to conceal the obvious. But Giuliani's
comb-over had reached mythic proportions as it
was memorialized in comedy bits on virtually
every television network and in countless
caricatures. One can only assume that its
disappearance will send shock waves ricocheting
from the studios of "Saturday Night Live" to the
corner barbershop. This is hair news on the level
of a Matt Lauer crew cut, a George Clooney
Caesar, a Justin Timberlake buzz.
The former mayor hasn't gone to the extreme of
rubbing pomades into his sparse but now
well-coiffed hair. He simply but dramatically has
shaken off the image of a door-to-door salesman
with an affinity for Sansabelt slacks, black socks
with shorts and the short-sleeve dress shirt -- the
garment industry's great oxymoron.
Embracing the hairstyling standard of all savvy,
self-aware and balding men -- Sean Connery,
Bruce Willis -- he has stopped growing long and
parting low. Now his dark suits and crisp white
shirts have an enhanced, self-confident aura, a
Robert Duvall-meets-Ed Harris elegance. Giuliani,
58, is knocking at the door of handsome. Already
the compliments are rolling in.
Who was his stealth stylist? And what was
Giuliani's motivation: a little pestering from his
style-conscious lady friend Judith Nathan, one
wisecracking comedian too many, an honest
self-assessment in front of the mirror, or a general
longing for a fresh start?
According to Giuliani spokeswoman Sunny
Mindel, "The mayor has been extremely busy in
the last five days and he combed his hair quickly
like this one morning." His lady approved. And
what man needs more than that?
Yet simply slipping off the almost always
pedestrian cloak of public office can brighten a
politician's look.
The demands of public office pressure politicians to strive for the middle of the road in attire and nonchalance
in grooming. Their clothes may be high-quality and well made but they do not necessarily enhance the body
inside. So often it seems that politicians only sneak glances into a mirror when they think no one is watching,
or they avoid them altogether. Style is not, and to some degree cannot be, their forte. They excel at
unremarkable awkwardness. They take pride in their unfashionableness.
When these folks leave office, they bear the scars of stress and worry. A few never recover and continue
down a slippery slope that leads to jelly doughnuts, bursting seams and stained ties. Most hold the line, unable
to move beyond the staid appearance that was so reassuringly inoffensive to voters. A few uncover an inner
aesthete.
When Bill Clinton appeared on "The Late Show With David Letterman" Wednesday night, he displayed a keen
post-White House sartorial savvy. Dressed in a black suit, white shirt and sapphire tie, he looked particularly
dashing -- as well as rested. Not enough can be said about the grooming benefits of a good night's sleep.
And instead of looking like a street fighter selling used cars on the side, Giuliani has polish and dash. An
out-of-office makeover doesn't rewrite history, but at least in the final chapters, the pictures will be better.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company |
