THE FASHION OF ATHENS
How Local Politicians Spice Up Their Wardrobe
BY PAYTON DAUGHERTY ILLUSTRATION BY ETHAN CLAWSON
As American fashion designer Ralph Lauren once said, “Fashion is not necessarily about labels. It's not about brands. It's about something else that comes from within you.”
Athens City Mayor Steve Patterson seemed to agree with Lauren, describing his sense of style as “his own.”
City Law Director Lisa Eliason does not consider herself to be a “fashion maven,” but she enjoys having fun with how she dresses for the job.
“I wear a black suit, and then I usually try to wear a colorful top underneath it, something that makes it stand out a little bit,” Eliason said. “I used to only wear black but I figured the older I get, even though I’m in an elected legal position, I can wear some colors.”
Eliason said another way she spices up her outfits is by wearing brooches, such as her hummingbird or bumblebee brooch.
One way Patterson adds to some of his outfits is by wearing meaningful lapel pins.
“I always wear my city of Athens ‘10 years of service’ lapel pin,” he said. “Before the November 7th election and before the August 8th special election, I know that I was wearing my Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio pin on my lapel.”
Patterson said he also wears a pin similar to one Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown wears: a canary in a cage.
The canary in a cage represents union workers and coal miners, where the only safety device used to test air quality was a canary in a cage, Patterson said.
Another way Patterson personalizes his outfits is by wearing colorful shoelaces with his Johnston & Murphy shoes.
“I was in Chicago when I was a brand new mayor and went into a Johnston & Murphy shoe store, and they had really cool shoes that I ended up buying two pairs of…and each one of them came with different colored shoelaces, and I’m going, ‘[Wow] these are cool,’” Patterson said. “I got a pair of yellow ones and red ones and green ones and the shoes came with blue ones and black ones of course; I think I’ve thrown all of my black ones away.”
Though he believes professional dress will make people take him more seriously as a political figure, Patterson said it also has to do with how he presents himself.
“Anyone can throw on a suit and tie, but you know, a lot of it isn’t just what you wear,” he said.
Eliason said she believes people take her more seriously when she is dressed professionally.
Eliason said fashion was a professional consideration even before she became the city law director in 2015. Before that, she was a prosecutor for the city.
“In front of the jury on one occasion, I was doing voir dire, which is when you get a chance to talk to the jurors and you try to find out their biases and prejudices,” Eliason said. “I was up in front of the jury, and back then I used to wear skirts with my suits and of course high heels … one person kept looking at my shoes and I was so uncomfortable that I didn’t put (the person) on the jury … I didn’t want them to be more focused on me than they were on the facts of the case.”
