Alicia Keys wore a Barack Obama tee for her performance at the Keep A Child Alive Black Ball, and now she's hoping to use it to raise even more money for charity by auctioning it off.

What in the world could push a headline about the so-hot and so-interesting Barack Obama to the very bottom of the cover of GQ? A bevy of Victoria Secret models in underwear, of course.

The September issue of GQ is expected to be one of their biggest ever, with Heidi Klum and her sexy lady friends like Adriana Lima, Marisa Miller, Karolina Kurkova, Alessandra Ambrosio, Miranda Kerr, Izabel Goulart, Selita Ebanks, Isabelli Fontana, Candice Swanepole, Julia Stegner, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley gracing the (fold out) cover and several pages inside.

The spread was photographed by Gavin Bond and features a literally wild selection of outfits: zebra stripes, leopard spots, scales, feathers, and oh yeah, tons of skin.

We don't have much to add. This is more of a visual story, you know?

In the cutthroat world of national politics, a candidate's appreciation for designer styles can sometime hurt their image as much as it can help. A year ago, pundits had a field day roasting John Edwards over his $400 haircut. Now, it looks like the elitist shoe is on the other foot -- and the blogosphere is buzzing over a pair of Ferragamo loafers that John McCain has been spotted wearing on the campaign trail.

The loafers in question retail for about $520 at Nieman Marcus -- and really, they're pretty decent-looking. While some are trying to make the point that McCain's out of touch with regular Americans, we doubt anyone's going to penalize him for his attempt at looking fashionable. Come on, when it comes to looks, he's going to need all the help he can get.

We argue that it's not his choice of footwear that makes McCain out of touch with middle-class Americans -- if anything, it's the fact that he's really freakin' old and fabulously wealthy. Duh.

[via Jossip]

Barack Obama's face has already been featured on flags, t-shirts, and even designer men's underwear. Now, some dude named Van Taylor is hocking Nike Air Force sneakers, hand-painted with Barack's face and slogans, online for $500 a pair. We have to hand it to the guy, it's a brilliant idea. We think he'll still be trying to fill orders when the 2012 presidential election rolls around.

When people start painting your face on shoes, you know you've reached a level of popularity that is both awesome and freakishly scary. We can't remember too many celebrities who've had the honor of being depicted on footwear. Oprah's face has never been on a shoe. Che Guevara? Jesus? It's pretty much just Michael Jordan and Obama.

If I were an aging, dorky, white presidential candidate -- I would certainly be worried about my chances. Maybe someone in the McCain camp should start hand-painting Sperry Top-Siders.

[via PopCrunch]

If you've ever thought to yourself "Man that Obama... he is one foxy guy," then you and Donatella Versace are on the same page.

While presidential fashion isn't necessarily the first thing that the public worries about when choosing the next leader of the free world it's still important. Barack Obama went for a bike ride last weekend and the blogs slammed him for his choice of too tight, too short jeans, a tucked in shirt and a helmet.

A lot of people have compared Barack Obama's ability to energize and unite the American people to that of JFK. There's also another resemblance: they're both tongue-in-cheek sex symbols. Very few presidential candidates -- much less the collectively unattractive US Presidents -- ever get the honor of having their face plastered on a pair of designer underwear.

Aside from offering support for dudes who wish they had a more shapely butt, designer Andrew Christian is showing his love for the Democrats' apparent nominee with a new line of Obama-emblazoned boxer-briefs. For $29, you can order these semi-creepy undies in green, blue, or royal blue -- $1 from each purchase goes to benefit the Democrat Party. How generous. We're seriously wondering why he isn't marketing any Obama panties or boy shorts?

To McCain supporters, Christian says: tough shizzle. He's a proud Democrat, plus he doesn't think that anyone would buy boxers with John's mug on them -- and he's probably right. See out McCain's dorky green gear.

We're a little late to the party on this, but did anyone else see Barack Obama's concession speech in PA on Tuesday night? He lost the Democratic primary to Hillary Clinton, but rather than discussing the outcome, the Interwebs are instead abuzz with photos of those three dudes behind him wearing t-shirts with huge Abercrombie and Fitch logos plastered on the front.

For those interested in the fashion of politics, not only does Urban Outfitter have a collection of hilarious political t-shirts for you, but they've also got a political blog. Why would a lifestyle brand like Urban Outfitters want to take a journey into the seedy world of politics? It's hard to say really -- unless it's a bid to get one of the candidates to let UO design their campaign propaganda.

