Leading Ladies
Friday, April 3, 2009 at 9:20 AM 
Photo credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images 
Photo credit: Sean Gallup /Getty Images
In their tour of Europe, the Obamas have traveled to Strasbourg, France for the NATO summit. This stop has been one of the most highly anticipated events of the week, as it brings Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and First Lady Mrs. O, two of the stylish women in the world, face to face, ensemble to ensemble. For their first meeting, Mrs. O wears a custom Thakoon Pixelated Floral Silk Jacquard coat with a coordinating, reverse print dress underneath. The transparent trim on the hem and sleeves of the dress is black mesh elastic. Mrs. O paired the look with her signature Jimmy Choo black kitten heels. How interesting that both women have chosen ensembles featuring a tie neck detail - a coincidence, or perhaps a sign that they're stylistically in tune?
Update: By request, here is a fantastic photo of Mrs. O's dress and coat combination in full effect.
Reader Comments (189)
Mrs T, please add more links on front page picture. As the picture you have chosen does not show much of Mrs O's outfit.
I love the outfits on both Michelle & Carla. They both look exquisite. Michelle loves colours and Carla loves grey so two thumbs up for each.
MICHELLE ROCKS AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE HAIR LOOKS FAB!!!!
AMERICAN IS LOOKING GOOD AGAIN!!!!!!
Beautiful, JUST BEAUTIFUL! (inside and out)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1166637/Clash-First-Ladies-Michelle-Obama-Carla-Bruni-slog-Strasbourg-glamorous-leaders-wife-world.html
Fantastic clear pictures of Carla & Michelle.
Personally, I find Mrs. O's and Mrs. B's fashions disappointing. They are dowdy and dated. What's with the floppy bow ties??
I would love to be there when Michelle cleans out her closets! They all are just lovely! Thanks again! I love the innernet!
The dress sans coat is a stunner. It's a subtle reverse print of the coat.
The kitten heels I am sure is in deference to Sarkozy. He is quite short and he is wearing elevated heels.
The dress underneath the coat is the bomb. Go to Michelle Obama Yahoo slideshow and click through. The dress is very fitted and has the flowers subtly printed on it.
That floral print is so old... Did Michelle borrow that from the Queen? Not looking good today.
there's a shot of the dress and more info here: http://www.bloomacious.com/
I can't get over how amazing she looks, especially in that incredible dress under the coat. I do wish she had worn this outfit in London, maybe for the G20 dinner.
I do think though that, now that we have several days of outfits to digest, that her versatility of this trip has been amazing. If EVERY look was a closely-fitted sheath, that silhouette would lose its impact. If EVERY dress was a bold print, none of them would stand out.
I guess there is something to be said for the challenge of wearing so many different outfits that will be photographed and scrutinized. The sheer creativity involved in producing so many different looks, without being repetitive or using the crowd favorite (the sheath, of course) as a crutch, while cultivating a recognizable style and not getting down by negative reviews. It just can't be easy for her. I am
amazed that she does it so well.
No doubt though, that clothes are a small fraction of what Mrs. O thinks about each day. She has her family, her work as first lady and the incredible burdens of her husbands job to think about. So the fashion is probably just an escape, an outlet for fun in what are very serious times. No WONDER then that she is so uninterested in pleasing
everyone all the time. No wonder she wears her cardigans, even when they are "kooky" or controversial. She really does dress for herself and her own enjoyment. I absolutely admire that.
I absolutely disagree with you Lele. I sometimes think some people need to be reminded that these beautiful women are in there 40s! Michelle's outfits is age appropriate yet flattering to her figure and the occasion. She brightens up the whole scene in that coat. You need to look at pics of Michelle with the coat off as well and tell me if she's looking dowdy.
Oh and the outfit is Thakoon per Politico!
Carla's coat is Dior, but who designed Michelle's?
I don't know what happened to the fashion sense of both of these women today. DREADFUL....although Michelle's outfit is the least "ugly" of the 2.
They are wearing coats, the dresses are underneath. Yet to see what they are wearing under the coats
The dress really is a stunner. I love how they are practically matching!
Michelle's dress is AMAZING under the coat.
