Mrs. O Sparkles at Governors' Dinner
Sunday, February 22, 2009 at 3:33 PM 
Photo credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images Tonight the Os will welcome the National Governors Association to the White House, hosting their first black tie dinner at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. As we mentioned earlier this week, Earth, Wind & Fire is slated to play, which will surely make for a fun evening. From the White House press release:
"The White House is the place where our bond as Americans is strengthened," said Desiree Rogers, White House Social Secretary. "We look forward to welcoming the nation’s governors to celebrate our democratic ideals, our diversity, our shared values and the best of the American spirit."
We're curious to see how Mrs. O will interpret black tie attire at the White House - a cocktail dress or a formal evening gown? (Of note, the reference to "black tie" came from Lynn Sweet's very reliable column for the Chicago Sun Times.)
Update: This afternoon Mrs. O spoke with a group of culinary students from L'Academie de Cuisine in the White House kitchen before the Governors' Dinner. The Huffington Post has a slideshow here. The dress is a cocktail length cobalt blue gem from Jason Wu's Spring 2009 collection (runway image here). As many have already observed in the comments, the dress is quite similar to the white Jason Wu dress that Mrs. O wore for an interview with Barbara Walters in November. We imagine the materials and construction - raw silk with hand embroidered rosettes - are the same. Lynn Sweet at the Chicago Sun Times also has the scoop on the menu, china and flowers for tonight's event, which can be read here.
Update: Mrs. O has changed dresses! The First Lady is wearing a sequin, strapless gown by Peter Soronen paired with a dramatic multi-strand necklace of pearls and crystals by Tom Binns. The dress is the "twilight gown" from Peter Soronen's Fall Winter 2008 collection. As is Soronen's signature, the top part of dress is a corset, with a long bias skirt, all in sequins. The color, we're told, is actually a deep purple / ink blue. With her hair pulled up, our First Lady Mrs. O is the epitome of style and glamour this evening. The Huffington Post's "The Other Red Carpet" slideshow is a must see.
Jason Wu, Peter Soronen, Tom Binns in Outfits
Reader Comments (267)
Wow...she looks so amazing in this gown it is the most beautiful dress I have ever seen on her! Simply stunning!
Mr. T you're right for the necklace's creator too :
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/22/AR2009022202684.html
This look is good. I'd give it a 7 out of 10. This is WAY better than how she looked on Inauguration Night. The inaugural ball gown made her look flat-chested; this gown does not. The inaugural gown did absolutely nothing for her figure and made her look fat; this gown shows her curves. The inaugural gown was ill-fitted (no wonder, as she didn't meet personally with the designer to get it fitted) and was so long she kept trying to make sure her husband wouldn't trip over it; this gown is also full-length but not a potential stumble hazard. I'm sure President Obama (who, by the way, looks dapper) was glad that he could take his wife on the dance floor and not worry about stepping on her gown. On Inauguration Night, she looked like she barely wore any makeup; her makeup here is better.
However, I'm not feeling her hairdo. I think she is prettier with it up because it shows off her best facial feature - her cheekbones - but it looks better pulled back more than she has been doing for the past couple of days. This updo makes her look a tad older than she really is. Not feeling the diamonds & pearls necklaces either. She should've just worn the diamonds.
YES SHE DID!!!!! Michelle looks breathtaking, a picture of perfection.
She is an astonishing beauty in this Peter Soronen strapless floor-length gown. She epitomizes classic style in this gown, which fits her figure perfectly with its cascading shimmering-metallic finish and synched waist.
And to compliment her gown, Mrs O has accessorised with an avente-garde multi-strand pearl necklace and sparkling diamond cluster stud earrings.
Wearing her hair in this sophisticated upsweep, shows off her smokey eye makeup.
She is definitely one of the best dressed woman walking the earth right now - her iconic style oozes a rare glamour and incomparable elegance.
Wow, she looks AMAZING in this gown, and what a figure! I like her hair in the upsweep, away from her face. I think her usual hair makes her look matronly. She's just glowing in this pic! Can't believe this is my First Lady!
BRAVO!!! I think this should have been her inauguration look as well. PLUS, I think she looks waaayyy better with her hair up (when she bares her shoulders, mind you): it looks so glamorous and chic!
LOVE the look!
Can you say "drop-dead gorgeous"....oh my goodness...
