A Double Take Ensemble
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 1:48 PM Mrs. O has resumed her tour of federal agencies, visiting the Department of Homeland Security this afternoon. According to the AP, the First Lady thanked agency employees for their behind-the-scenes work, making special mention of the Secret Service and the time they spend away from their own families, working to keep the O family safe. To read the First Lady's full remarks, click here.
Mrs. O dug deep into her closet for today's appearance, re-wearing a jade green mini-trench and striped purple tee we last saw on October 2 in Detroit, MI. Today Mrs. O paired the jacket and top with slim black cuffed pants and black patent leather flats. Mrs. O embellished the jacket with a crystal bee brooch at the collar. Upon closer inspection, we noticed the visible pocket linings that hang below the bottom hem of the jacket. Surely this detail is the the work of someone with a playful design sensibility - any ideas? The same ensemble (sans bee brooch) worn in October 2008:
Photo by Flickr user Barack Obama / Creative Commons
Update: The jacket is Duro Olowu, from the designer's Spring 2008 collection.
Duro Olowu in Outfits
Reader Comments (108)
Well done Mrs. T. Thank you for including coverage of First Lady Michelle Obama's official activities.
I think we have found a color that doesn't look good on Mrs. O and that is this jade green. I love the playfulness of the shirt and jacket but the color combo is weirdly off. Love the bee pin though!!
Love Mrs. O, love that she's out and about visiting and connecting with staff, the outfit - nope, pants and shoes are fine, i can even see the jacket but not with that tee!
Mrs. O has worn this jacket at least twice before. More recently in Michigan, but once was a long time ago early in the campaign, when she spoke at a nursery home in Ohio--I distinctly remember it because it was shortly after some Fox News bully made some awful comments (about her) that were all over cable news, and I remember feeling awful for her, but then the very next day she was back on the campaign trail, looking completely unfazed and wearing this same green jacket! Does anyone else remember this by any chance?
Anyway, it's such a quirky piece and I wish we knew the designer but the BEST piece in this look is the bumblebee brooch which she has definitely never worn before. It is beyond adorable.
no no no no....what sup with the purple tee? I have one question
Didn't anyone see her before she left the white house?
It seems like Michelle has a bad hair day here. However, you could look at it in the sense that she's not afraid to show her imperfections. However, after watching The Obama Deception I'm a little concerned about where this country is going and it wouldn't surprise me if a rich, powerful, smart woman like Michelle is the brains behind it.
This is not a very good look.
All of the pieces are great, but should be worn separately.
I love the jacket, but not with this outfit.
Everything is fine except that purple tee under that jacket. the jacket is very nice, i would've wear either a white or black tank top underneath...
It seems that Mrs o was trying to find something to wear with that jackcet since it's short....bbut purple doesn't go with green.....
The ABC News Writeup of the event:
First Lady Michelle Obama dropped by the Department of Homeland Security today to thank its employees for their service as part of her tour of federal agencies in Washington.
...
This morning, the first lady cited the work done by the different agencies that come under the large umbrella of DHS, including the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Coast Guard and Citizen, Immigration Services and FEMA.
Mrs. Obama had a special mention for the Secret Service, which operates under DHS and is responsible for the presidential protective detail.
“Every day I see how hard they work. Every day I see how much time they spend away from their own families to keep mine safe,” the first lady said. “And it has been an honor to get to know each and every one of them throughout the course of the campaign, and our day-to-day interactions. They represent the utmost of excellence, and we are so honored to have them serving alongside of us.”
The first lady noted that because so much of the work protecting the nation takes place behind the scenes, if the nearly 200,000 DHS employees perform their jobs well, “nobody will know what you do.”
As a result, she said the purpose of her visit was to make sure their services “don’t go unappreciated” and these public servants “don't get lost behind the numbers and the magnitude of the mission.”
funny how perception is so subjective. I love this outfit, the color and the striped tee,too. And also her hair, she's wearing the slightly side swept banks. Mrs T, I wish you would have posted today's version instead of the retro one.