Here is a link to the dress: daylife dot com/photo/0dWRezyaYbfMz
She has never looked better!
Thank you to BC for the link to that article. There is a full-length shot of the dress if you scroll down.
I am beyond in love with it. It is my all time favorite dress Michelle has ever worn. Thakoon is a genius.
Love the coat and dress (especially the dress.) Flatters Mrs. O's figure and she looks stunning. Carla in comparison looks a little drab, but classy.
I am fan of them both, but I'm sorry they both dropped the ball on this one. The overcoats look dowdy (Did they coordinate this mess to look that way). Not a fan of the bright red dress under Mrs. O's coat; seems ill-fitting and the prints (OMG)! I hope at least Mrs. Sarkozy redeems herself with the blue outfit she seems to have on under the coat. I am sorely dissappointed!
I wasn't sure how I felt about the coat until I saw the pictures of the entire ensemble and now I LOVE it. And what I love even more is that while Mrs. O may be cognizant of the scrutiny, ultimately she has worn what feels good to her and that makes her look even more gorgeous.
It's OK, but not great. I don't really care for prints. Also, Mrs. O does not seem to be promoting American designers with that trip. Also, Except for the J-Crew outfit, Her wardrobe consists primarily of foreign-born or foreign designers (Toledo, Wu, Thakoon, ect.) Come on Michelle, give the American designers a boost! The economy needs it!
Before Carla and Mrs.O met I was afraid that fashion wise one would outshine the other, and I would be especially disappointed if Carla out shined Mrs.O., however it seems like they were on an even keel here since both their outfits are similar with their signature touches, which is great. I also love the dress underneath. Very Pretty.
the dress is pretty and well fitted as seen on Bloomalicious. great w/ the coat!Mrs. O. is not wearing any jewelry. very different for her. Her pose in one photo is very elegant, with her feet in almost a ballet position. Mrs.Sarkozy just looks too plain for my taste, even if it is Dior. Is there a dress underneath?
The picture of the dress that carrie posted above from bloomalicious.com is a total knockout.
Jojo, I really hope you are kidding... "Foreign-born"?
Isabel Toledo and Jason Wu and Thakoon are American designers. They live, work, design and built their lives in the United States. In fact, the only non-American designer that Mrs. O has worn in recent memory was the Watanabe (sp?) cardigan from yesterday.
Let me give my biased opinion first- Mrs. O looks gorgeous... she wins this round j/k;-) Both ladies look absolutely beautiful! I am concerned because in pictures I've seen of todays events, FL Obama didn't seem her usual happy self- she was barely smiling. Some of thhe pictures captured her looking a bit sad. Just an observation- maybe I'm reading too much into it.
I think Carla B wins this round by a nose. Her coat does not ask to be noticed; its detailing, tailoring and seeming effortlessness is charming. Even the neck-tie, which I usually dislike, is just right. Michelle's coat is much more self-conscious, yet hurriedly designed. The neck-tie here looks sloppy to me. The dress itself is nice, but the matchy-matchy-ness dosent't move me. I think Michelle was trying too hard with this ensemble.
What a stunning dress Mrs. O has on. Its funny both First Lady's coats are similar except our First Lady does not stray from her signature love of colors. i love it.
French First Lady is not on point today. She looks good but her hair looks frumpy and frizzy. I thought she would be taller than this. She seems overwhelmed by our fine ass President. She appeared to be in shock by his beauty and charisma.
Mrs. O is stunning and very classy.
I love Carla's outfit, even though it is very understated. That is really her style, just like Michelle loves the quirky and colorful. I think both ladies are dressed in a way that lives up to their quintessential personal style, and they both look gorgeous ...though of course I am partial to our Mrs. O.
Mrs. T, you *have* to change the picture--the STUNNING DRESS that FLOTUS is wearing is the star--not the overcoat!! (which some here have harshly dismissed as her entire outfit)
She looks wonderful as always :)
Mrs. T, please include a picture of Mrs. O's dress in your description. The dress is phenomenal!! I love this outfit. Mrs. O is saving the best for last on this trip to Europe. I knew she would.....
American designers??? I know america had any good ones??
Michelle is killing them right now with her choice of outfits.... black people generally know how to dress so i'm not suprised.
