Gotta disagree on the Secret Service guy, and not because I am a liberal, casually dressed architectural designer. One of the problems the Service has had is because they are so clean-cut, they tend to stick out like sore thumbs. I would wager that Elrond of Riverdale there probably was doing something else like working on counterfeiting investigations or perhaps something narcotics related and got pressed into the protective detail on short notice for some reason or other.
One of the big problems of being so clean-cut looking (and generally in bad suits) is that you stand out from the norm. When they started the big recruiting push for the airmarshalls, a former Secret Service guy was placed in charge and they adopted a Secret Service dress code. This resulted in plane loads of normal people and two guys in suits, one in the back and one in the front, totally standing out and obvious. Perhaps they learned from this and have adopted a dress code that lets them do their jobs better by not being obviously on the detail.

DShenise on September 3, 2008 at 1:03 pm

Um… having worked the protective detail for the SECDEF and knowing a bit therefore about the POTUS and VPOTUS detail, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that’s a woman.
I’ve seen ’em… they’re not glamour girls like the movies depict.

undaunted on September 3, 2008 at 1:18 pm

Suits are ugly and uncomfortable and shouldn’t be required, as all friends of males know.

DavidSklar on September 3, 2008 at 1:34 pm

Startled me for a second until I looked at the photo. That is definitely a woman; a hot and disgruntled woman wearing a dark suit. Like Palin, she appears to be up to the job.

iowavette on September 3, 2008 at 2:15 pm

C’mon Deb…
She’s a WNBA season ticket holder.
GA

GA on September 3, 2008 at 3:48 pm

“(the Iranian leader won’t wear one because it symbolizes Western dress; and Obama–maybe the same reason).”
Nope, as most men know ties are a tool of Satan

Azygos on September 3, 2008 at 4:39 pm

My niece is in the RCMP…as clean cut as they come…
But she loved her assignment as undercover in diplomat’s row in Ottawa.
New makeover and gorgeous new dress every day…

Ming the Merciless on September 3, 2008 at 8:21 pm

Two time federal agent here, and as a former female USSS agent I can tell you conservative dress is a must and is enforced. Before I left there was a dress policy, where a tie wasn’t needed if the event being attended was business casual. This is simply to fit in a little better and to not have to pack an extra set of dress slacks and typical blue blazer. I was very happy to leave my “tie” shoes and masculine suits behind. I would venture to say that the agent in the foreground with the goattee would probably be subject to supervisor attention in the offices I worked in. Also there are a lot of attractive females with USSS but between the nature of the job, time and travel, you don’t always look like you are headed out to a Saturday night party.

aislinn04 on September 3, 2008 at 10:13 pm

Um, dude looks like a lady. The other guys spilled mustard on their ties the other day and couldn’t find a dry cleaner in Wasilly, AK. Actually, the tie thing goes bye-bye when you are in the boondocks. They all wear clip-ons anyway. The chick, she may wear a #$%@%-on. Hehe.

q2thecore on September 4, 2008 at 12:12 pm

I can understand why most people would think that, Debbie — but I can tell you from some years ‘in the trenches’ that those in the protective service industry are experiencing sort of an ‘fashion evolution’ through these last decades.
We went from the all-dudes-in-matching-suits to front-men-in-matching-suits (with plainclothes agents a few feet further out) to frontmen-all-plainclothes to … well, you get the idea. Think of the ‘suits’ as the ‘black-and-white marked squad cars with running lights’ and the agents you DON’T see as the detective in the unmarked Lexus half a block away (he’s the one in charge). Dress codes work pretty much the same as the car example… of course, with variances depending on which agency you work for.
The most important two things are that 1) the professionals know their job well and 2) that the subject trusts their judgment when it’s time to intervene.

MacBigot on September 5, 2008 at 11:06 am

@aislinn04: If what you say is true, I want to thank and salute you. I instructed fletc style with an active USSS, no nonsense but great guy.

Kathy S on June 15, 2011 at 3:42 pm

in america, i’m not required to wear tie. if i am wearing one, it’s to convey the message “yes, i currently am sombody’s b*tch.” same deal with powdered wigs, waitstaff “flair,” etc.

lars peoni on July 15, 2011 at 5:42 pm