The First 30 Days of Fashion
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 2:04 PM 
Photo by Kevin Mazur for the Presidential Inaugural Committee / Creative Commons
Thanks, Jenna, for linking to a great new Huffington Post slideshow that highlights First Lady Mrs. O's first 30 days of fashion. And what a jam-packed month it's been! By our count we've seen designs from Sonia Rykiel, Maria Cornejo, Narciso Rodriguez, J. Crew, Isabel Toledo, Nina Ricci, Jason Wu, Tracy Feith, Maria Pinto and Proenza Schouler. Have we missed any? Such a mix of designers befits a woman with a truly multi-dimensional style.
As David Wolfe, creative director of the trend forecasting Doneger Group, recently told Reuters: "Michelle Obama is more real than iconic. She doesn't have a locked-in fashion look. She experiments, which is what fashion is about these days." Click here to see the Huffington Post slideshow. And once you've had a peek, let us know your favorite look(s) in the comments section. Our favorite continues to be the lemongrass ensemble from Isabel Toledo, though the streamlined look from Narciso Rodriguez, above, ranks a close second.
Outfits
Reader Comments (23)
Yay! Glad it gets its own post. It's fun to see all the outfits in chronological order.
Wow man wonderful looks! I would have to say that these are by far my favorites
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/999/slide_999_16562_large.jpg
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/999/slide_999_16577_large.jpg
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/999/slide_999_16566_large.jpg
The 2nd outfit is especially gorgeous on her!
Back to the lining of Hillary Clinton's coat--that was brought up in the Maria Pinto Rococo's Influence posting. I wonder if Mrs. Clinton's coat was by Tahari? They are showing a cherry blossom lining in some of their new clothes.
Since I like nearly all of Michelle Obama's clothes, I chose instead my four least favorite outfits...my four least favorite ones are those worn on January 21, February 3, February 7, and February 11.
OK, this is the dorkiest thing I have ever done in my life but I hope you will all indulge me!
I created a poll of the notable looks from the last month, because I was curious to know which were the most popular . I just used one of those "make your own poll" sites so it's not the nicest-looking poll in the world...but please do vote anyway!
You can vote here: http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/421945
And follow the results here: http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/421945/results
I voted for the gorgeous Proenza Schouler dress.
My favorites are those worn on January 18, January 20, January 29 (suit), January 30, February 5, February 9, February 13, February 14.
My fav is the outfit on Jan 30th. I don't recall seeing it before. WHo is that coat by? It's a beautiful color!
Michelle is on TV. White collared shirt - and green sweater or jumper. Can't tell much. No brooches. Hopefully photos will be online soon.
Amanda, that was from when Michelle had lunch with the Mayor of DC, and the coat is JCrew. If you go back a few weeks in the archives, there was a post on it that had more pictures.
Also, I just read on Lynn Sweet's blog that Mrs. O invited some school kids to come and see her at the White House today! I hope there will be pictures. And she's also meeting with Oprah today to do an interview for Oprah's magazine.
I adore the January 17th and 21st ensemble.
She's so chic.
I have to say, my favorite looks are the NR camel and black ensemble – pure, clean, spare, modern.
The Alvin Ailey NR dress was another favorite - minimal, subtle and fashion forward - a cerebral tone- on- tone evening look w/ a small flourish of sparkle from that amazing over sized brooch.
My all time Mrs O fave so far, is the Fords Theater I Toledo frock.
It was the videos of the look in motion that made me swoon. Still photos just don't do it justice.
Mrs O was a style dream in that dress, and her entire look that night was pure FASHION sophistication.
bush twins at Oscar de la renta
my favorites: Jan 18th, 20th daytime, 29th & Feb. 5th and 6th.
and the lining of hillary's coat the other day was fabulous.
For daytime I love the blue outfit she wore out to lunch with the Mayor and Jill Biden- fresh, vibrant and gorgeous.
And for night, I can't go past the Isabel Toledo outfit she wore to Alvin Ailey- I thought it was pure glamour.
I wonder if Ikram helps her with accessories as well or whether she sources these separately.
She really knows how to pull things together- choosing just the right belt, scarf or brooch is part of what gives these outfits that indefinable something I think.
I like the tan and black ensemble, but I'm a preppy at heart. I also WANT that scarf she was wearing on the plane back from Chicago. Where did that come from? (And don't tell me Target -- it'll break my heart!)
I love them all EXCEPT the full skirt worn to the Lincoln Theathre, and I am still not nutty about the inagural ball gown. And the red dress worn to the pre-inagural white house visit. I was probably too harsh in my earlier comments on these, as all three of these outfits were probably stunning in person.
I LOVE the rest of it, love love that colorful ensemble worn to lunch with the DC Mayor, and the fact that she did that at a restaurant. I ADORE the lemongrass suit for the inagural. The camel and black coat - DREAMY....the swing coat - love it, etc etc.
I also admire her makeup so much, just the right amount. She is fresh and lovely. Mostly though, I love looking at her and Barack together. He looks at her so adoringly and she just brightens up. I love the faint cuddling, the public affection.
And please, tell me that the scarf is from Target. :)
One more thing...does it look like she is not wearing hose all the time? Her legs always look so gorgeous and not mucked up with too much nylon baggie hose stuff.
If so it seems like this would be a good move to make it OK for the rest of us "hung up on hose" people to skip them now and then.
@allison: i think she has said that she hates pantyhose, finds them terribly uncomfortable (especially because of her height) and doesn't wear them unless it's cold, or a really special occasion. go ahead and skip them, i can't think of many women who would hold it against you.
I did come across this photo from Mrs. O's stop at the Department of Housing and Urban Development a few weeks ago - though to echo moja31's point, this is the first I've ever seen Mrs. O wearing hose:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/piconetwork/3255216718/
The lemmongrass ensemble is horrible. She carries those gloves with absolutely no grace or poise.
The white ball gown is definitely the best in my opinion. This blue dress (http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/999/slide_999_16577_large.jpg) looks lovely, although the belt looks unnecesary and cheap. Similarly, this one was so Jackie! (http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/999/slide_999_16568_large.jpg)
The ensemble at the Kennedy centre was also quite a good one. Not quite sure what she thought when she wore this one though: http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/999/slide_999_16566_large.jpg
My favorite dress is the bristol blue dress with the black inset at the waist. I vote against full skirts; Michelle has the perfect figure for pencil skirts. Full skirts aren't as flattering on her. However, I will take her black pleated skirt off her hands.
PALEEEEEEEEASE. IF PEOPLE COULD STAND IN LINE(MILES LONG) TO KISS THEIR FEET, THEY WOULD. PATHETIC!!!!!
Fantastic ensemble! I covet her jacket!