Prev
Next

Gillard’s new ETS: Elegant, Tailored, Stylish

Lucy Kippist

by Lucy Kippist

04 Mar 05:45am

Must Reads

Eurovision can’t drown out the human rights abuses - this is a caption

Eurovision can’t drown out the human rights abuses

14

Revenge. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than this - this is a caption

Revenge. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than this

50

Friday dilemma: can school bullies grow out of it? - this is a caption

Friday dilemma: can school bullies grow out of it?

121

Filed under: Fashion, Julia Gillard, Politics, Society, Women

96 comments

So the carbon tax is proving a little challenging for the PM - but on the upside, March is looking to be a great month in the style stakes.

Have you noticed yet? Well, take this test.

Here’s a picture of Julia Gillard (during the Queensland floods) wearing what could best be described as a lounge cushion.

Photo:AFP.

And here’s another picture of her wearing what was recently called a “cheap motel bedspread”.

Yes we cut off the bottom of this photo. But trust us, the coat is bad. Photo: The Daily Telegraph.

Now compare those two pictures with this one taken earlier this week.

Lady in red. Photo: Gary Ramage.

See what I mean? When it comes to getting dressed in the morning, the Prime Minister sure is earning some style credits.

And she’s not spending up big at DJs. Unlike GG Quentin Bryce, the PM didn’t receive a $28,000 clothing allowance when she started the job.

There’s no professional help like a stylist, either - though we suspect having a hairdresser for a partner doesn’t hurt you in the style stakes.

The Punch contacted the Prime Minister’s office to enquire as to the reason for Gillard’s apparent glam-up.

Their only response: “Oh thanks. We think she always looks great.”

The PM really shone in Tuesday’s Question Time when she pulled out the big guns and wore the white jacket.

Carbon is black, Julia's jacket is white. Photo: Kym Smith.

Like the cork wedge heel of the 1970s or the stiletto heel, shoulder pads and briefcase of the 1980s, the white jacket is the ultimate symbol of power dressing for the modern woman.

Classically tapered at the waist or fashionably pinched in the shoulders. Single breasted, open to the midriff with a nice pair of slacks or buttoned up with a slim-line skirt.

It’s fresh, highlights a good haircut/blow dry and makes for a terrific, head-turning change to the black suits of yore.

And as long as it’s tailored to fit it can also do the hard work for you.

It says: “I’m so serious about this meeting today that I’m not scared to eat my lunch in this jacket.”

But it does that while also looking very, very, chic.

Gwyneth Paltrow is another ambassador of the white effect. Here she is showcasing its true versatility in a smoking pair of cut-off shorts:

Shorts and a jacket? Whatever, as long as she doesn't sing. Photo: AFP.

Unfortunately you can’t buy the legs, but that’s what hours of yoga, making home-made chicken salad and musing on the seasons will do for you.

Not that it always works, of course. Yes, even the faultless white jacket can be too long, too tight or too frilly.

Here’s Hilary Clinton, on her way to a state dinner in England. Doily anyone?

At least she won't need to worry if she drops her napkin at the dinner table.

Most commented

429Australia, you have nothing to fear but fear itself
390There's no one Thomson won't burn to save his skin
333Animal experiments won't cure me from cancer
313Thomson didn't answer the question everyone is asking
265Who murdered the Arts degree?
246A big day for Thomson, who thus far is guilty of nothing...
231South Australia. It's the middle bottom bit.
231Craig Thomson speaks. Meanwhile, in Australia...

96 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Jo says:

      05:56am | 04/03/11

      This is tongue in cheek.  Isn’t it?

      Reply

    • Joan says:

      07:55am | 04/03/11

      Nope… it`s about the sow that`s dressed up as a silk purse….is that how the saying goes?

    • stephen says:

      09:34am | 04/03/11

      No the saying is Joany : yer gotta have brains to see brains…and you haven’t got any.

    • Joan says:

      10:29am | 04/03/11

      Stephen::  Guess you can’t see my brains cos you ain’t got any brains…. following your logic

    • Amused says:

      01:12pm | 04/03/11

      Must be surely.
      The only taste this woman has is bad. She always looks like a sack of potatoes. Contrast that to Julie Bishop or even Bronwyn Bishop for that matter, they always look immaculate and classy, both dress to their strengths and with style, something obviously devoid in Gillard, along with commitment, integrity, dignity and good manners. The Bishops both speak extremely well and dont have that bogan twang which is almost impossible to listen to.

