Acceptance speech style -- Obama stays the course

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He may have run on the mantra of ‘change,’ but when it came to his victory speech wardrobe, President-elect Barack Obama elected to stay the course. He took the stage Tuesday night in Chicago’s Grant Park wearing a dark, solid navy-blue Hart Schaffner Marx suit, the same label he’s been wearing on the campaign trail and during the presidential debates this year (and which, as we reported last month, he orders five at a clip).

According to a company representative, the classic fit silhouette from the Gold Trumpeter collection is 97% merino wool and 3% cashmere, and was made in Des Plaines, Ill., not far from Chicago. The pants are pleated with an inch-and-a-quarter cuff and the suit retails at department stores like Nordstrom for around $1,500.

And just in case you really, really needed to know how our next commander in chief measures up, according to the folks at Hartmarx Corp. (the company that owns the Hart Schaffner Marx brand), the future leader of the free world wears a 40 long and has a 33-inch waist. (If that kind of intel doesn’t suddenly become classified information, we should be able to check in next year to see if there’s an Oval Office equivalent to the ‘freshman 10’ weight gain). Does this mean Obama will be wearing a Hart Schaffner Marx suit when he takes the oath of office Jan. 20?

‘Let’s just say we’ve been in discussions with his people,’ said Hartmarx Chairman and CEO Homi Patel. ‘I don’t know if he’ll end up wearing one of our suits or not but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be an American-made, union-made suit.’

And that sure beats a flag lapel pin every time, no?

-- Adam Tschorn