What Is It With the Clothes?
When Vladimir Putin strode out to his press conference with George Bush today, his two-button suitcoat flared in the wind, revealing a scarlet silk lining. Putin, boldly eschewing the power tie and pinstripes chosen by powerful leaders on world stage, opted instead for the swashbuckling style of the sexually at ease. Putin challenges expectations and assumptions. There is undeniable authority in his lift heels and understated lizard skin suspenders . . . essays and books have been written about the erotic nature of high heels. The sexual frisson in Putin’s look also comes from the tension of a man dressed in vaguely feminine attire.
Putin’s jacket and boots speak of sex and power. When looking at the image of Putin in Bratislava, the mind searches for ways to put it all into context. It turns to fiction, to caricature, to shadowy daydreams. It is as though sex and power can only coexist in a fantasy. When a man combines them in the real world, stubborn stereotypes have his power devo…