Sarah Palin ditches $150,000 wardrobe for a pair of blue jeans after uproar over expensive clothes

By David Gardner for MailOnline

Updated: 17:51 EST, 27 October 2008

Blue jean girl: Sarah Palin waves to the crowd at a rally yesterday

Sarah Palin campaigned in jeans and a jacket from her favourite second-hand store yesterday in an attempt to defuse the outcry over her £100,000 designer wardrobe.

With Barack Obama shrugging off accusations of arrogance to make the 'closing argument' of his campaign, Mrs Palin generated at least as much attention with her new dress-down look.

The reverse makeover, which included the abandonment of her trademark beehive-style hair, came as the 44-year-old Alaska governor tried to repair her dented image as a frugal hockey mom with simple tastes.

Gone was the £1,500 cream silk Valentino jacket she wore in her convention speech and the ritzy suits and skirts from her Pretty Woman-style shopping spree with campaign handlers.

In its place at a rally in Asheville, North Carolina, was a pair of her own blue jeans and a jacket without any discernable designer label from Out of the Closet, a second-hand store in Anchor-age, Alaska.

For good measure, she pointed out that her earrings were made by her Native American mother-in-law and her wedding ring cost £22.

The move was part of a final push by John McCain and Mrs Palin to make up for lost ground that has cost them crucial momentum in the final leg of campaign.

But ironically it had the effect of distracting people from a radio discussion, unearthed by the Republicans from 2001, in which Mr Obama lamented failures to bring about socialist-style 'redistributive change'.

The interview was described by Mr McCain's campaign as proof that the Democratic nominee was a dangerous radical and that his recent comment to a plumber in Ohio that 'when you spread the wealth around it's a good thing for everybody' was not an innocent slip.

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Sarah's style council: 'I'm back to wearing my old clothes'

Mr McCain has made Mr Obama's remark to the plumber, Joe Wurzelbacker, the centrepiece of his faltering campaign in its final days, lauding 'Joe the Plumber' as the archetypal ordinary American at risk from high taxes designed to divert middle-class wealth to the poor.

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With seven days to go before America goes to the polls, Mr Obama is projected to be near or even above the 270 electoral college votes he needs to become the first black U.S. President.

Aides said he wanted to bury his 72- year-old Republican rival with his speech last night in which he appealed to voters to 'turn the page' on American political disasters and embrace a new era.

No ordinary Joe: Palin's handlers splashed out on the clothes without telling the candidate how much they were spending, Republicans claim

Mr Obama, 47, condemned Mr McCain as a clone of deeply unpopular President Bush and told voters: 'In one week, you can turn the page on policies that have put the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street before the hard work and sacrifice of folks on Main Street.'

Mr Obama is expected to adopt a more positive tone in the final week, calling for an end to partisan attacks as he tries to unify the country.

Tomorrow he plans to deliver a 'knock-out punch' to Mr McCain at a huge rally in Florida where he will campaign for the first time with Bill Clinton.

The candidate also splashed out $22,000 in two weeks on a make-up artist

But a sour note was touched by Amazon online store, which posted a £30 Obama Halloween mask on its 'Terrorist Costume' page, before catching the mistake and deleting it.

Elsewhere, an effigy of Mrs Palin hanging by a noose sparked uproar, despite the display creator insisting it was 'just Halloween fun'.

The mannequin wearing Mrs Palin's trademark glasses, a beehive wig and a red coat was strung up outside a house in the West Hollywood area of Los Angeles.

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