When Sarah Palin was chosen to be the Republican's vice presidential candidate, who would have thought her candidacy wardrobe would amount to $150,000!  Supporters argue she needed multiple clothes for multiple climates, however in all honesty, who is their image consultant?  Based on the looks selected for Sarah Palin's public appearances, her Valentino looks could have been substituted with Tahari and Albert Nipon.  It’s all about shopping smart at Neiman Marcus. 

"In general people's clothing budget should not exceed more than 20 percent of ones income no matter how much of a fashionista you are," says Image Consultant and Personal Shopper Michelle T. Sterling. "Average wardrobe expenditures normally range from 5 to 10 percent of income except for my clients, of course." 

However when it comes to Sarah Palin and the Republican Campaign, there apparently is no such thing as average or even above average expenditure!  While other image experts according to USA Today's article on October 23rd by Olivia Barker seem to back the $150,000 clothing expenditure, Image Expert Michelle T. Sterling, Founder of Global Image Group thinks this number is outrageous.  Interesting coming from a clothes horse whose wardrobe is worth well over that amount...it's cumulative of course! 

The following are Sterling's styling recommendations on how to get Sarah Palin's look for less - try $1,500 which would probably have been more consistent in expenditure given the message the Republicans wanted Sarah Palin's image to project and communicate.

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