    • Rick says:

      02:52pm | 04/03/11

      Thats a sows ear dressed up as a silk purse and isnt it great that we live in a country where you can call the PM a sow without being taken out and shot.

    • stephen says:

      03:13pm | 04/03/11

      Julie Bishop ?
      The Minister for Child Minding Services ?
      But Bronwyn’ s a better catch. But she talks almost too well.
      She’s a good front-bencher though, (and a thorough bench-presser.)

    • Tator says:

      06:29pm | 04/03/11

      Nah,
      Barnaby nailed it after Mirabella compared Gillard to Gaddaffi
      He was commented on SKY news that Gaddafi-Gillard comparisons were unfair, as Gaddafi was a much better dresser.

    • acotrel says:

      07:04pm | 04/03/11

      @ amused - Comparing Julia to Bronwyn Bishop or Fascist Barbie, is a very unfortunate! They’re both poisonous personalities.  Julia’s beautiful nature shines through regardless of her appearance, which is not all bad!

    • Tracy says:

      06:16am | 04/03/11

      Now she’s learnt how to dress properly she just needs to learn how to act and talk like a PM. What a stunner she is.

      Reply

    • Andrew says:

      06:30am | 04/03/11

      I don’t like Gillard one bit but why does anyone do fashion pieces on female politicians. It’s ridiculous and demeaning, not to her, I don’t care about her, but rather to women in general.

      It paints females in general as shallow vacuous fashion followers who care nothing for substance.

      Sure we talked about Keatings love of italian suits but apart from that men in politics have no fashion critique. Let’s leave the shallow crap like that aside.

      Reply

    • Erick says:

      07:09am | 04/03/11

      It’s simply untrue to claim that only female politicians are critiqued for fashion bloopers.

      What about Tony Abbott and his budgie smugglers? That got plenty of coverage.

      Just another feminist myth ..

    • Mel says:

      07:12am | 04/03/11

      100% agreement. Except I actually don’t mind Gillard, but really thats beside the point.
      Only reason its a fashion piece, is because she’s female… its a joke. and a waste of time.

    • Mahhrat says:

      07:12am | 04/03/11

      It’s called “Whatever we can get to take the piss”.  Kim Beazley used to cop it because he’s fat, too.

      But you’re quite right Andrew, this article is incredibly sexist.  I can’t remember the last time I saw debate on the menswear sported, except - oh wait, budgie smugglers.

    • Adam Diver says:

      07:32am | 04/03/11

      I think Gillard would love any coverage that doesn’t focus on her little white lie. Lucy is doing her a favor if anything, plus male politicians wear dark suits, there is really not much to critique.

    • Jedi_T says:

      07:39am | 04/03/11

      Exactly Andrew.
      Next well have REality TV Shows like, Australias Most Stylish Pollies or Canberra Shore!

    • The Original Oz says:

      08:21am | 04/03/11

      Erick - the big problem with tone’s budgie smugglkers is that they provided virtually no coverage.

    • Andrew says:

      09:23am | 04/03/11

      Erick, I stand corrected re Abbott. I think the whole budgie smuggler thing is a sad indictment on our “journalists” (if you can call them that). Have said that this piece is an even sadder indictment on how our media and the broader community are taught to think of powerful women. I don’t like Gillard but let’s judge her on her pathetic record and ugly politics not her pathetic dress sense and ugly appearance.

    • Daffyd says:

      09:39am | 04/03/11

      On the topic of budgie smugglers, Abbott might have impressed the womenz and won more of their votes if he wore horizontally-striped budgie smugglers.

    • acotrel says:

      09:58am | 04/03/11

      @ Erick.
      ‘What about Tony Abbott and his budgie smugglers? That got plenty of coverage.’

      It was simply due to shock and revulsion!

    • Mayday says:

      02:08pm | 04/03/11

      Don Dunstan wore safari suits and people often made comments on his dress sense.

    • Rick says:

      02:57pm | 04/03/11

      Oh No dont forget Don Dunstin and the hot pink hot pants…...........oh ok you have to be a woman or gay to get any comment on fashion

    • acotrel says:

      06:59am | 04/03/11

      It appears to me that Julia is simply getting used to doing the most important job in the land.  Every day when I watch question time I see her do it to the dimwits opposite, and she makes it look SO EASY!