From what we can tell, the blog is about as jaded as their goofy political clothing -- too disenchanted and business-savvy to be very partisan. Most of what you'll find is surprisingly unrelated to fashion -- stuff like news, book recommendations, and candidate portraits done on Etch-a-sketch. Some of it is actually funny, but really, isn't this a bit of a stretch for a hipster department store? It just shows how far companies are going these days to build their brand.

Unlike presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama hasn't faced too much scrutiny about his wardrobe choices. In fact, Obama's finely-tuned fashion sense inspired Paper magazine to devote a whole fashion spread to him entitled "Mr. President."

But there seems to be one brave soul who thinks the junior Illinois senator is in dire need of a suit overhaul.

Barack Obama has style, and I'm not just talking about his presentation, public speaking, or leadership styles.

Now, I'm not one to endorse any one person with respect to what's going out there in the world of politics, but when it comes to political men's fashion, I like Obama's style. He's always in a dark, two-button suit and white dress shirt. If you happen to want to steal Obama's style, manblog (I don't know what else to call this whole category of blogs just for dudes) Asylum has picked out suit, shirt, and shoes inspired by him.

As for Obama's other smooth style, well, we can't help you there.

Normally politics and fashion don't exactly go hand in hand. As far as I can tell, most candidates try and look as boring as possible -- probably so they seem respectable enough to get elected. That said, this year's Democratic presidential hopefuls are a stylish bunch -- Barack Obama appeared on the cover of Men's Vogue, and John Edwards is eerily obsessed with his hair.

Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has stayed away from fashion magazines -- most notably backing out of a photo shoot with Vogue last fall. She was supposed to adorn the cover of the February issue, but opted against it at the last minute because she didn't want to "appear too feminine."

Anna Wintour, the highly-regarded fashion industry hard ass in charge of the magazine, isn't taking the snub lying down. In this month's editor's letter, she writes: "This is America, not Saudi Arabia. It's also 2008: Margaret Thatcher may have looked terrific in a blue power suit, but that was 20 years ago. I do think Americans have moved on from the power suit mentality..."

Maybe. Or maybe Anna is just blowing off steam. Somehow I suspect Mrs. Clinton's political analysts know more about campaign strategy than the editor of a fashion magazine. But what do you think? Would you vote for a woman who appeared on the cover of Vogue?

Seeing as this is a style blog, and public officials aren't exactly known for their fashion flair, there's generally no reason for us to cover politics. However, recently it seems there's been a concerted effort amongst high-profile politicians to look cool, George Bush's recent crocs fiasco and John Edwards' hair combing incident notwithstanding.

Hillary Clinton, for instance, in an attempt to reach out to the young and hip, recently held a contest, asking followers to choose her campaign song. Both the contest itself, and her choice to announce the winner in a Soprano's video spoof, got her a lot of attention from the young and hip.

Now Barack Obama -- Clinton's main competition in the Democratic party -- has had his campaign materials featured on a design blog. NOTCOT, a site normally dedicated to fashion-forward clothing and novel new gadgets, was impressed with the candidate's stylish t-shirts, buttons and stickers -- and for good reason. Normally candidates opt for a simple red, white and blue motif with their cheesy slogan italicized at the bottom -- but it looks like someone in Obama's camp actually put some thought into the visual aesthetic of his campaign.

I'm not saying that he's the best guy for the job necessarily, but with marketing material like this, it's no wonder the ladies love Barack Obama.

This guy's look is your standard hipster fare, but there are two points that are worth noting. One, the hair. Men's hair has to go somewhere now that we've had it all messy and down in our faces for the last couple years. I've seen some guys growing it longer (ala mullet), but I definitely prefer this nod to the faux-hawk instead. Two, those pants! The comeback of black jeans is no surprise, but these are so skinny it's unbelievable. Watch out for more men squeezing into ultra-slim-fit jeans in the months to come.

At first this seems very straightforward -- sweatshirt, shorts, and sandals -- but this outfit is made in the details. Check out the extra ruffle at the shoulders, and the tight fit around the waist and cuffs. That, combined with the dash of blue shirt peeking out, creates a succinct, layered look that says "smart and trendy" without going full-blown hipster. Awesome.