Mrs. O Sparkles in Naeem Khan
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at 7:08 PM 
Image by Nicolas Kamm / Getty Images
Image by Nicolas Kamm / Getty Images
Official White House Photo / Pete Souza
First Lady Mrs. O has debuted her ensemble for the state dinner, wearing a gown by Indian-American designer Naeem Khan. The strapless gown features hand cut sterling silver sequins sewn on champagne silk chiffon, which create an abstract floral pattern. The dress is entirely handmade, requiring three weeks of work by 40 people, completed in Naeem Khan's family workshop in India. The custom, one-of-a-kind gown was made by the designer with the theme of Mrs. O's first state dinner in mind. The evening honors the stateside visit of Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and his wife, Gursharan Kaur.
Mrs. O accessorized her ensemble with oversize Bochic drop earrings, featuring a fleur de lis at each ear and tear drop shapes made of gold and purple stones. Mrs. O completed the look with a dramatic stack of gold and diamond bangle bracelets on her left arm, a coordinating champagne-colored wrap, and her hair swept into a loose, romantic updo.
Earlier today Mrs. O hinted that she might turn to an Indian-American designer for her gown this evening, when she chose a skirt by another Indian-American designer, Rachel Roy, for the state dinner preview event. This is Mrs. O's first time publicly wearing a Naeem Khan design and what a debut! Mrs. O is bringing a modern brand of glamour to the White House, the likes of which we've not seen before.
For those who want to watch the coverage live, Politico has a livestream here. The White House will also live stream beginning at 8:15PM EST, here.
As a sidenote: Naeem Kahn is scheduled to be panelist on Larry King Live tonight at 9PM EST. Perhaps Larry will ask about the dress?
Update: We just watched Mr. Naeem Khan on Larry King Live. Of interest, both the designer's father and grandfather designed for Indian royalty in their careers. Mr. Khan relayed that he designed 3 or 4 gowns for the event, which were coordinated through Ikram Goldman in Chicago. The brief had been "Indian, chic, simple, but very glamorous." With that, Mr. Khan chose the color, embroidery, cut and all other aspects of the gowns. He called the moment of seeing the first lady in his design, "So joyous," continuing, "For me to be part of this historic occasion, being Indian, it is beyond amazing. It is an incredible moment for me."
Read more about the Naeem Khan's perspective (and the Halston influence beyond the state dinner dress) in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, here. Thanks denisegirl!
Official White House Photos by Pete Souza
Bochic, Naeem Khan
Reader Comments (246)
Rocky, I love your posts, they are always very expressive and descriptive. Are you a writer ?
Fabulous dress. But why did her stylist do her coif to resemble a turban? Was that on purpose?
The FLOTUS is very reminiscent of the late Princess Diana in this dress because Mrs. O is tall and statuesque like Diana was and this dress has the simple, elegant style Diana favored in what were to be her last years. It would have been something to see Diana and Michelle Obama sharing the fashion spotlight together. I believe Diana would be 47 if she were still alive - both of them a similar age, height, build, etc. - both strong women.....wow, that would have been something. And let's not forget, Diana had some real fashion missteps before finding her own style.
Know what else makes the FLOTUS such a standout? She doesn't carry a bag at these events when she is being photgraphed. A bag or clutch would have detracted from this dress, which I believe will go down as her best look yet. I vote to get this one into the Smithsonian. Kudos to breaking the handbag tradition and any other traditions that are outdated and tired. Bravo to not wearing hose!
I'm dying to know what shoes she's wearing under all that champagne gorgeousness!!!
Rock on, Mrs. Obama!
There really is only one word befitting Mrs. O, and that is STUNNING.
A beautiful dress, but not the right style (perhaps too small when first measured) not the design for a full figured women like FLOTUS.
With the additional wieght she continues to gain it takes away from the dress design with her chest area, upper arms and back flowing out of the top.
It's amazing the 40 people hand made the dress with beading. I am hoping for some cloe up shots to better see the detail of the beads. The Indian women's clothing is so beautiful.
LOL!! Mrs. O considered full figured. Where dey do dat at?
Posh, I love that picture as well and I thought the same thing when I saw her hair.
Truthfully, I could not find the words to explain how good I thought MO looked last night. It was all too beautiful!!!
Flawless!!
Her arms and shoulders, oh my! Perfect dress for the occasion.
