“My first reaction when I heard about this was, ‘Honey, I could have dressed you for a lot less than that,’ ” said Cindi Leive, the editor in chief of Glamour magazine, which asked readers on Wednesday to vote in an online poll whether the expenses were too high; 72 percent said they were. “In general, she looks terrific,” Ms. Leive said, “but if you asked me to figure out where the $150,000 went, I’m not sure I could tell you.”

It is not yet clear whether Ms. Palin chose her new wardrobe or worked with stylists and other advisers, or what message her clothes were intended to broadcast. In fact, most of her bracelet sleeve jackets are so generic-looking that they could have come from any of the favored designers of Washington politicians: Oscar de la Renta, Escada and St. John.

The square ivory jacket she wore during her acceptance speech at the Republican Convention was a $2,500 silk shantung Valentino, reportedly bought at Saks. But the black wrap jacket she wore for the vice-presidential debate in St. Louis was a Tahari suit, according to a spokesman for the line, and costs less than $200; her shoes, according to the sleuths at ShoeaholicsAnonymous.com, were red imitation croc pumps from Kate Spade.

To her credit, Ms. Palin has been wearing those suits, and those awkward-yet-efficient, zip-close jackets (nothing says maverick like red leather) repeatedly over the last month, implying a sense of frugality that would belie the credit card statements of the Republican National Committee. To be scrupulously nonpartisan, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., her Democratic counterpart, seems to have a deep wardrobe of ties.