Sunday
Oct042009
Happy Anniversary Os!
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 10:05 AM 
Image by Jewel Samad / Getty Images
The president and first lady celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary last night, dining at Blueduck Tavern in Washington, D.C.
Mrs. O dazzled in a black halter dress, paired with Jimmy Choo Lantern heels and a blue clutch. The Huffington Post has additional photos, here.
Update: Mrs. O wears a Resort 2008 Narciso Rodriguez black halter dress.
tagged Narciso Rodriguez
Narciso Rodriguez
Reader Comments (93)
The dress is fine for a date night! Maybe it's not a trend setter, but I don't think she cares. She wore it for him, ladies, not for the public.
I am failing to find a picture that shows that "overhang" due to the top trim being too tight, or any evidence that it "cuts under her arm". Does anyone have any links that point to this?
I love to mix in clothes with slightly athletic hints or accents into my daily style, so I really appreciate the upper part of this dress. Plus, Michelle has great chest muscles, not to mention upper back, and this dress shows them off nicely.
One more thing I like here: mixing black and blue (clutch).
OK. I have been one who questioned gowns as to the appropriateness for a particular government-related occasion.
But this was an anniversary date with her husband, the dress looks great on her, I imagine that the loose shift felt terrific after all those pencil skirts and tight belts. The length is good. Shorter with the bare top would not have looked as elegant. Too bimbo-y.
I would give this look an A+ for this occasion.
I just don't get posters nitpicking CONTINUOUSLY when it is evident that this woman is on her own private time. It's her damn anniversary and nitpickers are using words like PROPER? Proper is the NEW Uppity as far as I'm concerned...code words for something else. She looks fine to me and it is her own private TIME give her a friggin break. Also if you think something is not appropriate please tell us what century you come from. I think some women know they cannot get away with the things Michelle does and they resent that so they are stuck nitpicking with the granny pantyhose and ankle length skirts.
I've always thought it was a little out-of-bounds to critique MO's clothing on a private occasion. If she were dressing to be seen by the world, that'd be one thing. If she's out on a private dinner with her husband and cameras just happen to be there, who cares if the halter is supposedly too tight or too athletic or the dress makes her hips look too big or whatever?
I mean, the picture is posted here and it's fair game, I guess. But not every outfit is for the public.
I thought I liked this dress until I saw the larger picture.
It's not that I don't like the dress it just seems to fit incorrectly in the chest area. It almost seems as if the dress flattens the breast.
Having said that I am really hypersensative about having good bra's and chest support.
I'm glad some find demeaning and insulting Michelle Obama and HER style and choices "relaxing". The other Jenna's post (God rest her soul), before her untimely death actually argued against and not for tearing apart this woman's personal choices. Try not to misrepresent glaring facts please.
If finding fault with and petty nitpicking another woman's bold personal fashion choices makes you feel better about yourself then own it. No need to pretend its anything but what it is.
IVA please rant as much as you please. Do not allow yourself to be muzzled or bamboozled with that lame, worn out argument that the trolls are well within their right to spew their nonsense unchallenged because they bring some dubious value to this conversation.
About lantern heels
Thanks Mrs. T and Asereht. Now it makes sense to me. I thought lantern referred to the heel area of the shoe - like stacked heels or stilletos - but the lantern cutouts are actually on the toe. Duh.
A dress even a dress with an expensive price tag does not have to have dollar signs hanging off it. I am sure as another poster said a similar dress can be picked up in H&M for a fraction of the price that Michelle paid but let's not nitpick here. It is truly a delightful dress and a sexy one to wear on date night with one's husband. Michelle has money and a great life, so why should she rummage in a bargain bucket for a dress when she has designers falling over themselves to dress her.
Thank you canyongal. I totally agree with your comment. This is a fashion blog. The Obamas are a great looking couple. No denying that. Mrs. O's skin and hairstyle look wonderful in this photo. But, the dress looks like a black sack. No, I'm not bashing Mrs. O-- I think she's a beautiful woman. Considering some of the flattering styles she's worn before, IMHO this dress was a miss. Just my opinion.
@Hamilton who made you boss or expert for age appropriate attire? Puhleezzze give me a break :) I'm sure you are well aware that Mrs. O looks no where near her 45 years, in fact she looks alot healthier and younger than women 25 years her junior!
So please spare FLOTUS psuedo compliments ridden with envious, jealous and hateful underpinnings.
You Rock Michelle!!!
IVA...YOU ARE RIGHT ON POINT
When Michelle wakes up in the morning....she does not say to herself, "oh what should I wear to make my critics happy?" she always told people that she never cared much for the negatives, she just wanted to please herself first then her family. She is obviously happy with herself, and I don’t see the President complaining. For all we know he is probably thinking of ways to peel it off. So going after every single angle that the lady has is extreme. If you don’t like the dress just say "she could have done better", but all the extra s**t about her hair particles down to her pinky toe can go to hell. Just in case you have NOT noticed, she has a smaller upper-body (including her waist) and larger hips and a**. So what she wears may not always look perfect to you but that is the way she was made!!!!
