Barack Obama has no respect for the traditions of the presidency, which is why he doesn’t always wear a jacket in the Oval Office. In other words, our old buttoned-up White House has become a thriving third-world Hawaiian slum where everybody wears floral muumuus and walks around with fat spliffs in their fists. George W. Bush is rolling in his grave. MORE »

Pulitzer winner Robin Givhan, in today’s Washington Post: MORE »

Still no sign of the Xylophone. (Photo by, you guessed it, Liz Gorman)

Typ-i-cal. As soon as The Atlantic moves to Washington, suddenly no one there knows how to dress. So here comes management with a friendly list of guidelines.

Per the New York Observer’s Gabe Sherman:

“Our policy is intentionally vague and does not specifically exclude certain articles of clothing or types of shoes,” Susan Lavigne, Atlantic director of benefits and compensation wrote. Lavigne then went on to specifically exclude certain articles of clothing and types of shoes: “Flip-flops, crop tops, tank tops, spaghetti-strap tops, and shorts (to name a few) are not appropriate.”

Full memo after the jump.

MORE »

What, you think working for a free paper is all loosey-goosey anything goes hippie bullshit? It’s a business, dammit, you’ll treat it as such! Here, for your perusal, are samples from the dress code at the DC Examiner (instututed, no doubt, after Vivienne Sosnowski showed up in torn denim mini-skit and studded collar) — we note that it doesn’t appear to have been written (or read) by a copy-editor.

From the “Appropriate” column:

* Dresses (length cannot be more than three inches above the knee). ["more than"?]
* Pants in business suitable fabrics. [Satin, leather, vinyl, etc.]

And the more fun “Inappropriate” column:

* Any type of denim (including jean dresses, denim shirts, denim pants, denim skirts, etc.).
* Any material resembling denim.
* Khaki or Docker- style pants. [Harsh, but fair -- we have a similar rule against tucking your t-shirt into your jeans]
* Stirrup pants and leggings. [That, along with their anti-sweatband and big sunglasses provision, explains their disappointing lack of hipster coverage]
* Camouflage clothing [Despite this, they still manage to poach Wash Times staffers]
* Clothing is not to be overly tight nor draw undue attention to ones self.

Full memo after the jump.

MORE »