posted on July 5, 2007 07:15:28 AM new
Some things in life are just MORE important than others. LOL LOL LOL And to 'pretty rich boy, edwards, it's HIS hair'. But don't worry....he really cares about the poor....he just would never pay 20 bucks for a haircut like the "poor people" he hopes to represent.
Splitting Hairs, Edwards's Stylist Tells His Side of Story
Man Behind Pricey 'Dos Details Long Relationship
By John Solomon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 5, 2007; C01
For four decades, Joseph Torrenueva has cut the hair of Hollywood celebrities, from Marlon Brando to Bob Barker, so when a friend told him in 2003 that a presidential candidate needed grooming advice, he agreed to help.
The Beverly Hills hairstylist, a Democrat, said he hit it off with then-Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina at a meeting in Los Angeles that brought several fashion experts together to advise the candidate on his appearance. Since then, Torrenueva has cut Edwards's hair at least 16 times.
At first, the haircuts were free. But because Torrenueva often had to fly somewhere on the campaign trail to meet his client, he began charging $300 to $500 for each cut, plus the cost of airfare and hotels when he had to travel outside California.
Torrenueva said one haircut during the 2004 presidential race cost $1,250 because he traveled to Atlanta and lost two days of work.
"He has nice hair," the stylist said of Edwards in an interview. "I try to make the man handsome, strong, more mature and these are the things, as an expert, that's what we do."
It is some kind of commentary on the state of American politics that as Edwards has campaigned for president, vice president and now president again, his hair seems to have attracted as much attention as, say, his position on health care. But when his campaign reported in April that it had paid for two of his haircuts at $400 each, the political damage was immediate. With each punch line on late night TV his image as a self-styled populist making poverty his signature issue was further eroded.
Edwards said that he was embarrassed by the cost and thathe "didn't know it would be that expensive," suggesting the haircuts were some kind of aberration given by "that guy" his staff had arranged. His wife, Elizabeth, made lots of jokes at her husband's expense and the campaign wished the whole issue would go away.
But Torrenueva's account of his long relationship with Edwards -- the first he's given -- probably guarantees that won't happen quite yet. And if $400 seemed a lot for a haircut, how about one for three times that?
Asked for a comment, the Edwards campaign said this week that Edwards had arranged for the stylist to give him numerous cuts over the past four years. But it said that a personal assistant handled paying for the haircuts and that Edwards didn't realize how much they cost.
"Breaking news -- John Edwards got some expensive haircuts and probably didn't pay enough attention to the bills," said spokeswoman Colleen Murray. "He didn't lie about weapons of mass destruction or spring Scooter Libby; he just got some expensive haircuts."
In the days after the $400 haircut first caused a stir, Torrenueva did not give many details about his client to reporters who called or came by his Beverly Hills salon. But Torrenueva says he was hurt by Edwards's response to all the flap.
"I'm disappointed and I do feel bad. If I know someone, I'm not going to say I don't know them," he said. "When he called me 'that guy,' that hit my ears. It hurt." He paused and then added, "I still like him. . . . I don't want to hurt him."
Torrenueva said he normally charges men $175 when they come to his salon for a haircut. But the cost for Edwards went up because the stylist had to leave his shop and go on the road to do his haircuts.
Edwards is certainly not the first politician to face ridicule when his or her grooming habits caught the public's eye. It took a long time for President Bill Clinton to live down the haircut he received from the stylist Christophe of Beverly Hills while Air Force One was parked on an airport runway in Los Angeles. And Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) had her own minor version of the Edwards treatment after her Senate campaign spent nearly $3,000 in fees and travel for two sessions with stylist Isabelle Goetz.
While Democrats seem to get the most attention, Republicans have not been completely immune. Campaign aides to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the best-coiffed Republican candidate in the presidential race and the wealthiest of all the hopefuls, fretted in an internal document that his well-tended locks may be considered a negative. He has assured Massachusetts reporters that he spends no more than $50 for a trim.
Edwards, however, has been unusually susceptible to mockery. Before the $400 haircut, his campaign had to deal with the YouTube video in which he was captured primping for the camera while the song "I Feel Pretty" from "West Side Story" played.