May be both her hair stylist and her make up artist took off today....Well, at least it shows that she's just like one of us. We all don't look our best everyday
I just found that appearance in Ohio where Mrs. O had worn this jacket. You can see it looks much better, without the purple, with just the short sleeves. It really is a nice jacket.
http://concreteloop.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/obamamichelle.jpg
This is one of the best pic I could find so far...It shows her nice body...
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//090414/ids_photos_ts/r1450544602.jpg/#photoViewer=/090414/ids_photos_ts/r623213728.jpg
Edwina:
If you click on the black cuffed pants link that Mrs. T posted in the summation above, you will see today's picture.
@ Jenna,
She did wear that green top without the purple tee to the the Ohio retirement village, and I too remember that event being right after Faux news was so mean and nasty to her the day prior. She spoke at the podium completely unfazed and confident. Today, she wore the outfit with black pants which I like better than the grey pants in Michigan.
This is a Mrs. O signature quirky piece, and if she wears it with confidence, I say rock on. Oh, and there's a "press conference", per Politico with the family and Bo at 4pm today. If they do it live, it should be on Cnn(dot)com/live, but I'm not sure if they will tape it.
I have a close friend that hates to wear matchy-matchy, as she calls it, clothes all the time. She wears long-sleeved tees with jackets as well. It's a part of her personality. My friend prides herself in making a statement that she will not be controlled or be conformed and loves bold colors. A lot of what she wears I would not, but I'm so used to seeing her dress differently from most, I've grown to love her uniqueness. Same for Mrs. O. I see so much quirkiness in fashion magazines and on the runways, these types of styles kind of grow on me. Mrs. O does not take herself too seriously.
May be Mrs O will redeem herself at the photo op with the new puppy Bo later today. Politicco reports it'll be at 4pm
Mrs. T., that picture is not the most flattering picture of her. Can you post the one from today's event. I like her make up better now, then during the primaries. Pleaseeeeeeeeee.
I just posted a picture of how great the jacket looked when she wore it at the Ohio appearance, it should be out from moderation soon. I just wanted to point out though that, as Mrs. T wrote above, this picture is actually from last year when she wore this same look during the campaign. In the pictures from today, you can see her hair looks really great and she has on a little bumblebee brooch. There are tons of pictures at both daylife and yahoo.
Mrs. T,
Can you bring back an updated picture of Michelle from today? She's wearing black pants today and not grey.
Thanks!!!
I love this outfit. The look is so young and fresh. I am 28 and would definitely wear this ensemble. Mrs. O looks beautiful. I can't wait for the dog pics this afternoon.
Lyza, I think Mrs. T has to pay for these pictures, so it's probably better to use what she already has BUT certainly all the fashion fanatics here are used to looking at outfits from every angle via news photo sites like daylife, getty etc so they won't miss today's look.
Janelle, TOTALLY agree with everything you said! Also, I found the picture of Michelle in Ohio, and she actually wore it with a short-sleeved shirt, and it looked amazing. It should be appear from moderation.
But as for this outfit, I will confess that there is only a handful of outfits that Mrs. O has worn that I see ZERO redeemable value and completely hated. Number 1 is the Narciso Rodriguez dress from election night, which I hated soooo much that I did not, as I had planned, buy the NYT cover to frame as a keepsake. I actually spent 5 months volunteering for the campaign, so it meant a great deal to me...but I hated that dress!! I couldn't stand to look at it ever again. And there were a few other looks that I really hated.
But in general, I like her quirky sense of color. I really do. Even when they are "misses".
In all today's pictures, mrs O seems somber
@ Lyza,
It's so interesting b/c Mrs. O rarely wore makeup at all during the campaign--especially until Barack got the nomination, only for special evening occasions and a little on primary nights. This must be an adjustment for her and the President. I was reading that he prefers her with no makeup at all and completely natural. My husband is the same way. When I dress up with full blown hair, makeup and designer duds, he says I look "nice". When I'm wearing a t-shirt, jeans and no makeup at all, he says that I'm "beautiful". I don't quite get it, but some men are like that. In all their early photos together, Michelle hardly wore makeup and the Prez beamed at her even as he does now.
