Cathy Horyn, a fashion writer for the NY Times, think post-election Barack Obama has taken to dressing like Jerry Seinfeld. To which we say, “Who cares?” and “Thank God this sort of meaningless babble over clothing is not limited to women in the public eye.” So we were ready to happily ignore Horyn’s article altogether until we came across this:

Andrew Ross, a professor and chairman of the department of social and cultural analysis at New York University, points out that informality in presidents isn’t just about looking relaxed. “It’s intended to convey clear-cut messages,” Mr. Ross said.

He cited the examples of Jimmy Carter, who wore a cardigan when he asked Americans to turn down their thermostats and save energy; and Mr. Reagan, whose khakis and jeans projected a frontier mentality that jibed with his view of big government.

Interesting. So what sort of message would Obama be trying to send, then? That he’s a soccer dad, a family man, a weekend warrior? Illuminate us, Mr. Ross:

“It remains a fact that white males can dress down much more easily than women and minorities,” he said. That’s because, unlike white males, their formal rights have never been secure. Hence they lean toward more formal attire.

Wait. What?

Referring to casual dress, he added: “There are just too many traps involving black male stereotypes that Obama could fall into. He’s likely to be on guard.”

We hardly think Obama is in danger of being photographed wearing jeans belted at the knee with his boxers hanging out, which is the sort of style to which we suspect Ross may be referring. Just like Arkansas-born Bill Clinton stood no chance of walking around in a wifebeater and Confederate flag boxers. This is an Ivy-educated, upper class father of two who has held public office for a while now. His style is probably going to reflect that. To us, Obama doesn’t seem to dress like a “casual white dude.” He’s just dressing like a wealthy, kind of nerdy dad might on the weekends.

We’re not sure “facility in donning casual wear” has as much to do with race as it does with social class and economic background. Take a trip to a poor, small, rural, working-class town and you’re likely to see people of all races dressed in the same faded t-shirts and stone-washed jeans. Attend this thing known as “brunch” in an affluent suburb and you’re likely to see Mr. Gonzalez, Smith, Washington, Ng and Garcia-Fitzgerald-Klein all wearing the same khaki pants. With pleats.

As for women, we’d argue that we, in general, have an easier time dressing down simply because we have more clothing option available to us as well as society’s ok to be more experimental and creative in our clothing choices. Men who are “too” into fashion, even casual wear, are often stigmatized in a way women are not.

This man has the economy, foreign relations, Iraq and his daughter’s allergies on his mind. We’re sure picking out which jacket he’s going to wear on a random Saturday outing with this family is neither his concern, nor ours.

Loosening His Tie (Sort Of) [NY Times]