"Casual Friday" never caught on in the stuffy U.S. Senate. But first-term Sen. Richard Burr brought a preppy air to the chamber Friday when he arrived in a black sweater, camel-hair jacket and pressed blue jeans.

The crowning touch: tassel loafers and no socks.

While hardly a traditional look, it would be instantly recognized and appreciated by Burr's old classmates at Wake Forest University in the mid-1970s.

One day earlier, the North Carolina Republican had worn a dark business suit when he lost a Senate GOP leadership race to Lamar Alexander of Tennessee (who favors suits and sweater vests).

"One of the best privileges of losing," Burr told reporters Friday, "is you can quickly revert to normal."

Didn't his sockless feet get cold in the snow blanketing Washington, someone asked. Not at all, said Burr, 52, proudly adding that he drove to work that morning with the top down on his Volkswagen convertible.

He seemed more sheepish, however, when he told The Associated Press, "there was a foot of snow" in the car because the top had been down throughout Wednesday's snowfall.

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