      Reply

    • ZSRenn says:

      08:45am | 04/03/11

      You should be watching her more then you would see her head go down when they make a point. You would see her squirming in her seat. You would see her try to divide Australia on racial lines to try and divert attention away from her lies. I do agree though she is looking smarter these days but is that just because of the cooler weather and she put on a jacket. I know it works for me.

    • Bris Jack says:

      08:55am | 04/03/11

      Yes, head kicking the opposition is her forte, but not heading the country.

    • acotrel says:

      09:55am | 04/03/11

      @ZRS
      ‘You would see her try to divide Australia on racial lines to try and divert attention away from her lies.’

      Are you referring to her accusation that the Liberal Party is ‘race baiting’? I can’t imagine what she as thinking of, and she was obliged to withraw!  She must have known that Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison are not so desperate to get the Libs back into power that they’d stoop to using such low, divisive, dangerous, and poisonous tactics?

    • Kathy says:

      04:19pm | 04/03/11

      Labor should find another attack dog, the PM role requires more gravitas.  But kicking heads is her strength.

    • acotrel says:

      07:08pm | 04/03/11

      And what better head to kick than Tony Abbott’s?

    • Paula says:

      07:13am | 04/03/11

      Could you please direct our Prime Minister to the people who dress the Governor General or Anna Bligh.  Our Prime Minister should dress appropriately for her position.  Perhaps her clothes should be tailored made so that they fit propertly.

      Reply

    • Margie says:

      09:18am | 04/03/11

      That white jacket is so ill fitting.  Just look at it from the back - way too tight across the middle. I agree, Gillard should take a leaf out of the book of Bligh.  She also had no idea, until she discovered Queensland designers used for years by Quentin Bryce. Of course, Bligh uses her $100,000 electorate allowance to ;pay for for her clothes and she usually only wears an outfit once, just watch her on the news - except for a few favoured pieces (usually red)  .

    • acotrel says:

      07:25am | 04/03/11

      Andrew the only reason that Keating’s Italian suits were ever mentioned, was to get at him.  It was asserted that a representative of the workers of our country shouldn’t look like one of the upper class! The Libs were, and still are, obsessed with Keating.  He knocked the legs out from under all of their old idols!

      Reply

    • Joan says:

      07:52am | 04/03/11

      Acotrel… Keating looked smashing in those Itlaian suits…. pity about the sewerage that spilled from his mouth when he opened it.

    • Dash says:

      08:32am | 04/03/11

      Hi acotrel, I just wanted to ask you what you mean by a “the workers”. I work 13 hour days, do I qualify. Or do I need to belong to a union like 15% of Australian employees before i qualify? I just get the impression ALP people seem to forget that more than 80% of people are not in unions! And they also seem to forget that the people paying the most tax are often the ones working the hardest and creating the nations wealth.

      Also, could you please explain “working families” for me. I have three children and a dependant wife. But I don’t seem to fit into Gillard’s definition. Perhaps you can enlighten me as to what constitutes a “working family”. All my bills seem to have gone up since the ALP came to power and I don’t seem to qualify for anything.

      Also, any chance someone might explain the proposed Carbon tax compensation scheme for households to me. They keep bringing it up and it sounds good, but the sceptic in me worries that middle Australia may be left out of their compensation package. Are the ALP going to decide who gets compensated and who doesn’t? Will all households be compensated based on their level of Co2 output or will income and demographics come into the equation? How’s it going to work because it seems like a very socialist policy too me! Let those in LNP demographics pay and redistribute to ALP and Green voters! It just smells bad!

      Also, I am very critical of the current ALP. I have seen what they did in NSW and I can see what they have done since 07, the broken promises, lies and under delivery. But I must say, Hawke and Keating can be credited for quite a lot (as can Howard and Costello I might add). Keating’s superannuation changes and the implementation of the Campbell financial deregulation report (commissioned by Howard) in the early eights were fantastic and should be commended. BUT acotrel, this ALP government is a bloody disgrace. It is not a Hawke Keating styled ALP. It is the most socialist government in our history. It has wasted taxpayers money hand over fist and has continually over promised and under delivered. And the carbon tax is the biggest FRAUD purpetrated by a government that I have seen!