WOW... Michelle is the BOMB. Period! I just can't stop looking at the pictures of this super beautiful, sexy, elegant, powerful, outstanding yet so natural First Lady. This fantastic champagne gown just matches perfectly with Michelle's skin colour. It's not only body fit made, but skin-colour fit as well. I'm so sorry Mr. President, but I'm having the crush on your wife.
amazingly beautiful first family! that dress is AMAZING! Distinguished guests and all guests looked very nice in their choices! must've been a glorious evening.
I'm just a thirty-something, slightly dumpy white woman but man, when I grow up, I want to be like Michelle Obama. She's just stunning and sets such a great example for all women and girls. If I were a young AA girl, I'd be beyond obsessed with growing up like her. What a phenomenal woman.
I am a regular lurker to this site but after seeing our beautiful First Lady in these pictures I had to comment. Where do I start? The dress? Stunning! The hair? Gorgeous! The glowing skin? Impeccable. The way President Obama looks at the First Lady? Sigh! I'm just breathless just looking at the pictures. I think this is the best look yet for the First Lady. I love, love, love the whole entire look. Nothing is out of place. I love how she is regal yet glamorous. She exudes confidence, intelligence, strength and of course femininity. She is definitely number one in my book of First Ladies.
am i the only one who thinks that she looks stuffed into the top of that dress and that her hair looks like a mess? the material is lovely though.
Ethereal. Truly a delight. Mrs. O is gorgeous.
Wonder what the other gowns Mr. Khan designed for her look like.
One posted wondered what Mrs. Obama wore under the gown...
I saw a wonderful exhibit of Princess Diana's gowns...and the accompanying writeups said that the designers had sewn in bras in order to maximize the fit
Mrs. O looked wonderful and the event was spectacular!!
A HIT
@ jestina, thank you for the compliment. Appreciate it.
I'm no writer, but I take great pleasure in "the arts" - I'm an artist/ graphic designer, who does some copy writing and proof reading on the side. (My alter ego is this fashion fanatic who jumps on a plane every weekend to go shopping!)
;)
those earrings were by Bochic.com
first time i have ever heard of them, gorgeous stuff.
"We are incredibly honored that Mrs. Obama chose to wear Bochic earrings last night. When we designed the earrings we wanted to integrate both Eastern and Western design elements. We were drawn to the orange hue of the natural amber and the rose color of the rubellite tourmaline, which are traditional Indian colors. We also added rose cut diamonds to create a vintage feel. These one-of-a-kind earrings are handcrafted and completely unique. The First Lady was an absolute vision," says designer David Joseph.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/first-lady-michelle-obama-sparkles,1063769.shtml
Posh Tater: I too loved and agreed with Prime Minister Singh's speech and toast. So apt. Many hearty cheers to our hardworking, decent, dignified and amazing President!!
An additional delight of this magical dress is that it's light champaign color changes so completely, depending on the light. Here's one at the dinner where it looks fabulous as a yellow dress with sterling sequins
Gettyimages has several of Mrs. O standing outside where the dress looks pale green. I'm sorry, I don't know how to link to a single photo on Getty.
@ Willow, as you click through the photos, the photo number at the end of the http line is changing. Copying and pasting the http address for a particular picture should lead back to that particular picture Doing it this way brings up the whole Gettyimage page though and not just the photo.
@Posh, I got shut out of my reply to you and thus, an incomplete note. Thought that was the profile head shot you meant. I had also thought of it when I saw MO's hair. Have heard some negative comments about the appearance of her upswept hair but I loved it. The Vogue photo by Annie Leibovitz has always been one of my favorite of MO. There is another photo that I think may have been from the same sitting but upper body, in a ? dark blue gown that I also loved but cannot remember where I saw it . Maybe you saw it too. It was a beautiful photo.
To those who were asking about Dr. Jill Biden, here's a photograph that shows her from behind. She's the one in midnight blue bodice with black skirt dress, sporting her blonde hair. I wonder what the front view look3d like. The back view is stunning. Here's the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/4134996260/sizes/l/
did anyone else notice that the dress did not fit at the bust?
@ Posh
This is the Annie Leibovitz MO photo with the profile head shot
This is the other Leibovitz photo I mentioned - was in Jan 2009 Vogue
Interesting interview with the designer Naeem Khan
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/11/25/naeem-khan-on-designing-michelle-obamas-priceless-first-state-dinner-dress/
Thank you, Mrs. T., for asking that the thread remain positive. I am so tired of the "hate" word being so reflexively tossed around. Hyde Parker did a great job of "educating" Stephanie Green without going overboard.
I love Mrs. O and her eclectic fashion taste, but I have to say that with this outfit, head to toe, she has outdone herself. I want to stare at her forever.
