By Erin Kelly

WASHINGTON - Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy was dubbed "unfashionable" by The Washington Post in a political column Thursday.

And if the insult to the state's senior senator wasn't enough, the column went on to dis the fashion sense of the entire Green Mountain State by saying that, as a Vermonter, Leahy's "idea of haute couture is a pair of Birkenstocks and a flannel shirt."

The Vermont delegation took umbrage at the idea that Washingtonians could dismiss Vermonters as a cross between hippies and bumpkins.

Leahy spokesman David Carle said he has never seen his boss in either a flannel shirt of Birkenstocks, although the senator does like to wear sweaters under his jacket. Andrew Savage, spokesman for Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., acknowledged that his boss wears flannel shirts against the advice of his staff but has no sandals.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders called to joke that, "I just tripped over my Birkenstocks on the way to the Senate floor."

"And at least I'm wearing a tie with my red flannel shirt," quipped Sanders, I-Vt.

Sanders said the Post's stereotyping of Vermonter is typical of clichéd misconceptions some outsiders have of the state based on its image as a haven of skiing liberals.

"It's clearly a caricature of the state," he said. He did, however, admit to being a bit pleased that he was not the one being singled out as a fashion victim for once. Sanders is often described as slightly rumpled in news stories.

He does not, however, own a pair of Birkenstocks or a flannel shirt.

"I'm more of a sneakers and blue jeans kind of guy," he said.

"Not that I have anything against flannel shirts or Birkenstocks," Sanders added quickly. "Make sure you say that or I'll get letters."