    • ZSRenn says:

      08:49am | 04/03/11

      @ actoral That isn’t the reason the budgie smugglers are constantly bought up. “To get at TA.” Thanks actoral for the update I thought it was!

    • Andrew says:

      09:20am | 04/03/11

      um ok, then he got smashed in ‘96 and you guys were in the wilderness for 11 years. Keating was a snob. He thought he was better than everyone and his legendary vitriol was indicative of a very sour and ugly personality. I liked his owrk on the Accords though.

    • acotrel says:

      10:12am | 04/03/11

      I’m a Labor supporter, and I never liked Keating. However since I’ve come to recognise the effect he had on the Liberal Party, I’ve decided love him!

    • Richard says:

      10:34am | 04/03/11

      Well I’m a Liberal supporter, but Paul Keating is my all time favourite PM~ (although if Peter Costello ever had become PM, I would have had to change my tune)

    • acotrel says:

      11:30am | 04/03/11

      @Paul It’s very strange how time changes our perspective on things.  I had a real dislike for Fraser, now I can see that he was not so bad.

    • acotrel says:

      11:33am | 04/03/11

      @Joan - Beauty is in the eye of the beholder?  I never heard any ‘sewerage’ come out of his mouth. However I saw him get right up the Libs on several occasions!

    • Bile duct says:

      12:21pm | 04/03/11

      Keating had wit and humour
      Abbott has hate and more hate.

      Abbott is an intellectual lightweight

    • Andrew says:

      12:41pm | 04/03/11

      @ Bill Duct: No I believe he boxed in the middleweight division…... at a little backwater university called Oxford…. you might have heard of it.

    • Bile duct says:

      01:20pm | 04/03/11

      intellectual lightweight
      certainly didn’t major in science or common sense.
      I suggest he got the snot knocked out of him one time to many in the ring.

      Can’t regrow those brain cells unfortunately. One more blow to the head and he’s toast.

    • rick says:

      03:15pm | 04/03/11

      Keating was a stylist…..and I love the comment just before Howard got smashed in the election…...“Howards a corpse swinging in the wind and NOBODY has the guts to cut him down” and thats the point nobody in the Liberal party has any guts. Sewage maybe to some but it smelt sweet to me.

    • acotrel says:

      07:18pm | 04/03/11

      @Andrew - I don’t believe boxing in university qualifies someone to be called an intellectual.  The smallest book on the planet must be the’ Condensed Works of Tony Abbott’?  Can you point me towards any of his PhD papers which have been peer reviewed?  I note he hasn’t got the cheek to call himself Doctor Abbott! At least John Hewson was the real deal!

    • PW says:

      07:36am | 04/03/11

      I am a firm believer in that which works good, looks good. And Julia looks more hideous by the day.

      Reply

    • Joan says:

      07:48am | 04/03/11

      Gillard has been wearing virginal pure white since the day she knifed Rudd ...often…..to purify her image her lies and backstabbing ways. Believe me nobody out here is fooled by her whitewash.

      Reply

    • Charles says:

      07:51am | 04/03/11

      I think we should allocate a stylist for the PM, it is not a matter of being able to afford it, we can’t afford not to.

      Every time she comes on TV, I start wondering why we are looking at a picture of a lounge suite in Macquarie Fields, and then it starts to move and speak.

      Reply

    • Jo says:

      11:08am | 04/03/11

      and immediately, before she goes to the Royal Wedding.
      Could we find the Womens Weekly Julia and send her or was that all smoke and mirrors?

    • pete says:

      07:56am | 04/03/11

      I dont care if she wore a potato sack as long as she can do the job.  Tony and co are coming across like schoolyard bullies, more importantly that is not a good look.  A great example for school children who are told not to taunt jibe or bully, yet they see the alternate PM and his team do it everyday.

      Reply

    • antiCHRIST says:

      04:56pm | 04/03/11

      Gillards lying and backstabbing must be a better example then?

    • acotrel says:

      07:21pm | 04/03/11

      @anticHrist - Julia gives a very good example of how to handle bullies!

    • stevie p says:

      08:01am | 04/03/11

      Sorry, it doesn’t matter how you dress - if you have a barge arse, things are difficult.

