Bruni sheds glitz to boost Sarkozy's bid
Source: Agencies |
February 21, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AS Nicolas Sarkozy strives in his re-election campaign to shed a flashy image and rebrand himself as president of the people, France's glamorous first lady Carla Bruni seems to be undergoing a reverse makeover to appear a little more ordinary.
A head-turning former supermodel and singer who posed nude and dated rock stars before her romance with the newly-elected Sarkozy in 2007, Bruni dazzled in designer garb and stylish hairdos in her early years as his third wife.
Appearing for the first time at a campaign rally on Sunday, the 44-year-old looked deliberately understated in a dour jacket and trousers with minimal make-up and hair worn loose.
Even more startling was the Italian-born heiress's appearance on the cover of a lowbrow TV listings magazine last week, curled up on a sofa in a dowdy gray sweater, comfy trousers and socks, raving about the shows she likes to watch.
A world away from a glossy 2008 photoshoot for Vanity Fair, in which she posed on the roof of the presidential palace in a strapless blood-red ballgown, Bruni played first housewife as she talked about watching reality shows while cuddling her four-month-old baby, Giulia.
She appeared the same day in "20 Minutes," a free daily handed out in metro stations. Wearing a chunky brown cardigan and no make-up, Bruni said she would be 100 percent at Sarkozy's side in the campaign.
Her new look comes as Sarkozy is battling to overturn an image set early in his term of being too flashy and too drawn to the company of rich businessmen, in contrast to past presidents who had simpler tastes more in tune with rural France.
Opinion polls show two-thirds of respondents have a negative opinion of Sarkozy and he lags Socialist Francois Hollande - a self-styled "Mr Normal" who used to ride a scooter to work - in polls for the two-round election on April 22 and May 6.
Sarkozy is pitting his energetic, aggressive style against the affable but bland Hollande in a contest to strike a chord with everyday voters.
A head-turning former supermodel and singer who posed nude and dated rock stars before her romance with the newly-elected Sarkozy in 2007, Bruni dazzled in designer garb and stylish hairdos in her early years as his third wife.
Appearing for the first time at a campaign rally on Sunday, the 44-year-old looked deliberately understated in a dour jacket and trousers with minimal make-up and hair worn loose.
Even more startling was the Italian-born heiress's appearance on the cover of a lowbrow TV listings magazine last week, curled up on a sofa in a dowdy gray sweater, comfy trousers and socks, raving about the shows she likes to watch.
A world away from a glossy 2008 photoshoot for Vanity Fair, in which she posed on the roof of the presidential palace in a strapless blood-red ballgown, Bruni played first housewife as she talked about watching reality shows while cuddling her four-month-old baby, Giulia.
She appeared the same day in "20 Minutes," a free daily handed out in metro stations. Wearing a chunky brown cardigan and no make-up, Bruni said she would be 100 percent at Sarkozy's side in the campaign.
Her new look comes as Sarkozy is battling to overturn an image set early in his term of being too flashy and too drawn to the company of rich businessmen, in contrast to past presidents who had simpler tastes more in tune with rural France.
Opinion polls show two-thirds of respondents have a negative opinion of Sarkozy and he lags Socialist Francois Hollande - a self-styled "Mr Normal" who used to ride a scooter to work - in polls for the two-round election on April 22 and May 6.
Sarkozy is pitting his energetic, aggressive style against the affable but bland Hollande in a contest to strike a chord with everyday voters.
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