Originally published Friday, October 24, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Comments (2)
E-mail article
Print view
You betcha! Palin look-alikes abound
Claire Zulkey may not have a $150,000 wardrobe, but that hasn't stopped people from telling her she looks like Sarah Palin.
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Claire Zulkey may not have a $150,000 wardrobe, but that hasn't stopped people from telling her she looks like Sarah Palin.
Zulkey, a writer in Chicago, is among the many women who seem to fit the description of the Republican vice-presidential nominee in the minds of their friends, family and co-workers. And it's a comparison that extends far beyond those who resemble Tina Fey.
"If you have the glasses and the brown hair, then you're 75 percent of the way there," she said. "And then if you're unfortunate enough to have bangs, you're there."
Some women don't even need the tousled, brunette updo to get the comparison; blondes and redheads have been told they look like Palin if they wear the right glasses.
Cindy Michaels, a news anchor in Bangor, Maine, said she has gotten hate mail and nasty phone calls from viewers who think she looks like John McCain's running mate. Michaels, who has long, brown and hair and occasionally wears glasses, said the 10 or so complaints came from women telling Michaels she should try to look less like Palin to avoid influencing the election.
"I was kind of shocked when I got the very first phone call. I honestly thought it was a joke," Michaels said. "I did not know I look like her."
Zulkey couldn't say the same for herself. She said she saw her own resemblance to the candidate in her bathroom mirror on the night of the vice-presidential debate.
Zulkey then created a Facebook group called "Women Who Kind of Look Like Sarah Palin Against Sarah Palin," which now has 26 members, some of whom have brown hair and glasses, and some of whom don't.
There are blondes and redheads in that group and other online gatherings of Palin look-alikes, some who say it just takes one feature, such as glasses, to invite comparison. YouTube features dozens of videos featuring Palin look-alikes, not all of them demonstrating family values.
One woman started a Facebook group called "I stopped wearing my glasses because of Sarah Palin," for those who "do NOT look like beauty queens" and resent the comparison.
However, many women are embracing Palin as a style icon.
Her glasses — $375 Kawasaki 704 titanium frames — are selling out, and instructions for getting the Palin 'do abound online. Halloween suppliers have reported ordering more Palinesque wigs for what's expected to be one of the year's hottest costumes.
But whether they like being compared to Palin or not, most women say they don't have plans to change a look they've sported for years.
"I think it's one of those things where you go through your life quietly with your bangs and your brown hair and your glasses and then suddenly you look like Sarah Palin," Zulkey said.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
UPDATE - 11:40 AM
Obama signs order to close Guantanamo in a year
UPDATE - 12:01 PM
Spokesman says Obama is keeping his BlackBerry

Real Salt Lake wins MLS Cup
Real Salt Lake defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy with penalty kicks after 120 minutes of play at Qwest Field in Seattle.
general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
Sporting goods
just listed
8 Drawer Dresser with Attached Mirror - $200
8 seat pecon formal dining table and china hutch - $1500
A American Table, Chairs and Bench - $275
More listings
POST A FREE LISTING
shopping
Give yourself a treat and visit Watson Kennedy's Holiday Open Houses
More minding the store
events for Monday, Nov. 23
- Kimberly Baker Jewelry Launch Party
- Bella Umbrella Holiday Sale
- CraftsGiving
- Beyond Threads Outlet Biannual Clearance Sale
editors' picks
More shopping guides- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Illegal workers quietly let go
283 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
168 - Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
167 - Palin excitement builds in Tri-Cities
132 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
126 - Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle
91 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
70 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
66 - UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
62 - Ranking the Pac
53
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Taste | The Great Pie Bake-off pits friends and fruit