I love purple and green together! The rich jewel tones really POP to me. That being said, I am not a big fan of the short sleeved jacket and the long sleeved shirt.
Re the bubblebee...love the Maddeline Albright story! I never heard that. I met someone who always wore a bubble bee as a signature piece. She told the story that according to the laws of physics the bubble bee should not be able to fly because it's body should be too heavy for it's wings to hold it up, but no one told the bumble bee that so it flys! To her it speaks of making the impossible possible. I don't know if that is true, but I loved that story and I hope Mrs.O was thinking the same thing!
Jenna, It's so weird that so many people hated that dress. I remember screaming that night when she came out because i thought the dress was so hot and asking where i could get one...I think it's one of her best... but that just goes to show you how hard it must be for her to please everyone. Not everyone has the same sense of style...
Brook, that is a lovely story and I think your friend should continue to believe it. It has often been said, yes, that bumblebees "shouldn't" be able to fly, given the aerodynamics of their bodies to wing size. However, this has been disproven in recent years, as physicists recognized that bees use wing motion that replicates helicopter blades ~ which generates much more lift than stationary wings.
End result, bumblebees DO meet the requirements of physics to enable flight, despite prior thinking that they didn't. But I don't advocate bursting anyone's bubble about it! (smile)
Sigh, I know you are right Dee, I read that as well, but I still prefer today's look then that picture. She didn't wear a lot of makeup today either but that other picture doesn't even really look like her. I really don't like this outfit together and I think her hair was doing something weird at the top, but I know she has a mirror and she is very cognizant of her message and her look. I hope she changes later : (
A lot of people are mistaking the displayed pictureeven though it is dated from Octover with today's look. Today's look is better, Mrs O looks trimmer and more youthful with the cuffed black pants. And her hair looks fresher today, as well.
As always on this site, different strokes for different fashion folks but I loved this funky look.
I was just now looking at the pants in the 'cuffed pants' link Mrs. T posted up in the article - I hope that look doesn't catch on again, I've never been a fan of cuffs on pants for men or women.
My comment with the picture of her in this jacket, without the purple shirt, has been added. You can scroll up to see it at the 2:24pm mark. It really is an awesome look.
And mimi, haha!! Exactly. There is just no way to reach consensus on something as relative as fashion. I for one, loved the Junya Watanabe look. Meanwhile, there were people in the comments section that day with dire warnings of that cardigan sparking a diplomatic incident. *rolls eyes*
I think I am extremely easy to please when it comes to fashion. I try to find what's special in any piece or any outfit. But NOPE not in that Narciso Rodriguez dress! And again, I was very emotionally invested in that campaign. But even through all my joy after the results had come in, I was like "AHHHHHH!!!!" when I saw Michelle walk out in that dress. Thankfully, since then, she has rarely disappointed me.
My first thought when I saw full pictures is that I thought the look was more casual than what I would have chosen to wear. Not that she needed to throw on a suit, but it just struck me so.
I think this is another one where perhaps I like the individual pieces more than the whole thing together. I think purple can go with green, but not this time around, imo.
But Mrs. O has her style and this is definitely it. This lady loves to layer. She loves layers like some women love Jimmy Choos! And I dig that bumblebee.
This is one of the stranger outfits she's put together. I actually like the mini-trench...but not with the striped tee. I love green and purple. However, the stripes are a no no no. I'm not surprised to see her in this outfit(especially after that big bow moschino shirt in Prague). Mrs. Obama is certainly a fashion dare-devil.
5pm Eastern
CBS reports that today, day 85 of the Obama presidency, at 5 PM Eastern Time, the first family will officially introduce Bo Obama, the new White House Dog.