      Reply

    • Shane says:

      09:32am | 04/03/11

      I am sure you’re the hottest thing ever, stevie p.
      Idiot.

    • Margie says:

      10:22am | 04/03/11

      Also, no matter how you look, if you sound like a fishwife as she does,nothing else matters. I cringe every time she opens her mouth!  ... especially in Question Time as she attempts to berate the opposition! .You can take the girl out of the working class but you can’t take the working class out of the girl… and WHY did an Australian paper this week refer to her “WElSH” parents?  Haven’t they become Australian citizens yet?????

    • Sodapoppy says:

      01:35pm | 04/03/11

      Just fancy, we are being represented at the Royal wedding by an uncouth sheila from Altona, and her current live-in, the snipper from Shepparton! Why doesn’t she cart along all the exes, Craig would be in it in a flash, I reckopn!

    • acotrel says:

      07:24pm | 04/03/11

      @ Stevie p - There’s nothing wrong with an ample bottom on a woman.  You must be very young?

    • Ben says:

      08:14am | 04/03/11

      “I’m so serious about this meeting today that I’m not scared to eat my lunch in this jacket.” LOL.

      Why shouldn’t our PM look this smart? Love it.

      Reply

    • Denny Crane says:

      08:19am | 04/03/11

      This is a joke, isnt her main aim is to try and run the country, then again she cant do that

      Reply

    • Col. of Blackburn says:

      08:24am | 04/03/11

      So Acotrel me old mate, what are you and your mates up there in King Street going to do when we, the people of Australia, knock the pins out from under JooLIAR on Wed 23rd?

      Reply

    • Phil says:

      08:30am | 04/03/11

      One thing is certain, whoever buys her clothes should cop a flogging. My thoughts on the cushion and motel bed spread are they were Christmas presents adn she thought if she wore them once on TV she could chuck them away.
      As many know I dont like her, in fact I dislike JuLIAR Gillard.

      Reply

    • mary says:

      08:31am | 04/03/11

      Don’t like it when women bash women about their fashion sense. And don’t like it when our PM is under scrutiny for anything other than her duties as PM either.

      Who of us would ever stand in front of our mirror in the morning thinking, I look perfectly hideous, now let’s go out and meet the world?

      Nah, we all do the best we can (apart from obnoxious teenagers) and doubt if any of us would appreciate publicly being picked to pieces for our dress sense, again and again and again.

      I say the more we let the woman get on with the job of governing the country the less energy she has to spend defending herself or fretting over what to wear so as not to be hacked to bits.

      Reply

    • Helen says:

      08:36am | 04/03/11

      Very disappointing that yet again, people are scrutinising female politicians for their clothes/makeup/bodies rather than their policies. Maybe one day, Lucy, you’ll be in a prominent position and know the frustration of being taken less seriously than your “default human” (that is, male) counterparts.

      Reply

    • Greg says:

      10:40am | 04/03/11

      Scrutinise Gillard for her body and her policies and you reach the same conclusion: YUK!

      If you were more rational and less emotional, perhaps you’d be taken as seriously? Just a thought.

    • Greg says:

      08:38am | 04/03/11

      You can put on a new dress but unfortunately you can’t put on a new head!

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      03:59pm | 04/03/11

      Your wife told me you look good in a dress.
      And as for your head, she’s trying someone else’s.

    • poa says:

      08:41am | 04/03/11

      Gillards government is getting to be more and more of a circus each day, and Julia can supply the tent!
      Whats with the black and white outfits?
      Especially that coat with the vertical stripes (cos its thinning!)
      Australia has a great fashion industry. Perhaps like France with Mrs Sarkozy, Julia could at least try to wear some of it!
      At the moent all she needs is bigger shoes and slightly baggier trousers, and she could fill in for Ronald McDonald on his days off.

      Reply

    • marley says:

      08:51am | 04/03/11

      Maybe it’s only anglo societies that ignore men’s dress and focus on women’s outfits.  In Italy, people may dislike Berlusconi, but they do admire the cut of his suits - and say so.  The Russians adore Putin’s macho stylings.  And certainly, back in 1960s and 1970s Canada, Pierre Trudeau was much admired for his way with black capes and red roses.