And despite the best efforts of Edwards, his wife and their campaign aides, there's been an obvious political impact.
In Iowa, for example, an early caucus state where Edwards is staking much of his fortune, the Quad-City Times newspaper quoted barbers calling the cost of Edwards's haircuts "preposterous" and "impossible" and suggesting that they would be chased by guys in "white coats" if they charged Iowans that much.
According to Torrenueva, the last time he cut Edwards's hair was March 23, the day after Elizabeth Edwards announced that her cancer had returned and a month before the cost of the haircuts became public.
"I knew what they were going through, the cancer," Torrenueva said, referring to the session at the Sheraton Delfina hotel in Santa Monica, Calif. "My son had had cancer, so we talked."
Unlike two prior haircuts in January and February, which were paid for by the campaign, Edwards personally paid the $400 for the March cut, the stylist said.
Torrenueva provided his first five haircuts for Edwards in late 2003 and early 2004 free of charge. "I was just doing it because I'm a Democrat," he said.
After Edwards became Sen. John F. Kerry's vice presidential running mate in summer 2004, Torrenueva started charging. There was one cut for $300 in mid-July in Los Angeles, shortly before the Democratic National Convention, the one for $1,250 in August in Atlanta, another in Washington in early October before a debate with Vice President Cheney, and the last was in Ohio shortly before the election.
After the 2004 election, Torrenueva said he cut Edwards's hair three times in 2005 and 2006 during business trips to California. As Edwards began gearing up for his 2008 presidential campaign, Torrenueva said, the pace picked up. One haircut was in late November, another Jan. 9 and a third on Valentine's Day, and each cost $400.
The stylist said he has a vivid memory of the first time he met Edwards, in 2003.
"My friend called me and said, 'Do you know who John Edwards is?' and I said yes, I had heard of him. My friend said he is going to be running for president, but his hair doesn't look right. I don't know what it is and I think you will know what to do."
Torrenueva agreed to meet Edwards at the Century Plaza hotel in Los Angeles along with several fashion experts.
"There was a woman, an award-winning clothes designer -- I think she works in film and onstage, too. She was there with her swatches with materials for colors of suits, ties and what we were doing there was discussing his look. I was there for hair.
"What I did was, there was too much hair on top, always falling down, and it made him look too youthful. I took the top down and balanced everything out. He couldn't see it. But then we went into the bathroom. He looked in the mirror and said, 'I love this,' and that was it."
Washington Post
========================
And they'd like to elect THIS unaware pretty boy to the WH? Heck he isn't even aware of the cost of his OWN haircuts....yea, let him have control of our federal budget and see what he knows. OH brother..........just THINK of all the times he can claim "I DIDN'T KNOW".
posted on July 5, 2007 10:31:21 AM new
I know. At $1,200.00 a pop....and I'm SURE edwards wants his hair done frequently....that's quite an expense.
And to him/them, the cost was so unimportant that he didn't even realize how much he was spending. LOL LOL
gawd....and he supposedly is going to 'take care of the poor'. LOL Might want to start with his neighbor FIRST...rather than insulting those 'poor' people.
posted on July 5, 2007 03:38:38 PM new
lol Some have been talking about that too.
======================
This video is sooooo appropriate for edwards.
The song being sung, by Julie Andrews I believe, is "I Feel Pretty" while edward's hair is brushed and brushed and brushed again. Then he fiddles with it....then his hairdresser does the same thing, then more primping and hair spray being added. LOL It's a kick.
posted on July 5, 2007 05:36:16 PM new
Why does a conservative need a $14,000 suit?
Stitch in time produces new classic
Chicago Sun Times
May 6, 2001
by Lisa Lenoir
http://www.oxxfordclothes.com/suntimes.asp
President George W. Bush steps into the spotlight looking like a man fresh off the pages of GQ magazine. His black cashmere overcoat delicately drapes his shoulders, the blue stripe tie radiates against his white shirt and the suit perfectly fits his fit form. What a contrast after seeing Bush's hokey business and Western attire on the campaign trail. The 10-gallon hats and cowboy boots caused many fashion watchers to shake in their boots. But Bush's past style lapses are forgivable because, since his inauguration he's been wearing some of the best tailored garments -- Oxxford suits.