Chicagoan, you are such a party pooper!! I had heard this same piece of trivia about the bumblebee and had always believed it... how sad that it's not really true.
(ha ha!)
I'm sorry Jenna!
The nerd scientist/entomologist in me just couldn't help relaying that info, though. Sigh!
Christina I actually thought she could've worn a nice youthful-sexy suit today. I mean today is not friday, she could've worn a business attire like the rest of the employees. this looks too casual for the department of homeland security on a Tuesday.
I'm sorry, not even a heartfelt shotout to our favorite secret service guy (the BG) can save this outfit. I see nothing right with it. Not even in the name of quirky fashion.
TBG sighting today, Christina!
I decided he must have been in one of the creepy bunny suits yesterday. And then I pictured a bunny protecting the FL, and realized there was no way...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/14/michelle-obama-repeats-an_n_186783.html
This pic shows the point i was making earlier...She was too casual...I couldn't go to work in this attire on a tuesday....
Thank GOD i was not the only one who hated the outfit today. Usually i love it but that tee-shirt killed the whole outfit...somebody at the whitehouse should have said something to her, i mean jeesh!
other than her outfit malfunction...she is wounderful...all around!
this is a great website.
I would love to know what fragrance Mrs O wears.
I'm going to start writing TBG fanfic. I didn't see him yesterday but also got a kick out of imagining that he might have been the bunny.
Yeah, too casual for me, but, eh. I think it could have worked better minus the striped top. Or maybe even with a striped top, if the top had been sleeveless. But hey, she's the first lady and I'm just some nobody on a computer.
I'm so besotted with the whole Obama family that there's no fashion objectivity. She can do no wrong. I think she looks great and I love the work she's doing. She's raised the bar for First Spouseness forever.
I love today's outfit. It is Michelle, with no one telling her what to do.
Mimi, seven posts in this thread telling us you don't like Michelle's look today? Don;t you think that's a bit excessive? Well, I guess not if you're here to diss.
Here's the video of Mrs. O today. I've seen most of these outfits during the 2-year campaign, so I'm used to her style. I like it, but when she wore it in Ohio without the purple tee, I loved it.
abcnews(dot)go(dot)com/Video/playerIndex?id=7335098
thanks for bursting my bubble, Chicagoan! (just kidding!) I always loved the story too, but wondered if it was true (I really did not believe it). I see just like MrsO we are not just fashion mavens, but smart too!
Regarding if the outfit is too casual for the work day...If you look at the picture from HuffPo that is linked above and look to the immediate right of MrsO you see a guy with a hoodie on, another with a white printed t-shirt on, the woman next to him with a casual yellow top on. I do not know what the dress code is in DHS, but it looks like at least for some employees it is pretty casual. As a result, MrsO seemed to fit in. Her outfit was not sloppy, and certainly not as casual as yesterday's Easter Egg roll outfit, but it does not appear that a suit was warrented.
*sigh*....There were several really nice outfits on the stage behind Mrs. Obama. Even Janet Napalitano (whom I adore) looked good compared to Mrs. O...(with all due respect).
La-De-Da...tomorrow's another day
I am a huge fan of Ms. O, but it pains me to say I am not a huge fan of this outfit. I love colors, in fact, love purple and green together, but for me, this outfit doesn't work for a visit like today's. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate for a visit to a kindergarten or hospital where such vibrant colors would certainly be a bit of welcome cheer.
Mrs. O is radiant and looks lovely as usual, but um... this was actually one of the outfits she's worn on the campaign trail that i really hoped she would not repeat. Oh, well. She's still fabulous.
I don't know if anyone has linked this Huffington Post slideshow already but here they are demonstrating how she has repeated not just today's outfit but many different outfits on the campaign trail.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/14/twice-as-nice-michelle-ob_n_186582.html
It's very interesting. I didn't know she owned that Azzedine Alaia jacket last year before the European trip. She wore it much better in Europe though.