      Reply

    • AdamC says:

      08:57am | 04/03/11

      “There’s no professional help like a stylist, either - though we suspect having a hairdresser for a partner doesn’t hurt you in the style stakes. “

      Actually, I have always seen Jools’ hair as one of her key weaknesses, along with policy and sincerity. If you look at the history of Julia in pictures, you see a succession of unfortunate hairstyle experiments. However, the current loose, unimaginitive bob doesn’t do mych for her either. It actually seems to highlight that massive snoz of hers!

      (Just a thought, but aren’t these kind of discussions regarded as politically incorrect and therefore frowned upon?)

      Reply

    • fairsfair says:

      05:05pm | 04/03/11

      Nah Adam, I say discuss and discuss on. Anna Bligh, Kineally and other leaders manage to look nice most of the time (Bligh looks cracking in red) and I am loving her new short hair. It really suits her. I still think she is a crap politician, but I digress.

      Why can’t our Jools get some stuff tailor made (can’t she just do the old holiday to Thailand and get them to churn out some made to fit clothing like other Aussies do?). Or better still, just buy some god damned decent clothes? Target even have some decent stuff lately if she is worried about cost wink

      I have resisted commenting on this all day as all it does is bring me back to the old family saying “you can’t make strawberry jam out of pig shit”. Ain’t that the truth.

    • simon says:

      08:58am | 04/03/11

      Pinocchio Gillard looks like a frumpy version of Morticia. As an Australian I am embarrassed to see her up there representing Australia. Her choice of clothes only highlights her lack of style and If her hair style is indicative of her boyfriends hairdressing talents, well I wouldn’t let him near a unkempt gorilla!!

      Reply

    • Peggy Hand says:

      09:36am | 04/03/11

      I thought her dress sense was an embarrasement yesterday meeting the Malaysian PM and his party. The ladies with the Malaysian dignitaries were elegantly dressed, then along comes Julia in an outfit, obviously left over from the old bus conductresses days. Dark suit (too tight for her figure) and a scruffy darkish blue shirt(couldn’t call it a blouse). Perhaps Vinnies boutique or Life Line will donate her a more suitable outfit for the Royal Wedding. She will now probably vote herself a larger salary. Free residence, food, wine all travel expenses.As one of the Australian Taxpayers, thereby her employer, I think we are not really getting any value from her in return for our hard earned money.

      Reply

    • MGM says:

      09:52am | 04/03/11

      She models her clothes off Chico,walks like Groucho and makes as much sense as Harpo,her honesty and integrity are a joke

      Reply

    • Gladys says:

      10:23am | 04/03/11

      You didn’t mention the shiney pink jacket from last week. She looked like a satin duck.

      Reply

    • Scarneck says:

      01:49am | 05/03/11

      Is it normal practice for women to be so bitchy? The comments here are quite amazing…I don’t ever recall men referring to male PM’s in such bitchy (probably wrong word) ways! - Perhaps women have a natural jealous or envious streak that they can not or fail to control. Give it a break ladies (cough, splutter) Our PM deserves more respect. When anyone of you ‘mother of dogs’ can do better than Julia Gillard…put your hand up!!

    • Paul says:

      10:39am | 04/03/11

      I’d rather she spoke properly.
      She sets a bad example with her sloppy and lazy monologue, adopting a lazy manner with her ‘communidee’, ‘pardee’, ‘wader’, ‘fordy’, and ‘disabilidee’.
      Kim Beasely was accused of being verbose, but he was always articulate.

      Reply

    • Rolls Canardly says:

      11:28am | 04/03/11

      Let’s not forget, “Oi wonna”.
      I’d just love to hear her having a crack at reciting Bill Shakespeare.
      She’s been hanging around Albanese too long.
      That man is a dolt.

    • Shifter says:

      10:39am | 04/03/11

      I always liked Ethan Hawke’s line in Reality Bites: “You look like a doily”.

      Reply

    • Beth says:

      10:50am | 04/03/11

      There is nothing elegant, tailored or stylish about our PM.  Tailoring around a large bosom, large waist and large hips and bum, simply means tight fitting outfit on a fat woman.  Oooopppsss! the PM is overweight, therefore, she will have to be legislated against as ‘unlawful’, just like smoking in SA and the anti fatness and anti alcohol drinking laws which will surely follow.  PS can you also outlaw long earlobes?  Sorry this is so picky personally, however, that is what can occur in a communist country - which is exactly where “Red Julia” is taking Australia.