Now that I am done addressing the “douchbags”;
Michelle and Barack look great and I hope they are happier now than ever before.....and she looks fantastic (every inch)!!
Oh my! How hilarious!
I have to say that although the constant nitpicking usually annoys me, today's were so blatantly stupid that I laughed. Too old for a halterneck??!!!! Well I wish to goodness I looked that old then! That glowing skin and fit, fit, FIT shoulders and back??!! Haaaaa, ha ha ha. Loony. Truly looney. And the dress is too long now? Oh yeah. Mhm. What absolute rubbish some of you people talk.
I loved the dress. Fits beautifully, nice shape and length. Great for a date night too - eat as much as you like and - hey! It doesn't show. But you look sexy across a table for two and that's what counts. Sheer genius.
Fly, fly away all you miseribubble people. She's a nice lady and she looks GREAT.
Happy Anniversary O's. Hope you had a wonderful night out
Canyongal I get your point to a certain extent. However, you are still out of line to say just when she could use a belt--that's your opinion. All outfits to not have to fit clinging to the body. What's wrong with a different shaped dress when the mood hits. That's her perogative--not yours to say otherwise. I can understand if you said that wouldn't be your choice of style.
Mchelle looks great! And I say continue your attitude about life and what make YOU happy! You have taught me a thing or two about not giving a dang about what others think about how I look and what I wear, as long as I'm not hurting others, if I'm happy and it makes me feel nice--Mind your own business and wear what you want to wear!!
I wore halter necks well into my 50s. Had a couple of wonderful heavy knits that were a good thing under a black suit for business and then went on - jacket removed and a change of jewelry - to cocktails and dinner.
If you have nice shoulders and arms, a nice back, and not huge boobs, it can be a great look. They look best on women who are toned and athletic-looking without being musclebound.
momonamission: Exactly. As you will notice I did state IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) when commenting on my take on the shapelessness of the dress and the lack of a belt. I gave my opinion on a photo that (as someone said) is fair game on this fashion blog once posted without saying anything derrogatory about our beautiful FLOTUS.
Ladies, let's have FUN. Fashion is fun. It's an escape from the gazillion balls each one of us juggle every day between work, family, school, etc. Plus, this is a place to learn about what looks good on our bodies so that we can dress better. When we look good, we feel good about ourselves. Positivity about ourselves trickles down to the next generation. Both the Obama daughters already have incredible self-esteem for children so young and a large part of that is from strong role models like their grangmother and their mom.
We have a beautiful, confident First Lady. Let's not take things so personally. Life's too short for all this bickering and this isn't the place.
Oh, how he adores her! Once I had someone look at me that lovingly.
Did anyone have links to photos of the back of the dress...I would like to see its backless cut. It wasn't my most favorite dress but it did look sort of comfortable and easy to wear. I found myself wondering if Mrs. O was going to be warm enough. Do you think someone else was carrying a shawl for her?
Here's the Narciso Rodriguez dress. Formerly $895, now on sale for $179. (As Mrs. T noted in her intro, this was a Resort 2008 design.) The shine detected at the top is a satin band; the sparkle in the back is an exposed zipper. Various views here:
http://www.theoutnet.com/product/27548
Oops. Re last post on this dress, it is no longer available.
From the dress description for those who do not care to go to the url I posted:
# Italian sizing
# Runs true to size
# Loose by design
A closeup of the dress reveals that the front of the halter is faced by a satin band that also continues around the top of the dress.
Thanks for the details and photos, BeeGee. I think it's a fabulous dress, and I think Mrs. O looked great in it.
@ kbarch - It's still pretty warm in the DC area. Nights are cool, but it's not COLD yet. I believe the weather was in the mid-70s/low-80s this past weekend. Still, she's holding a small cardigan along with her purse.
@ BeeGee - thanks for the link. Too bad it is sold out...I can afford the sale price!
BeeGee, what a great find! Thanks! :o)
SEXY!!! Mrs. O too.
Last year on a date night in Chicago, Michelle wore a backless black dress. The photo was just a shot of her going into a restaurant with no real detail. Could have been this dress.
Date night has been such an integral part of their routine in the past. Wonder how it is to be so boxed in that it's hard to continue this tradition very often. But the fact they can be together everyday may make up for it.
How can the critics see these distant, kind of fuzzy pictures well enough to see such fine points that are pretty much indistinguishable to me. I agree with those who point out how happy she is and how very happy her husband is to be with her. What else is really important?
I thought Posh's comment was a good one - that it looked great across a table. And this was, after all, a dinner date. I was reminded of my mother's phrase about certain garments: "above the table appeal." This dress has it - and she can breathe after dessert!
IVA I love you.
Bevi
She looks great! I am 37 but do not have the toned arms and shoulders required to pull off this sexy dress! Mrs O inspires me to get fit and healthy and also that looking sexy and gorgeous is not reserved solely for thise under 30 or 40.