The Chicago-based Oxxford Clothes is the gentlemen's club for the well-dressed. In the summer issue of Forbes' FYI magazine, Oxxford was appointed the best suit to own in the list of "50 of America's Best." The article touted the fact that the suits are still made by hand entirely in Chicago and that pattern pieces are individually cut from one piece of fabric.
The 85-year-old company with 350 employees has had its workrooms in the same location, near the University of Illinois at Chicago, since the late 1930s. It advertises in Town and Country magazine, the Robb Report and other exclusive publications.
The suits are sold in such stores as Bameys New York, Saks Fifth A venue, Louis of Boston and Neiman Marcus. Oxxford does not distribute outside the United States, but is working to establish distribution in Canada and the United Kingdom by 2002.
Oxxford has dressed some of the most powerful and famous men in the world, in addition to the current president, his father and former Presidents Gerald R. Ford and Lyndon B. Johnson, mob boss Al Capone, Cary Grant and Edward, the Duke of Windsor. Hollywood stars Nicolas Cage in "The Family Man" and Jeff Bridges in "The Contender" were costumed in Oxxford suits.
When brothers Louis and Jacob Weinberg founded the company in 1916, they were determined to make the best suit. They used the finest fabrics and designed only simple, timeless shapes. This guiding principle ensures Oxxford continues to create topnotch garments for a price --$2,000 to $14,000 --that loyal customers are willing to pay. Oxxford produced 25,000 handmade garments and had $30 million in sales last year, according to Roger Parfitt, the company's chief operating officer.
Oxxford's signature details include pockets lined with Belgian linen to prevent sagging and silk thread for enhanced durability .And, of course, only the best gabardine, flannel, silk, tweed and cashmere from European mills are used.
Oxxford understands that custom tailoring is an essential part of customer service. Rocco Giovannangelo, 61, the company's master tailor, flew to Austin for President Bush's fittings. A tailor since he was a 10-year-old in Italy, he knows the importance of being well-dressed. "You can make an impression on society if you decide to dress well," he says.
Oxxford executives want a new generation of men to follow that advice. Recognizing it must lure younger customers, it is marrying the old-style traditions of custom tailoring with modern day styles. This has been the mission of Critt Rawlings, Oxxford's president, since joining the company six years ago. Rawlings wants to create a brand that is more relevant --a fraternity rather than a gentlemen's club. To that end, Rawlings hired a team of young men in their 30s and placed them in top-level positions. And he lured New York-based Giovannangelo to the Windy City to serve as the master tailor. "Young men are confused about how to dress for work," says Mike Cohen, Oxxford's senior vice president of sales. "There is a lot of confusion about what suits to buy. But there are a lot of young guys interested in dressing and having individual style."
Together, Rawlings and Giovannangelo came up with a new suit model, the Renaissance, in a more contemporary style, with narrower lapels and a higher gorge. They also infused more fashion into the mix with ticket pockets, side vents, three-button closures and roll-up sleeves.
Recently, Oxxford created period suits from the '70s that the fashionably hip Will Smith and Mario Van Peebles will wear in the upcoming film "Ali."
But Oxxford will not compromise quality for trendy appeal. Even today, before a single Oxxford jacket is finished it must go through the same 165 stages of production, 32 pressings and must have the more than 3,000 hand stitches as the original Weinberg brothers' suit.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on July 5, 2007 05:37:59 PM new
I suppose you have no problem with Laura Bush getting a $700 haircut. Another fiscal conservative no doubt.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on July 5, 2007 08:49:29 PM new
I think that's the crux of the matter...neocons hate the thought of the "less than super wealthy" making money, too. To them only the very wealthy should make money.
They think ALL haircuts should be $7.00 so the person doing the cutting stays in his or her "class".
Oh, and they also believe ONLY Republicans have the right to be super rich like Romney....who I'm sure gets his hair cut at "7 bucks a whack"
But don't worry....he really cares about the poor....he just would never pay 20 bucks for a haircut like the "poor people" he hopes to represent. 