About the necklace. What is spectacular about is that the pearls make it Western, but the design is African. It reminds me so much of the rope-of-beads collar necklaces of the Maasai. See here in National Geographic store: http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/product/216/3000/115.html
Mrs O and the Prez look amazing. She is elegant and regal in this dress. I love that we have a First Lady with curves. She looks better in this dress than the model. Simply gorgeous!
OUTTA THE BALLPARK!.
I love the way the dress moves with her and fits her curves, even in a STILL photo!!
Barack is digging this look too! He is glowing along with her!!
The necklace is very Michelle, adding her signature to the ALREADY smashing look.
As much as I love her in color, black and white is really fabulous on her.
Brava Michelle!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Michelle looked stunning in that shimmery black dress.
Wow!!! Where can I get a version of that necklace?!?
Love love love it!
@ Beliz
this is a site here to critique Mrs. O's look RESPECTFULLY...obviously those who do not do so are not welcome, but those who give candid critique of her look, and her sartorial choices in a respectful manner are allowed to have their opinion....it is unrealistic for you to expect everyone to love EVERYTHING she wears 24/7, that does not mean we like Mrs. O any less
it is HIGHLY rude, and HIGHLY disrespectful to then call those who respectfully critique her look as "bi*ches," and that in itself does not to misrepresent and disrespect everything that the Obamas are about. If you do not agree with those who respectfully critique Mrs. O's look, then state your case respectfully, and if you cannot do that, then maybe its YOU that should leave the sight....
YEAH, BABY! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!!! She nailed it.
The necklace is by the same guy who made that amazing necklace she wore with the black Toledo palazzo pants outfit last year. I saw it on his website.
Here is a great shot of the second prettiest gown at the shindig: Gov. Sibelious looks terrific!
http://www.daylife.com/photo/0gtudsr6PC0Y1
Wow, oh wow. This one will be in the history books for sure. Just naturally gorgeous! I think she is wearing a Tom Binns Necklace. I think I've seen it at net-a-porter.com or on the tom binns web site.
Wish they had worn exactly these clothes for the Inaugural Balls!! They are stunning.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure the necklace is Tom Binns, because if you look at this close-up photo of her sitting next to Governor Schwarzenegger here http://www.daylife.com/photo/0gyA96F3aVcr2/Michelle_Obama you can see that the necklace is made of pearls and rhinestones. Also if you look here http://www.net-a-porter.com/Shop/Designers/Tom_Binns/Accessories
at the Tom Binns collection on net-a-porter.com you can see two of his necklaces are very similar to the one she is wearing. She simply shines in that outfit. So creative.
I do prefer this dress to the Jason Wu inaugural gown. However, I think that the Jason Wu gown had an optimistic and dreamlike quality that perhaps Madame O wanted to exude that day. This dress is absolutely gorgeous on her, but it sends a different message for me.
I agree. This dress seems more appropriate for this particular occassion. The Jason Wu dress had a more ethereal quality that was more suitable for that historic day.
Let me add my voice to those that the evening dress would have been perfect for the Inaugural balls. Michelle looks fantastic. The cobalt blue worn earlier in the day was perfect. Michelle looked great, younger, not as frumpy as some of her other selections. But the evening dress was just perfect. It was light years of an improvement over that Jason Wu Inaugural number.
I'm so proud of our First Family because of who they are, but it sure doesn't hurt that they look so gorgeous. This photo of our President and our First Lady IS more glamorous and beautiful than anything on the red carpet.
I love the pearls. Very dramatic, but not over the top.
I know this site is not political, except for the few times someone throws a "hate bomb" and then runs away, but I heard something the other day I want to share for those of you who want some facts to refute some of the b.s. we hear.
It is fashionable in some circles to deride the stimulus plan, and then to state that FDR and his New Deal did not get us out of the Great Depression. They insist that WWII was what got us booming again. Think about it for a moment. When people say the war helped us, what are they really saying? They are admitting that GOVERNMENT SPENDING in the war effort got us out of the depression. I say we can accomplish the same thing with today's stimulus plan from this President, but instead of spending on death and destruction, we'll spend on the creation of good jobs that enrich our communities and help our families.
I'm done. I promise no more politics... except this:
Yes we did!
The best yet!
Better than anything at the Oscars! And those curves - gorgeous!
