Sunday
Dec132009
Christmas in Washington
Sunday, December 13, 2009 at 7:24 PM 
Photo by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images
In the company of four darling little elves (note their belted waists), the president and first lady hosted the Christmas in Washington celebration this evening at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
The first lady looks positively radiant in a black party dress, featuring a v-neck, banded waist and full skirt. We wonder if this might be the Isabel Toledo dress that the designer described as, "a pleated jersey number with some real swing. It's very Marilyn Monroe."
Update: Indeed this is the stunning work of Isabel Toledo. Gorgeous!
tagged Isabel Toledo
Isabel Toledo
Reader Comments (45)
I soooo luv these 2 !!!!....They r the best FLOTUS n POTUS !!!...They bring so much warmth n style to the white house...Michelle's black dress iz sooo nice...Here's a pic of her...It shows the whole dress.
http://www.daylife.com/photo/09dLgl10u85oS?q=michelle+obama
Very nice. When does this air on tv?
I love how for all of these holiday parties she hasn't reverted to the traditional red and green colors or holiday themed clothing. The rich plums , browns , sparkly gold , black and red floral and black with diamond/sparkly accents have been beautiful and very festive in their own right.
I love the jewelry she chose to wear with this dress! The black and diamond earrings and bangles are fabulous. One of the silver bangles is huge. Almost saucer like. I love it.
It probably is Isabel Toledo. Check out these two dresses by her with similar pleating Here and Here .
wow,amazing!
Very pretty. Perfect style and fit on her. Fresh and simple. The kids are adorable. Mr. O has an adorable big smile in this picture too.
Ari, I think you are on to something, but then again, I always seem to see what people see when guessing the designer.
Edited to add link for her outfit head to toe - http://www.daylife.com/photo/05NhcV16Cz5Z5?q=michelle+obama
mrs obam dress is nice she wear black kitten shoes i wish there kids was there tonight but i didnt see them if there was there they will see them on stage singing with there mom and dad and mr obama had ters drown his eyes when he was singing he must be a happy president i saw the whole pictures in getty you guys dont have themhere yet.
She looks beautiful.
Just saw pics of the president had a tear in his eyes, i guess must be hard being first time without grandma in hawaii.
Mrs.T you're probably right.i immedietely think of isabelle toledo when i saw her.
i love the picture where she is reacting to what the kids were saying.it just screams michelle obama: warmth, genuineness and down-to-earthness if such a word exists.no wonder people all over the world relate to her.here am i, 2a.m in gemany but i got to have my Mrs.O fix.
great that the White House looks less like a fortress and more like a home now.u guy should be lucky to have landed such nice people to represent ur country and to borrow will smith line to the president about his lady "michelle is fine".
When is this show that they're at tonight going to air on tv.? I'm sad that the president teared up. Grandma "Toot" died just over a year ago. All of the drama and politics has to be getting to him. I hope he lets himself get mad, sad, and frustrated - just let it out. People say he's not emotional enough, I've always felt like he's very emotional underneath it all.
I love the pictures on Yahoo of her hairstyle from the side and back. Very pretty. They have fun wherever they go.
These pictures just warms my heart. Our Michelle looks fantastic in that LBD, the pleating is crisp and fresh looking. POTUS, well, POTUS always looks dapper, seems he got a little choked up (no doubt thinking of granny), so sweet. I bet this is a night Avery, Anna, Abigail, and Reagan (elves) will remember fondly for the rest of their lives. I'm done with housework waiting on 10 o'clock tonight! Hurry Oprah!
Red Lipstick - "Christmas in Washington" airs on December 20 at 8pm (DC time) on TNT. I had the pleasure of attending the rehearsal on Saturday at the National Building Museum and it should be a wonderful show. No Mrs. O yesterday, but listening to Mary J Blige live for what seemed like hours made up for that.
It's the same dress she wore in the official White House portrait with the President and their children.
As for a piece of trivia, it's also the same dress she wore to the Staff Ball the night after Inauguration day that was held for staffers from the campaign. I can say with authority that she was absolutely gorgeous in it there, too. ;)
Oh Mrs O
Do you know
How much beauty you show
These cute little kids will remember this moment as they grow.
I tried to do some rhyming. POTUS is in so many pictures with FLOTUS at
this beautiful time of year AND I LOVE IT. SO TWEET Mr & Mrs. Obama
and the kids look absolutely sparkling and a kodak moment - I just see
'Tis the season to be jolly,' written all over their faces,
when I look at this picture. Black dress down-to-earth & as a result, kids stand out.
V necks suit her well!
Gorgeous as usual. Truly inspiring me to wear more frocks next spring/summer.
I'll start working on the arms now!
I love that black dress Michelle has on, I want one! :) Anyone know for sure who made it?
@ A, it's not the same dress. They are similar though.
She looks great...I love this photo.
@ A...Its not the same dress...The one she wore...4 the official portrait...Was a Michael kors design...N it was straight...This one flares out...But its a little similar though.
Hmmm...so Mary performed at this concert. Two of my favorite women in the whole world--on the same stage. Wow!
I think Mrs. O has taken to the up-do's because I think she may be trying to grow her hair out. Wearing protective styles will help keep it from breaking off. I hope she does grow it out. I think she'd look really great with a longer bob.
V-Neck is a totally flattering look for her. Very nice full length picture of her. Thanks Jaylanie.
I have a similar LBD I wear during the holidays. Hugs the right places, floats away from the ones it should. I love it. Like this dress, mine will never go out of style. Home run.
