Jeff Larson, wardrobe consultant to the stars (and hockey moms)

If Jeff Larson keeps spending money like this, his pursuit of obscurity is going to have to wait awhile.

Earlier Wednesday, Larson -- who's spent much of the year in the publicity spotlight for his connections with Sen. Norm Coleman and his political telemarketing firm, FLS Connect -- expressed a desire to return to his "days of obscurity" after the election next month.

That was a few hours before it became widely known that Larson spent $132,105 last month, helping spiff up Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's wardrobe -- including $75,000 in purchases at Nieman Marcus in Minneapolis.

A Wednesday story in the online version of Atlantic Monthly, headlined "Sarah Palin's personal shopper," spells it out: According to Federal Election Commission records, Larson spent $75,062 at the Minneapolis Neiman Marcus on Sept. 10, less than a week after the end of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, with the money directed toward "campaign accessories" for Palin.

He also dropped $4,396 at Macy's in Minneapolis, and more at a clutch of New York stores: $41,850 at Saks Fifth Avenue, $5,102 at Bloomingdale's, $4,902 at Atelier and $789 at Barney's.

The information came from FEC Schedule F forms, which lists expenditures made by political committees or designated agents on behalf of candidates for federal office.

Here's Atlantic Monthly's take on it: 

"What's so incompetent about this from a political tradecraft perspective is that both parties ordinarily take the easy precaution of making sure such embarrassing material isn’t obvious to reporters, which they do by routing the payment through a law firm or consultant. Here they neglected to do so. Larson may not be able to look forward to a lucrative contract with a McCain administration. But who knows? He may land his own show on Bravo."

A call to Larson's St. Paul office late Wednesday afternoon seeking comment was returned by an employee, who said Larson was out of town and referred questions to Danny Diaz, a press spokesman for the Republican National Committee in Washington. Diaz did not return a message.