A Cappella at the White House
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 4:53 PM 
Photo Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
As The Washington Post's The Reliable Source blog first revealed, First Lady Mrs. O hosted a group of local Washington, D.C. 6th and 7th grade students at the White House today. Nearly 180 students in total were gathered to meet the First Lady and hear Sweet Honey in the Rock, a Grammy-winning a cappella ensemble of African-American women that specializes in songs about history, civil liberties and freedom. As has been pledged by Mrs. O and the White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, the concert is part of an effort to make the White House more open and welcoming to the public. First Lady Mrs. O echoed these sentiments in her words for the young students:
"As the people's house, we believe the White House should be a place for learning and for sharing new and different ideas, sharing new forms of art and culture, and history and different perspectives. We want you to visit and we want you to take advantage of these opportunities and maybe see something for yourselves that maybe you never thought you could do or be. So I'm happy to welcome you here for our little Black History Month celebration. I'm glad you guys are here."
On a style note, Mrs. O was smartly dressed in a classic white shirt and sage green v-neck sweater, paired with the same pinkish tweed (with hints of green, thanks Yola) J.Crew skirt seen in the March Vogue feature. A patent leather royal blue belt (worn throughout the campaign) and red kitten heels added polished touches to the look. For a short video of Mrs. O's remarks:
Reader Comments (76)
She look great as usual!!
It will be very interesting to watch Mrs. O over the years. I was never a fan of Mrs. Bush's conservative clothing choices, but over eight years she became more and more "polished" and clearly learned how to dress and pose for the cameras.
I suspect that Mrs. O will face the same issues: some wonderful clothes just don't photograph well, no matter how terrific they are in person. And "posing" is a learned art--remember the pic of the Obamas visiting the White House, with Mrs. O in the spectacular red dress? The sun must have been in their eyes, and Mrs. Bush knew from experience to look to the side, while Mrs. O looked right at the cameras and had to squint.
Personally, I hope she doesn't "perfect" her look too much--it is just so delightfully refreshing to watch a real woman--mother, wife, professional--wear fashion with such personal style.
I'll bet that among her friends, she's always been the go-to person when someone has a question about what to wear!
Re the flats and kitten heels, I know, as a mother of a tall girl, that she wears her flats and kitten heels mainly because she does not want to tower even more over most people (she would be 6'7" in a 4" heel). Also she is active and walks all over the city all the time. Michelle is tall and active, so maybe her reasons are the same. Kitten heels are fabulous because they dress up an outfit but are not as hard on the feet as higher heels. And there are some great flats out there.
My girl is looking so fly! I'm not fond of this belt with the overall look, but I must say that it is so refreshing to see all that color on such a gorgeous frame.
http://www.daylife.com/photo/0a488SU8Mn3cp/Michelle_Obama
And I just have to say once more that she recycles her clothing so well. It's not normal to wear pieces only once, like most celebrities, and our First Lady has no reservations about being normal. Love her!
susan, Michelle Obama is what, 5' 10" sans heels. If she were to rock the three inch heels she'd be over 6ft tall! Also, she tends to slouch when taking photos with other people and to be fair to her, heels are hell on the feet if you'll be standing up all the time.
I'm 5'4" and I avoid heels whenever I can.
Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Oprah and Gayle were at the WH yesterday to interview Michelle for O Magazine. That will be a fun issue.
I'm also from the generation when all accessories had to match but I think this outfit is such a happy looking one for entertaining children. Best of all is her warmth and genuine affection for these children. Just Wonderful!
Re: Kitten heels
I'm 6ft tall and none of the heels I own are less than 3in. in height. However, now that I am entering the working world, I'm looking desperately for a pair of attractive flats and lower heel height shoes to wear to work. It's hard enough being tall generally, and unfortunately, sometimes people in the business world are intimidated by a woman standing over them at work. Besides, I can't imagine running around and standing all day with super high heels on.
On a slightly different note, am I the only one that notices that she seems to wear heels much more often when she's not with the POTUS? I definitely understand that, there's something comforting about being able to look up into the face of the one you love.
Finally, I just have a question of semantics: Is Mrs.O actually wearing kitten heels with this outfit? I thought kitten heels were, by definition, around one inch. These look to be about 2 inches.
Michelle Obama looks lovely. And I especially like her presentation, her talk, her way of dropping, like a gem, each fact about the White House in light of Black History month. Each fact is given moments of its own to attract, to grow, and Michelle Obama further gives each fact life by pointing to the room in which it transpired.
Well I think she looks great in this outfit, lean and stylish, and I also think that it's time I went and tidied my HOUSE! That was one inspiring speech about making the bed etc., etc.! I have to go do a pile of stuff.... be a better person.
I, too, like the outfits that Sasha and Malia are wearing: Sasha in her cool boots and the colors/textures of her clothing; Malia in her color and jewelry choices as she enters very, very, very young womanhood.
On a side note, I find Barack Obama nearly always looks impeccable.
@ S. Lauren -for flats and kitten heels, go to Barefoottess.com. You can find a whole array of flats and low heels. The prices cover a wide range, but there are always sales. Also, you are right about kitten heels. By definition, they are under 2 inches and usually classified as no more than 1.5" high.
I love how Mrs. O's clothing choices relate to her guests--this isn't a "power suit" or dressy look because her guests were inner-city school children, and the occasion was instructive as well as entertaining. The white shirt and sweater/skirt combo were perfect for the an afternoon with children.
I love the way Michele doesn't try to "match" things, like the belt and the shoes. From the photo, it looks as though her sweater compliments the skirt in that they are both soft and muted colors. My 23 year old often chides me when I am wearing something too "matchy." Looks like Michelle gets this non-matchy concept perfectly.
I just read that Michelle is continuing her tour of federal offices with a stop at the department of Agriculture! So we should be seeing her soon.
As a retired teacher I applaud Mrs. O's look. She presented the image of an instructor/teacher (she did give a mini history lesson, after all) who is savvy about how she looks; but not too polished, sophisticated, or severe. She represents all the people, in all the people's house, and can and should pay homage to different styes of attire so at some point all of us can relate to her fashion choices.
I love the flair Mrs. O has for mixing up colors. Too matchy-matchy is boring.
I'm also tickled to see Sweet Honey in the Rock at the White House! They're an amazing a capella group and revered in the African American community. Louise Robinson is a friend of mine and I know she's thrilled beyond belief to have met the First Lady!
She wore her black-and-white striped pantsuit to the Ag Dept. today, along with two black and white brooches. These pins look different from the ones worn to the Interior Dept. meetings, however.
I love, love, love this woman and her style! J.Crew should be very, very grateful - and get rid of all those insta-fashion butt-crack-showing pants that does NOTHING for ANYONE.
Are you positive she is wearing red shoes and a royal blue belt with the peach tweed skirt and a sage green sweater? Might the photo be distorting or misleading?
I love the shoes. Does any know the designer?
I prefer to see her with some kind of shoes than flat shoes
I really like the outfit, except that I don't care for the color of the belt at all with the rest of the ensemble. A belt in the color of her shoes would have been so much cooler!
Good longer range photo by the LA Times:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/2009/02/19/_f9x7272_1_2.jpg
SHE LOOKS HOT.
great color white high collar against her skin and she looks fresh with the spring green and tweed skirt.
Great combination, she was in a good mood today.... you can tell.
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