What adorable little "elves"!
I love the little poem, Lorns.
As others have said, the Obama's have brought warmth, sincerity and love to the otherwise boring area of politics and the White House. They look lovely and the little elves are simply adorable.
@ A - I believe the dress to which you refer had sleeves and ruching on the skirt.Quite similar though. Might be the same designer. I can't remember whom. Michael Kors,anyone?
Mrs. O looks fantabulous though.
I have been noticing something in some of the recent pictures and I mean this in the best way possible. Flotus' foundation seems to be a little off. Sometimes this occurs when you have been in the sunlight, more OR less than usual or when the manufacturers' mix is slightly different. This ONLY really becomes noticeable in photos. It tends to make the person's face appear ashy. We all know that FLOTUS is in no way ashy.
I hope her make up artist looks at the photos and or reads this blog. As a make-up artist I take a photo of my client when I have finished, just to be certain.
This is my very favorite look for Mrs. O. Classy, clean and simple!
JESTINA,
Thank you for the comment. I always notice your name. Yu stand out in my mind.
as do many others. I can't wait to have time to write more on the blog with all
you nice ladies. Yu can see I AM MESMORIZED BY THIS MOMENT. I can't stop
talking about MRS O to my friends. With OPRAH, last night oooooooooooooo great.
I had a "moment" yesterday that I am NOT proud of. I was looking at Amazon.com for the "Mrs.O" book by Mrs. T and noticed that there are many books listed about Mrs. O. Therefore I reminded my husband exactly WHICH book I wanted for Christmas in case he was confused. He said he's checked at every bookstore he can find, even in the big city 100 miles to the south, and everybody is sold out. I then actually got cranky and upset with him, that I better have that book under the Christmas tree, or babs will be very upset. He chastised me for acting like a little kid. I immediately agreed with him and apologized. Anyway, later that evening, I heard him and my daughter by the computer talking about Amazon.com so I'm guessing he finally ordered it online. Whew!
Sounds as though some are confused about WHICH portrait. Hers alone was in a Michael Kors. The family portrait she wore the same Azzedine Alaia dress (long sleeves, horizontally ruched and padded skirt) that she wore to Ted Kennedy's birthday.
The dress above is the one Toledo said was like the infamous Marilyn Monroe white number - the one where she stood over a street grate and her skirt was blown up rather scandalously.
Dear babs, I'm sorry for the trouble in finding the book! I think Amazon is the way to go!
LOL @babs
Love this dress and I really loved Mary's dress.
Funny tidbit about one of the lil elves from Politico: "Anna Elf, though, seemed unimpressed, telling POTUS: "I've never seen you before!" He responded, laughing, "I've never seen you before.""
Here is a lil clip of them with the elves : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk1BpCWYNiQ
What a cool dress. The shots of longer length show just how kicky it is. And with the pointed toe heels!
And... It's sort of refreshing to have a POTUS/FLOTUS who are used to being around little kids. So sweet the way they really talk to them. I noticed in a few pix that Mrs. O gently had her hands on two of the little elves heads to keep the kids focused toward the photographers.
Nyon - Thanks for the video. Toooooooooo cute! The Elves are adorable, and it's touching to see POTUS and FLOTUS greeting them.
Ari - I noticed, too, that Mrs. O has stayed away from the traditional bright, "Santa red" usually worn by First Ladies for Christmas photos, and I've appreciated it as well. She's always original. The black above surely lets the Elves shine, as someone above pointed out (sorry, I can't find who just now).
Lorns - Thanks for the little poem.
Mrs. O looks great here. I'm looking forward to taping this program when it airs.
WSinWashDC - Is 8:00 pm Eastern Time, Dec. 20 on TNT certain? I guess that would be 5:00 here on the west coast? Thanks for the info. It must have been fun to be at the rehearsal.
Babs, I second Mrs T's suggestion. I ordered my copy of Mrs O through amazon.co.uk and it arrived within days. I also ordered two copies for Christmas presents and again they arrived mega quick.
wow,amazing!
Here's a link to the BEST photo of the dress that I've seen that shows it all
http://www.etonline.com/gallery/obamafashion/2009/12/70317/index.html
Any info on the bracelets that's Mrs.O is wearing?
The white one furthest from her hand looks bizarre.
That little AP video (on YouTube) that Nyon posted is too cute!
It offers a really nice view of the dress in motion.
I second that Jaylanie. I love this President and First Lady so much. So refreshing to have them in the Whitehouse. I'm so glad they get to go to Hawaiii for Christmas as they've always done and here's hoping they have a wonderful, restful and positively rejuvenating time.
Thanks for that clip of the first couple with the elves Nyon, it was so cute!
No problem, Ladies. Thats what we do, we share the little gems we find about Mrs. O and her family.
Mrs. T, I don't think there are any "official" pictures, but Mrs. O was wearing an awesome red dress at a Christmas party for journalists tonight. There's a picture here
http://gawker.com/5426482/all-tonights-holiday-parties-the-white-house-vogue-daily-news
NYON,
WILLOW,
THANKS FOR YOUR COMPLIMENTS - one day in the new year, I'll try
rhyming some words about Mrs. O. I LOVE WORDS, I LIVE BY THEM.
I haven't bought the Egyptian oil. Have blisters on my feet, I better see
my doctor about it tomorrow. I don't remember who memtioned the oil, of
you 2 ladies. I hope we meet one day. Thanks again.
Gorgeous indeed! (That's the elves, the President, AND Mrs O's frock!!)
Lovin' that UpDo!