      Reply

    • Mayday says:

      02:05pm | 04/03/11

      Thanks Beth for mentioning Julia’s large bosom which never seem to sit right…......can someone please fit this woman with a DECENT BRA?

    • Ras Putin says:

      02:22pm | 04/03/11

      Oh Beth you must be so perfect! May i ask why so many lady bloggers are so anti Gillard ?  My guess would be that she has achieved so much,and you ladies have achieved zilch; which has provoked so much jealousy!!

    • Amy Sturt says:

      10:58am | 04/03/11

      Wow.  Lucy.  Talk about taking it way too far!  There’s no way she’s having a good month!  The other day she had a rusty red cami and a dirty brown velvet jacket on that cut her in all the wrong places.  One of the QT regulars said she looked like a red breasted duck.  I couldn’t have put it better really.

      It was only later this week that she wore a jacket that didn’t cut her in all the wrong places.  With the vast array of jackets in her wardrobe (I get it, trusty black pants are way more versatile with different jacket every day) she should have more than one or two that actually fit her properly. 

      I don’t know who her stylist is, but she needs a new one.  It’s not the only thing she could learn from ever immaculate Julie Bishop.

      Reply

    • Margie says:

      01:01pm | 04/03/11

      Bile Duct…...  Don’t you know that Abbott is a Rhodes Scholar, as is Turnbull.  So much for being an intellectual lightweight which is what Gillard & Co. are….  and as for the bad haircuts that Gillard sports, I suggest that she change her hairdresser.  The other day she was resplendant in bright red hair & jacket to match!

    • mmr 4/3/11 says:

      06:18pm | 04/03/11

      Without the mass media, nobody would realise that Abbott and the Liberals even exist , let alone know what Liberal is and attempt to support Liberal as a swank initiative.

      Reply

    • Harriet says:

      07:56pm | 04/03/11

      If Tony Abbott becomes PM will we be seeing updates on his ‘elegant’ sense of style? It annoys me that having a female PM means that we view her as a style icon, rather than a policy maker at the head of our government.

      Reply

    • Mee says:

      11:53pm | 04/03/11

      @Harriet,Two things Gillard will never be remembered for are as head of government or a policy maker,she is a token and she is spent!

    • E Kelly says:

      08:08pm | 04/03/11

      @mmr,,,,Rudd will always remember Abbott,Ju-liar may have pulled the handle,but Abbott sent him to the Gallows,you are a dullard!!

      Reply

    • SteveO says:

      09:37pm | 04/03/11

      Johnny Howard was a really ugy little bugger and he couldn’t bowl either.

      Who cares about fashion, that bowling attempt was probably the single most embarrassing thing an Aussie PM has ever done.  Gillard will have to work hard to outdo that.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGqTayhu5QM

      I think the first comment under the video says it all.

      Reply

    • gra gra says:

      11:05am | 05/03/11

      Seems Abbott’s budgie smugglers got a lot of coverage. I don’t know why. I’m told they didn’t have much to cover.

      Reply

    • Ryan says:

      11:42am | 05/03/11

      @gra gra: joy, yet another surf lifesaver hater. Tell me gra gra, do you go down to the beach to attack our surf lifesaving volunteers?

    • Living in the past darkly says:

      03:04pm | 05/03/11

      Ryan
      every time there is a picture of lifesavers on the punch, they are wearing board shorts.
      Abbott thinks he is living back in the 50’s. Get with the program Ryan it’s 2011. Boards shorts went out of fashion last century.

    • Gary says:

      11:56pm | 05/03/11

      gra gra, with most surf lifesavers wearing board shorts, Tony would be in better company wearing his beloved red ‘smugglers in the Mardi Gras parade. I’m sure all the ‘Bruces’ would welcome him with open arms.

    • Thommo says:

      10:20pm | 05/03/11

      Someone send the Welsh tart home. It’s embarrassing.

      Reply

    • Sam says:

      11:51pm | 05/03/11

      I have perused most of the comments in this thread, and I was surprised to see most of the bitchy comments came from men (apart from Joan, who could bitch for Australia).
      And then it clicked, the Mardi Gras parade brings them all out of the woodwork.

