Palin's 'traveling makeup artist' paid $32,000 a month John Byrne

Published: Friday December 5, 2008





Print This Email This Yesterday, a National Journal report put Palin's total "accessory" and clothing tab at $180,000. Today a report put her total styling bill for hair and makeup at a whopping $110,000.



It gets better -- Palin's "traveling makeup artist" was paid roughly $32,000 a month for the final two months of the campaign.



Palins "traveling makeup artist" raked in $68,400 and her hair stylist netted more than $42,000 -- for roughly two months of work. To put that in perspective, makeup for Palin alone would have cost $410,400 if spread out over an entire year, and her hair -- $252,000.



The campaign finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission and reported by the New York Times late Thursday.



"Ms. Palins makeup artist, Amy Strozzi  who was nominated for an Emmy award for her cosmetics work on the television show So You Think You Can Dance?  was paid $32,400 by Senator John McCains presidential campaign between Oct. 16 and Nov. 24, the period covered by the most recent reports filed with the commission," the Times wrote.



"This amount came on top of the $36,000 she had already been paid in previous reports, dating back to September,," they added.



Angela Lew, Palin's hair stylist, billed another $42,225.



The Republican National Committee was scheduled to report roughly another $30,000 spent on clothing and accessories on Thursday, but the report had not been filed or was not available by late Thursday night.



"In October, Politico revealed that the RNC had spent approximately $150,000 on clothing and accessories for Palin and her family after she was selected as Sen. John McCains running mate," National Journal reported Thursday. "The story provoked a storm of criticism of the Alaska governor, a mother of five and favorite of the conservative wing of the GOP."



GOP officials wouldn't provide many details.



"The amount to be reported is significantly less than $150,000," one RNC official told National Journal. "The accessories on the report are less than $30,000."



The clothing, the official says, is in the committee's possession and

will be dispersed to national and local charities at the appropriate time."



They are said to include "other" accessories purchased for the "hockey mom" before the election.Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) campaign spent more than $150,000 on Palin's wardrobe between late August and Nov. 4.



In early September, the RNC's clothing buys for Palin included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for $49,425.74, and shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one totaling $75,062.63 in September.



The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September, Politico reported. Today's report puts the total cost at more than ten times the original figure.