I doubt that my hubby will ever become President lol! But at least I can aspire to the Obama way of life as I see it - a loving committed family oriented couple who also work hard for their country.
Operafanatic - I loved your post, It is so true. It our attempts to get into an outfit we completely forget about comfort. How nice to enjoy your meal without undoing buckes and zips. Michelle, is one confident woman. She wears what SHE enjoys and by the look of the President's face, he enjoys it as well. I bet she could wear a bin liner and her husband would still look at her with that glowing proud look. I hope and pray that if I do make it down the aisle, my marriage will be as strong and happy as The Obama's marriage appears to be.
lets remember that this site is about fashion -- it has nothing to do with politics. If you cannot get that, then perhaps you need to vent on other blogs that cater to a more political bent.
that said - the anniversary dress is a sack and totally unflattering. Mrs. Obama is a great looking lady with a fabulous figure that most would die for. She knows better...or her stylist does.
Look at the photo. She's carrying something black in her hand along with the blue clutch. Looks as though it might be that black knit bolero that she wears over bare-topped dresses. It went along to NYC for that date as I recall.
Again folks, there appears to be some person using "camille" as their identifier.
Let's just say that apart from using the small letter "c" as opposed to my big letter "C", this "camille" with a small "c" NEVER likes anything Mrs obama wears and as is to be expected agrees with any comment that conveys same and of course the freedom to disparage Mrs O. So it'll be very easy to distinguish between us as I do not plan to change my name/identifier.
Sharon, I remember that shot from their date last year too, she looked stunning and the pool reporter positively gushed about how great she looked.
It looks like velvet - is it?? Because that's the other thing OpFan, you need "over the table" appeal as your mother so brilliantly put it, plus I have found that dresses which feel nice inspire more tactile attention. Soft knits and silk and velvet are top of the list.
@ Bevi - Thanks!
The dress is black crepe with black satin halter and banding around the top.
It's an excellent dinner dress because all of the interest is above the table.
In the photos of the dress that BeeGee posted, it appears to have a sleeker shape than we are seeing in the available photos of Mrs. O. However, I did not see any photos of Mrs. O standing still or photos that were shot from the front. I think the dress probably has much nicer shape than we are seeing in the pictures that are available. The thought of constantly being surrounded by cameras when out of the house is horrifying to me so I really admire public figures like the Obamas who appear to accept the intrusion of the photographers (especially when so many of the photos are not terribly flattering) so graciously. I like the dress and think that it is perfect for the occasion and the wearer.
Re the loose fit, per my post from the site where I found the various views and the description, this dress is "loose by design".
Although it was difficult to divine with the black crepe fabric, the black satin shaped halter and banding that continued around the entire top of the dress seemed to form sort of a yoke in the front. There appeared to be a little gathering in the center front of the dress below this satin band "yoke".
This dress was well cut but intended to be a skimmer. No apparent darts, but not a sack. In the photo posted here she is walking so it is difficult to see how the dress hangs when she is still.
I still believe that dinner table glamour + comfort were paramount.
The naughty me even thought about the minimal undergarments required.
I ate here last year and it was TOP NOTCH. It's in a really cool area of DC, between GW and Georgetown. Nice choice, Obamas. Great taste in fashion, great taste in food.
BeeGee,
TOO FUNNY! And I am sure you are not the only one.
Charming hairstyle, and although this dress is more of a billowy look, overall it reminds me of Diana's statement dresses in those last couple of years when she favored simpler, tank-style sheaths to show off her powerful, fit figure. Like Diana, Mrs O is a statuesque stunner who, whether she goes all-out or not, always manages to look captivating and charismatic.
Here are a few pix of the more successful of those Diana looks: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/diana/stories/icon0902.htm
Thank you again, canyongal for pointing out that this is a fashion blog in which we're just expressing our opinion about Mrs. O's fashion. I don't understand why some are taking comments personally. Big "C" Camille says my critique of Mrs. O's dress was disparaging Mrs. O. Yikes!!! Should we only post if we like her outfit? I though this is a fashion blog. I did like her recent magazine cover outfit and said so in my post. Not liking a particular fashion choice is not being negative. This is a fashion blog. I have never criticized Mrs. O's character, political opinions, yada, yada. Yikes, people, don't take things personally. I feel she's a beautiful woman, but I will continue to honestly give my opinion of her fashion choices for this FASHION BLOG.
Little "c" camille.
I must agree that "alabaster" is not an appropriate word to use to describe brown skin. Alabaster is a white calcium compound used to make plaster of paris. The word has long been used as a synonym for "pure white." Complimenting a brown-skinned woman by using such a word implies that she is pretty if she approaches whiteness or her skin looks like a white substance. The fact that the dictionary describes alabaster as "fine grained" doesn't work, either; you might as well say Mrs O looks "snowy" because snow is soft and so is her skin. You can't redefine words (unless you are the Queen talking to Alice).
The best word to describe Mrs. O's skin is "beautiful."