No offence to Carla - but it doesn't take a geneous to see that her stylist couldn't compete... bland grey - uninspired flats (as nicholas is soo short she had no choice) and that pasty skin.... not a good look me thinks!!
YOUNG!
The coat seemed to translate a bit better on TV this morning than in print, but the dress is a KNOCKOUT!! Love every thing about it and I am usually not a fan of prints or Thakoon. I definately did not like the last printed Thakoon dress she wore, but this one is great! Good job MrsO!
No, I am not, the designers that she favors primarily come from outside of the country. They might be naturalized Americans now, but they are foreign-born.
Thakoon: born in Thailand
Wu: born in Taiwan
Toledo: Born in Cuba
Even her bloved Stylist, Ikram Goldman was born in Israel.
I appreciate the multiculturalism, but help out some mainstream American deigners too. We do have some young ones who are doing dome great avant-garde work. It feels a little like outsourcing all of fashion choices. I know I will be "roasted" for this comment, but I'm going to live it at that.
This blog is great. The outfits are OK, but I am not in love with them. One thing though, it seems that Mr. O has a bit of a crush. Even some of the press noticed it Check out the second picture in this slide series, and the caption :)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6028774.ece
We won't roast you JOJO but we will think you're an idoit.
Are you forgetting Michelle is a black woman. She not going to buy some crappy dress because it was made in the US.
Citzens of the earth.... you're welcome to join at anytime!
Thanks for your patience everyone. A picture of the dress is coming! We pay for our photos, so I'm just waiting for one of the wire image services to post new photos. Thanks!
Jojo, again, that is a truly strange comment. So in order to be a "mainstream American designer" you have to have been born in the United States? Also, Michelle has worn Michael Kors several times...is that more of what you want to see?
Mrs. O wears almost exclusively American designers, and that's one of the signatures of her style. Your definition of "American" is, unfortunately, very strict which is why you don't see that.
I think it's very interesting that no one so far as skewered Mrs. S regarding her shoes. When Mrs. O wears flats some people on this board this lose their minds. My personal opinion is that it's every woman's perogative to wear what she feels comfortable in so I'm not knocking Mrs. S. for wearing flats - just wanted to call out all of those who have been calling Mrs. O out for the past couple of months. At least be consistent, even if you're wrong ;)
Gotta agree with Genral, sorry but American-born designers?? If it's looks good she'll wear it... we're all world citzens now... that way of thinking is out-dated (just like Carla's looks)
Genral:
You are new to these boards as I don't recall seeing your screen name.
Please leave your childish name calling to another blog. This blog is about fashion and all intelligent comments are welcomed.
P.S. - Please learn how to spell so that we will not think that you are an "idiot".
And Mrs. T, you've been looking terrific in all your tv appearances. Loved your sweater yesterday.
GOOD MORNING FRANCE AND HELLO WORLD! This is what Mrs. O's dress is saying amongst other things. Listen, not only is this dress a return to ROMANCE with the choice of colour and rose motif - which by the way is quite French, but it is a woman's dress. This morning when I saw them together, I couldn't help but observe that Carla looks like such a "girl" next to Michelle - physically as well as visually. Even though I think Carla's dress was cute, I thought the choice of colour could have been a bit more exciting - like an intense blue or something.
Mrs. O wins hands down once again! RENAISSANCE INDEED!!!
As she ditched her coat, I kept thinking that those Secret Service guys must have a hard time trying not to stare at her figure. That dress would not look as stunning on ANY OTHER WOMAN. Carry on...
Has anyone read who the designer of Mrs. Sarkozy's is? Is it Dior? I just love it; it's so elegant. I'm picturing one of my brooches at the shoulder... lol
Jersey Girl - sorry if my spelling insulting you.
I just made valid comments about the dresses, sorry if they weren't mature enough in your opinion.
I'll leave now if I'm making you uncomfortable.
Sincere apologies - Dr. Sarcastic
I am a naturalized american does that make me not mainstream? not a 'real' american? what a strange strange non american way of thinking about what america is--the melting pot, a land of immigrants, this is what makes us great.
Mrs T,
Can you please show the picture of the dress please?
Thanks