Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for February 28, 1982

Transcript:

Mark: ...And now time for the WBBY fashion update! Puffy sleeves continue to dominate the news this week...hate to do this to you, campers, but it's time for some more serious public affairs. With us today is fashion designer Bill Gallipoli, here to respond to recent criticism of the first lady's practice of accepting expensive designer clothes on "loan". Mr. Gallipoli, let's be candid about these "loans", aren't they really just a shamelss arrangement by which Nancy Reagan gets free designer clothes and you get free advertising? Billy: Gosh, no. It's much, much more than that! It's really a selfless act of patriotism. The only reason Mrs. R. accepts these clothes at all is to help the American fashion industry. The first lady is very concerned that not enough women think American when they're choosing their designer gowns. Besides, once Mrs. Reagan tires of the clothes, she intends to donate tehm to museums, which, you must admit, is so much more imaginative than giving them to goodwill. And think of what this gesture will mean to cultural historians! If it all works out, scholars in 1983 will have the extraordinary oppotunity of visiting the Smithsonian to see what Nancy Reagan was wearing in 1981! Mark: So she's really only doing it for posterity? Billy: Oh, absolutely! If it were up to her, she'd wear jeans every day!