On another note,I'm so happy with the wide range of designers Mrs. O uses. I love that her selections represent the diversity that is America. I'm so very pleased with her.
In what may be the greatest of understatements, the dress was lovely, the accoutrements delightful! As I am on holiday, I have been forced to view the offerings from my little Iphone screen, yet stilll stunning. For the first time in a picture with the pair, I can honestly say I did not even notice our handsome POTUS.
Our MsT, quoted in the Straits Times...which is nice.
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_458853.html
What's not so nice, is the glaringly inappropriate use of the word "flesh coloured". Completely idiotic.
Canyongal, Princess Diana loved America especially the warm reeception that she always received. I know for a fact that Michelle and Diana would have been great pals and the fashion world would have been a more exciting place with these two women at the helm.
@Jazz - Thanks so much for your help with Getty. However, when I click on one photo of the many, that individual number appears for only a split second, and then disappears before I can grab it. The photo I enlarge is on the screen in front of all the small ones, and the main URL remains the same. Maybe it's just unique to my Mac, which seems to have a few extra glitches of its own. But if anyone has additional tips that might help, I'll be most grateful.
Mrs. O looked amazing! I am very, very, very proud of my sistah Michelle!
Posh, wow could you imagine if the dress was indeed "flesh coloured"? The media would have a field day LOL.
Sounds like a nice idea for a New Years Eve dress!
I just found a sweet story about some added romance at the State Dinner.
"Valerie Jarrett quietly helped a fellow aide, White House online guru Jesse Lee, hatch a plan to propose to his Indian-American girlfriend, Nita Chaudhary, at the glitzy state dinner festivities yesterday." Despite a glitch in the plans caused by rain, the couple is now happily engaged. What a romantic and special memory for the lucky young couple!
The cute story is here
FABULOUS !!!
Ohhh, Michelle... she does look lovely and a great thing to choose an Indian designer BUT SUCH CLEAVAGE!? For a first-lady? Doesn't work for me. She looks fantastic, but I don't think it was appropriate, particularly for a dinner with Indian representatives. However, if she ever attended the Hollywood awards, I would pose no "buts"! It's a fabulous dress
WOW!!!! she looks AMAZING!
@ Char - Where was there cleavage? Are we talking about someone else? Mrs O wasn't showing any cleavage because her dress was strapless, not plunging. Can you specify please.
@ Lisa Hunter, yes I know what you mean. But I think that when you look at ALL the photo's, it only looks like it doesn't fit in one or two. I have a real bugbear about strapless dresses because they so rarely fit properly, but in this case I'm inclined to think that the ranks of flash photographers opposite the White House may have been creating exagerrated shadows. And sometimes, you know, humans move, and dresses move, and then they need a little hitch-up later. It's no biggie.
THE FLOTUS AND THE POTUS LOOK STUNNING AND SO MUCH IN LOVE THEY DO THE UNITED STATES VERY PROUD AND I KNOW THE COUNTRY WILL BE FINE WHEN I SEE THE TWO OF THEM
TOGETHER. I KEEP THEM AND OUR COUNTRY IN MY PRAYER EVER NIGHT.
STUNNING MRS O
I thought this was a great pic. I know the Pres has an extremely stressful job, but I am glad that he is enjoying it a little bit and I am happy that FL Michelle is there to help him enjoy it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/4134210081/in/photostream/
She looked absolutely stunning, just amazing....she was the star of the night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She looked great.
The guests of honor had some nice things to say about their hosts. Doesn't sound to me that they were bothered about being feted in a tent as some have suggested.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/White-House-dinner-was-magnificent-PM/H1-Article3-480643.aspx
Breathtaking
This is probably one of the most beautiful gowns Mrs. Obama has word yet. It fits her perfectly, and she looks breathtaking in the photos. I can only imagine how stunning she must have looked in person! She also appears both self-assured and at ease in her role as hostess of such an important event.
I love the gold strapless dress on Michelle, she looks so regal. For a look for less version, check out
http://firstladiesstyle.onsugar.com/3081250
If she coulda worn THIS for inaugurational balls/gala!!!!!!!!!!!! SUCH a perfect look for her--I love how her hair is more relaxed up than stiff up here--much younger-looking---it seems that someone is studying Oleg Cassini's book on Mrs. Kennedy or the Mrs Kennedy in the White House book--there are a lot of similarities in the looks--I like when Mrs. O keeps her looks more fitted like this one and just wears earrings and has her hair more relaxed--she is more lovely than many Hollywood women and much more appealing with no vanity--I LOVE her in these rich neutrals--GORGEOUS