Holloway 'done with' fashion blog story

Despite a long and growing list of highly improbable coincidences, Rep. Bryan Holloway is standing by his claim that he's not the writer of menswear blog "WASP 101."

Posted 1:49 a.m. Jun 4, 2013 — Updated 7:34 p.m. Jun 4, 2013

Laura Leslie

and

Mark Binker

Despite a long and growing list of highly improbable coincidences, Rep. Bryan Holloway, R-Stokes, is standing by his claim that he's not the writer of menswear blog "WASP 101."

When the story broke Thursday on a rival fashion blog, Holloway told WRAL News that he was not "Richard," the writer of the preppy men's fashion blog.

Since then, North Carolina bloggers and national outlets from The Atlantic Wire to The Daily Caller have noted a growing list of similarities that make Holloway's denial difficult to accept at face value.

Some of the highlights:

The blog and its pages on Facebook and Tumblr were taken down soon after Holloway was contacted about WASP 101.
"Richard," which is Holloway's middle name, has the same birthday and is the same age as Holloway.
"Richard" wrote that he works in North Carolina politics.
Pictures of "Richard" in which his face is shown look very much like Holloway.
They have apparently identical dachshunds named "Governor."
"Richard"'s fellow blogger "Kipp" bears an uncanny resemblance to Holloway's legislative assistant, Isabel Villa-Garcia.
The two men have the same build and hair, wear the same clothes and accessories and live in houses with identical front steps.

Monday night, offered the chance to reconsider his denial, Holloway declined.

"I’ve just made the only comment that I’m going to make, and that’s it," he said. "I’m going to stick by what I said. I don’t really see it as news or a story, so we’re just finished with it."

Holloway said the coincidental similarities between himself and "Richard" prove nothing.

"One thing I would point out is how many brown dachshunds are out there, how many Brooks Brothers ties are hanging on the rack at a Brooks Brothers store," he said. "I’m 5’10”, I have brown hair, I’m white. There’s a hundred million people who could look just like me."

What about the North Carolina politics link?

"I haven’t even read [the blog]," Holloway said. "Again, I stick with what I said. Do whatever you will, write whatever you will. I’m done with it."

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