      Reply

    • Mark says:

      10:14am | 06/03/11

      Hey Sam - guess what - I’m female yet post under a male name to avoid misogynist retakiation. But I still hate Gillard with a passion. I think it’s a combination of her voice, her Icequeen of Narnia demeanour and Look, and the fact that she and leigh sales could have been split at both. I no longer tell people I’m australian in online forums either - it’s just too embarrassing.

      Reply

    • Sam says:

      09:50am | 07/03/11

      @ Mark says:10:14am | 06/03/11
      ‘Mark’, thanks for the hands-up. You have partially reassured my opinion of man. I was seeking confirmation that at least some of you were women, thats why I worded my post as I did.
      In reality, only women and would-be women are capable of such vitreiolic bile as is frequently spewed forth here. All the attacks on how Julia’s looks, her speech, her red hair, her large arse, these aren’t the thoughts of genuine males.
      I singled Joan out from the rest, because I suspect, by her total vile hatred, she may well be Sophie Mirabella incognito.
      I post all this at the risk of sounding misogynistic, but in truth I have no fear, in fact I admire, women who get to the top. It doesn’t happen all that often, because the business and political worlds are full of true ‘misogynists’. Sure you have a female deputy in the coalition, but she hasn’t got a chance in hell of advancement. The Libs wouldn’t allow it, the ‘good ole boy’ redneck Nats wouldn’t, Murdoch wouldn’t, and Alan Jones would wet his frilly pink panties and sob like a baby at the thought.
      I still haven’t worked out how Maggie Thatcher succeeded, unless she had a dirt file on all those around her as damaging as the file Howard used to stay in the top job, even when the world knew he would bring the party down. Hey, he sounded alot like Gadafi, don’t you think? with the false ‘everybody loves me’ bit?.

    • Marcus says:

      09:13am | 07/03/11

      I hope Prime Minister Bob Brown is happy with himself.

      Reply
 
Comment

Facebook Recommendations

Read all about it

Punch live

Up to the minute Twitter chatter

Paul Colgan

Colgo 25 May 12 10:37PM

Greece makes the final and Ireland gets in on a golden ticket. How awkward and embarrassing. Love it. #sbseurovision

Anthony Sharwood

antsharwood 25 May 12 10:00PM

Every single #eurovision band is roxette #sbseurovision

Anthony Sharwood

antsharwood 25 May 12 09:58PM

The weird thing about #eurovision is you've got this massive collection of dorks in a room and no one is wearing Spock ears #sbseurovision

Anthony Sharwood

antsharwood 25 May 12 09:52PM

Europe has the large hadron collider which is light years ahead of its time and #eurovision, where the eighties never die

See all tweets

Recent posts

The latest and greatest

Eurovision can’t drown out the human rights abuses

by Claire Mallinson

14

Eurovision can’t drown out the human rights abuses

Last year, thousands of Azerbaijanis spontaneously took to the streets of Baku shouting and chanting.…

Revenge. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than this

by The Punch Team

50

Revenge. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than this

Last month, Katy McCaffrey boarded the Disney Wonder cruiseliner. At some point during the trip, a sneaky…

Friday dilemma: can school bullies grow out of it?

by Tory Maguire

121

Friday dilemma: can school bullies grow out of it?

ClubsNSW is set to introduce a fresh new effort to combat schoolyard intimidation, insisting on a principal’s…

Nosebleed Section

choice ringside rantings

From: They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

Michael S says:

"A teacher at Geelong Grammar had criticised her for using words that were too long, which had left her confused and had made her doubt her ability to write essays. She became ''quite distressed'' when her English marks began to fall." I can sympathise. My scholastic mentors conveyed to me a causal relationship… [read more]

From: Welfare for breeders is a bonus for everyone

Change Up! says:

I have no problem paying my taxes. As a single, childless person on a very decent income, I can afford it and not have my life severely altered. Plus I understand that my taxes paying for things like schools, childcare and infrastructure is ultimately a good thing. A better community is better for me… [read more]

Light weight

Gentle jabs to the ribs

They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

A private school girl’s family is sueing her elite, extremely expensive private school for not… Read more

243 comments

Newsletter

Read all about it

Sign up to the free daily Punch newsletter

Subscribe to The Punch RSS feed