Palin made the remark at a campaign rally in Tampa after TV personality Elisabeth Hasselbeck told the audience Palin's opponents were "fixated" on the Republican National Committee's expenditure on apparel and accessories for the Palin family.

"This whole thing with the wardrobe, you know I have tried to just ignore it because it is so ridiculous, but I am glad now that Elisabeth brought it up, cause it gives me an opportunity without the filter of the media to get to tell you the whole clothes thing," Palin said.

She said the clothes "are not my property" and compared them to lighting and staging used at campaign events.

Palin's remarks apparently were not the message the McCain campaign wanted the candidate to highlight, CNN reported. A senior McCain adviser told CNN the comments "were not the remarks we sent to her (campaign) plane this morning."

Palin did not bring the subject up at a rally in Kissimmee later in the day, but by mentioning it in Tampa. CNN said she virtually assured the wardrobe story would remain in the headlines for at least another news cycle.