I'm hardly the first person to blog about Michelle Obama's awesome wardrobe. I'm probably not one of the first million. But I've been thinking about style icons lately, and our U.S. First Lady was the very first lady (heh) to come to mind. So, hopefully, this will be the first in a series of posts featuring women whose style I adore.
So what do I love about Mrs. Obama's style?
1. Incredible vintage style details.
Examples:
Wearing a beautiful vintage-esque cardigan to the memorial service for Tucson shooting victims
In a gorgeous 50's style dress at FarmToTable Lunch For Spouses Of World Leaders
Wearing a fantastic formal vintage style dress with a tiered lace skirt at NATO 2009.
2. No fear of sleevelessness or showing off her amazing arms.
Examples:
In a chic sleeveless top at a Get Out The Vote Rally In Las Vegas
In the White House Vegetable Garden in a beautiful green sleeveless top
3. Rocks her height.
Examples:
By U.S. Department of State Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
In a gorgeous sheath dress and proud heels with Prime Minister Miyuki Hatoyama, Yukio Hatoyama, and the President.
By White House (Pete Souza) / Maison Blanche (Pete Souza) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
In a full skirt and cardigan, towering over the Queen of England
4. Mixes patterns!
Examples:
By The Official White House Photostream; Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton (P060309SA-0498) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
In stripes and floral with Nancy Reagan
Beading and gingham while visiting England.
5. Loves a great neckline!
Examples:
In a beautiful one-shoulder blue dress at Mexican State Dinner.
In a fabulous asymetrical neckline dress at the State Dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao
6. Uses color wisely.
Examples:
Amazing eggplant at the State of the Union Address.
Speaking at the White House in phenomenal yellow.
7. Knows how to use accessories.
Examples:
Speaking at the White House in a fantastic belt.
Rocking a great brooch at the G8 Summit.
8. She reinvents the classics.
Examples:
Meeting Chancellor Merkel in a perfect sheath dress.
Celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month in fabulous polka dots.
I love that Mrs.Obama mixes high-end and regular-person clothes (like the H&M dress she wore on the Today show last week). I also love that she wears the same items multiple times, in multiple ways. That beautiful beaded cardigan she wore with the gingham skirt in England? She wore it with also wore it an an all-cream ensemble to speak on the history of White House state dinners:
The coral and white floral cardigan she pattern mixed in the photo with Nancy Reagan? She also wore it at a gardening event she held at the White House:
Most of all, though, I love that she dresses in a way that makes it clear that she's happy with and proud of her not-stick-thin body. She picks mostly classic styles and shapes, she doesn't shy from color or from black, and she wears everything with extraordinary confidence. She's definitely a style icon.
I couldn't agree with you more. I want to be her when I grow up.
She is gorgeous. But, eh, so are you!
Yeay Michelle and the cardigan! So much easier to work with wardrobe-wise than a jacket or blazer. Would love to see Michelle do a Uniform Project, too. She's the perfect one to make an impact in the name of fashion.
Second over-long fashion comment of the day:
OK, I am on neither side of the Michelle-Obama-style-debates (I think she wears lovely clothes, but that she chooses things that wear HER) and I think the people who try to pick her apart and say she can't dress obviously haven't been looking at first ladies for very long--compared to Laura and Hillary, she's Audrey Hepburn.
But will someone PLEASE send the woman some gardening clothes? Please? I may be turning into my grandmother, but it hurts to look at her out there like that. You didn't post the gardening-in-black-chiffon photo, but the matchy-coral is pretty bad.
Perhaps she didn't have time to change after the lunch with Nancy Reagan? But all I can think is that she got tired of being told "put on a pair of jeans if you're going to go dig in the dirt, Michelle!" when she was a little girl, and now that she's the first lady, if she wants to ruin a pair of tailored stretch-cotton slacks, nobody can tell her what to do. I had a few years where I HAD to fill up on bread in restaurants, because I was getting over a childhood of being told not to; I can relate.
(Seriously, Grace, that and the green sleeveless shirt photo are two of about twenty pics of this woman gardening in wildly inappropriate clothes. There absolutely has to be a story there somewhere. Like, is this what the people on "what not to wear" have to garden in after Stacy and Clinton have thrown away all their sensible clothing? Inquiring minds.)
Eh. I think she overdresses to garden because the one time she wore a pair of shorts on vacation she got eviscerated.
I forgot about the shorts! Yeah, that puts me back on her side then, stylewise. I still think she tries way too hard and needs to hike the belts down to slightly less Urkel-ish waist heights, but with how much she gets picked apart, she pulls it off pretty well.
On a related but totally different topic: YOU love belts over cardigans, I love belts over cardigans, Mrs. Obama loves belts over cardigans, but is it one of those trends that's going to look ridiculously dated in a few years? Like pegged jeans?
Re: The belt outdated-ness - I have a feeling it'll become TOTALLY outdated in a few years and our kids'll be horrified at pictures of us in belts over ANYTHING. That is my guess :P
I had no idea Michelle was so tall! Or had such a huge wardrobe! You can tell she puts a lot of thought and effort into her outfits, although none of them are what I would wear, I can definitely admire her style.