Facing a storm of criticism from the mainstream media and from internal aides at the McCain campaign, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said 'thanks, but no thanks' on the Bridge to Neiman Marcus.

"I did not order the clothes. Did not ask for the clothes," Palin told Greta Van Susteren of Fox News on Monday, referring to the clothing that was purchased during the campaign's infamous $150,000-plus shopping spree. "I would have been happy to have worn my own clothes from Day One. But that is kind of an odd issue, an odd campaign issue as things were wrapping up there as to who ordered what and who demanded what."

Attempting to re-brand herself as a maverick against clothes, Palin -- a former beauty queen accustomed to wearing skimpy bathing suits -- told reporters that she would continue to fight against the old-boy network of the wardrobe elite, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.  Following last Tuesday's defeat in the general election, Palin's father Chuck Heath informed the Associated Press that she would sort through her clothes to figure out what belongs to her and what belongs to the Republican National Committee.

"She was just frantically ... trying to sort stuff out," Heath said. "That's the problem, you know, the kids lose underwear, and everything has to be accounted for."

In an effort to tamp down the wardrobe controversy, Republican aides told Newsweek that Palin has long since championed clothing reform, citing her bath towel as evidence.

At the GOP convention in St. Paul, Palin was completely unfazed by the boys' club fraternity she had just joined. One night, Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter went to her hotel room to brief her. After a minute, Palin sailed into the room wearing nothing but a towel, with another on her wet hair. She told them to chat with her laconic husband, Todd. "I'll be just a minute," she said.

However, Newsweek has learned that Palin not only wore clothes on a regular basis during the campaign, but that the shopping spree was much more extensive than originally reported, which appears to contradict her claims of being a clothing maverick.

While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family--clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

Despite the campaign's wardrobe malfunction, Palin seemed to be in high spirits.  In an exclusive radio interview with Quebec's Marc-Antoine Audette on November 1, the Alaska Governor said that she was excited about the release of Nailin' Paylin, a new documentary about her life as a clothing reformer, you betcha.

Audette: Governor Palin, I love the documentary they made on your life. You know Hustler's Nailin' Paylin?

Palin: Ohh, good, thank you, yes.

Audette: That was really edgy.

Palin: Well, good.