This is a fierce look, that only a woman of Michelle's height and physicality could pull off. I am still a fan of the inaugural dress, it was fresh, dreamy and romantic.
Wow-ee wow wow!!! I'm speechless.....absolutely MAGNIFICENT!
I do think that the dress would have looked better with a strappy shoe.
Wow!!!!!!!! I agree this would have made a much better inaugural dress. This is amazing and I love her hairstyle.
Hi First Lady Obama, you certainly do have style. We are very proud of you and the President. We pray and ask God to give the President direction every day.
There is one question: When are you going to wear some black designer's clothing? They need some help too. You are probably the only First Lady that would sport something from a black designer - I hope?
The First Lady looks absolutely gorgeous. It's so nice to have glamour in the White House again.
Mrs. O's hair is not in an updo, she cut it over the weekend. I love it, now I would love to see her grow it out into a twisted afro. Go Michelle!
THis image is just TOO much for me...
Are the First Lady and President real....
They look truly stunning, arresting I dont know if I will recover soon from the shock of this stunning image!!!!!!
BEST. DRESS. EVER.
Flotus skin looks flawless, NATURALLY tanned and dewey. You gotta love this couple. POTUS is looking handsome as ever...my, my, my this was the missing spice in the WH. :)
Flotus skin looks flawless, NATURALLY tanned and dewey. You gotta love this couple. POTUS is looking handsome as ever…my, my, my this was the missing spice in the WH. :)
Mrs. T, Are you sure that the evening dress is "deep purple/ink blue", that sounds more like the Jason Wu dress. The evening dress reads grey on my computer. Plus, on the designer's own website, there are a lot of greyish hues. I am confused.
Soullife-FLOTUS did NOT CUT HER HAIR. Mrs. T provided a link above to a slideshow of photos taken at the White House at an event with Mrs. O, a few hrs before the dinner. She is wearing her hair loose and down there:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/22/michelle-obama-welcomes-c_n_168980.html
she just pinned her up is all.
Hi edwina - That's a direct quote from the designer's representative. I originally described the dress as black, but she corrected that it was "deep purple / ink blue". Agree, though, that it's tough to get a read on the color from images.
Okay, so here's what I've been wondering: Have any of you seen any updates on how Mrs. O and Michael Smith are coming along on the redecorating? I'm really eager to learn more about Mrs. O's style in decorating, in addition to her glowing fashion reviews. (I'm still staring at the stunning photo of our glamorous--and loving!--first couple. Do you just love it that they're always holding hands?)
The photos are absolutely stunning! I normally start my day by reading this blog before I go to my own blog or to other favorite blogs.
Today I saw this picture on my friends blog and came here to see what I had missed. I'm linking this blog on my own blog from now on.
Wow. That's a senSATional dress! They both look amazing but you'd have to be a .... well you'd have to be feeling a little bit removed from your own pulse not to get that Michelle Obama is one of the most beautiful women in the world. This is the best yet. And I love the colour, it really isn't black is it, it's too smoky for that? Fantastic choice. Another Vogue cover I think!
Wow, if I had the $$$$ and the bod I would wear Peter Soronen all the time. What a great collection of dresses.
While there's nothing more to say, I must add my voice to the chorus of YES! YES! YES! At first I thought the necklace was too much, but when you see her sitting you realize how boring it would be not to have it. The dress fits perfectly. BTW, I think that Kate Winslet and Penelope Cruz had the best dresses of Oscar night, in part because they also paid such close attention to fit.
oh my god she is SO hot!!!
Ms. G, I too love that the Obamas are frequently photographed holding hands. That soft glow of love around them makes whatever they are wearing look even better.
I'm in love!!!! I opened the site and just absolutely fell in love with Michelle and that outfit. I have not read the other posts, I have not read the description of the outfit. It was love at first site.
New NYTimes/CBS poll says Michelle is most popular first lady at the start of a president's term in 30 years. Michelle, our nation's belle.
Michelle is smoking hot. Period. Just Wow...look at her. Anybody who has anything bad to say about this outfit can shove it. No disrespect.
Ha!!!
Supriya Jindal, wife of Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, and Marjorie Rendell, wife of Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell, were wearing similar, if not identical, one-strap red gowns.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/23/the-other-red-carpet-the_n_169195.html