Argentine front-runner's showy look draws comment

Argentine presidential candidate Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner fans herself as she attends an electoral rally in Buenos Aires in this September 19, 2007 file photo. The showy suits, the heavy makeup, the spike heels -- Argentina's first lady and presidential front-runner has made headlines for her appearance as much as her politics. Picture taken September 19.

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - The showy suits, the heavy makeup, the spike heels -- Argentina's first lady and presidential front-runner has made headlines for her appearance as much as her politics.

Long-time senator Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner will become Argentina's first elected woman president if she wins elections on October 28, as polls forecast.

Although she's a powerful speaker and accomplished lawyer, it is her glamorous style that has inspired everything from cartoon jabs and snide remarks to unabashed admiration.

"Those who criticize her are stuck in the past, when women were not supposed to use short skirts or makeup. But she has the right to dress up and look attractive," said Patricia Coronel, 31, a mother of six.

The 54-year-old Fernandez wears her dark hair long and uses eye-catching accessories: wide belts, lacy fans and bright red berets.

Those feminine accents make her flashier than Segolene Royal, France's elegant former presidential candidate, and contrast with the conservative look of U.S. presidential contender Hillary Clinton, German Chancellor Angela Merkel or Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

Biographers say that even as a teen-ager, Fernandez would not leave the house without full makeup and nail polish.

Fernandez's defenders say her looks are scrutinized because she is a powerful woman in a sexist society and she complains that a man in her place would not draw similar comment.

"The queen of Botox" is how Fernandez's closest rival in presidential race, fellow lawyer and lawmaker Elisa Carrio, referred to her this month. Many people speculate that Fernandez uses artificial means to look younger.

But cosmetic surgery is not generally frowned on in Argentina. And middle-aged women feel free to express their sexuality in this country, more than in the United States, where Clinton's display of a bit of cleavage on the Senate floor in July drew attention for its rarity.

Polls published on Sunday forecast center-left Fernandez will win with more than 40 percent of the vote, with Carrio, another center-left candidate, trailing by more than 20 percentage points.

Carrio, 50, could not have a style more different than the front-runner's. She has said that she chose to gain weight after winning a beauty contest in her youth in her home province of Chaco. She wears inexpensive clothes as part of her statement against the widespread corruption in Argentina's political class. But she has slimmed down, dyed her hair and added more makeup during the current presidential campaign.

ODD COUPLE

Fernandez's look contrasts sharply with that of her husband, President Nestor Kirchner, who often goes tieless and in rumpled suits.

At a campaign event last month, Fernandez publicly addressed her husband: "Mr. President, you say people criticize you for wearing loafers and double-breasted suits. Those same people criticize me for dressing up too much."

"In reality, they aren't bothered by your loafers or your suit, or my makeup or my hair. They are bothered because we've threatened their interests," she said.

Political cartoonists have poked fun at Fernandez's reported hair extensions and penchant for shopping. Leading daily La Nacion newspaper reported on the prices of her suits and shoes.

An opposition candidate for governor of Buenos Aires province said Fernandez spent too much time at the mall and not enough time at the vegetable shop, in a swipe meant to show her ignorance about high food prices, a central campaign issue.

Plenty of politicians put time and energy into their appearance, though, sociologist Paula Miguel said.

"Men and women have aides who tell them what to wear, or how to fix their hair or teeth. These are images that are constructed," Miguel said. "And whenever a woman holds an important post, she is doubly scrutinized."

"Perhaps she generates chatter because her look strays from the neutral image expected of a public servant," Miguel said.

(For more on Argentina's October presidential election, click on www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/argentina)