A Day for Spring Gardening
Thursday, April 9, 2009 at 10:25 AM We can't wait to see how the White House Vegetable Garden is coming along, and according to Politico.com, we'll get a peek this afternoon.
"Michelle Obama hosts an event at the White House Kitchen Garden. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and students from Bancroft Elementary join her."
In the meantime, we'll share a slideshow of the First Lady's White House style to date, and a good read that speaks to a greater symbolism in Mrs. O's wardrobe.
New York Magazine: Michelle Obama Look Book
New York Times: "The End of 'Wife Wear'"
Update: Thanks to Edwina who shared this new Huffington Post piece, which shows Secretary of State Hillary Clinton embracing the brooch and belt combo. Update: Much activity in the garden this afternoon. White House chef Sam Kass joined Mrs. O in helping the students to plant the vegetables and herbs. 
Photo by The White House Addtionally we have a short video from NBC which shows Mrs. O hard at work in the garden, dressed in a raspberry windbreaker, cropped black pants and black velcro sneaks. Very garden chic.
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Outfits
Reader Comments (84)
C-span will be covering Mrs. O’s garden event with the kids today. If anyone misses it live, the full footage will be on the C-span website usually within an hour after the event.
Well said. It is obvious that M. O's choices are a hit, both here and abroad.Her clothes are modern, fun and wearable. Isn't that what new clothes should be?
That New York Times article "The End of 'Wife Wear'" is one of the best articles so far to sum up Mrs. O's style. I thoroughly agree--her main fashion statement is she is her own woman.
GREAT article. I had somehow missed it, and the NYT also had a great slide show of their own, with all her Europe fashions.
Also, we had this whole back and forth several days ago, when one commenter, Jojo, complained that Mrs. O should be wearing more American designers rather than all those "foreign-born" ones. It was an ugly thing to say and almost everyone blasted her, pointing out that of course, Thakoon, Jason Wu, Isabel Toledo, Narciso Rodriguez etc, etc ARE all American designers because this is where they work and built their lives.
But the NYT basically said the same thing, although in a way that I don't find at all offensive. They suggest that unlike First Ladies past, Mrs. O's wardrobe does not include exclusively American designers and that she has embraced diversity. I guess their point was that since, of course, all of these "foreign-born" American designers bring with them the influences of their country of birth, and that seeps into their clothing. Which is true, of course, and a great benefit. Of course...I'm sure certain people would disagree.
The whole article and slideshow were awesome.
MO is a stunning and intelligent woman who merits every bit of attention she's getting. Notice, however, that one of the most striking things about this slideshow is that, in may of the photos, her husband is holding her hand or gazing at her proudly.
The NYT article did a brilliant job of taking the poison out of the discussion about MO's choices of clothing designers.
Also, the FL has served in her role for less than 100 days. She has lots of time to wear other designers, re-visit Pinto's dresses, try the so-called *established* *American* designers, and continue to do her own thing. MO has also done a great service to women by choosing off the rack styles from JCrew, H&M, Talbots, etc.
The slide show is also great, and shows a great deal of fashion diversity on MO's part.
I love Michelle Obama's style. I am a tall woman, like she is, and I know how hard it is to find clothes that fit a tall frame. I'm sure her height makes her a designer's dream as a First Lady. However, I appreciate that she probably has to work extra hard to find mainstream clothing from companies like J. Crew and Talbots, that work for her.
The slideshow above is great, I was looking for a place to see all the different outfits she wore while she was in Europe.
"But the first lady is making her own contribution to fashion history by dressing as a woman of strong character — rather than as a presidential wife."
The article on the End of Wife Wear, ended on a false dichotomy. It seemed to juxtapose a woman of strong character with that of presidential wife. As if, the impact of the woman's character dictating fashion would be significant or newsworthy if they were not the president's wife.
IOW, the national media would not be focused on Mrs. O's attire if she were NOT the President's wife, i.e. First Lady.
So the two are inclusive in this instance.
Mrs. O, does have a strong character AND she is a First Lady making fashion statements AS a Presidential wife.
The writer would have served Mrs. O better had she addressed it as a First Lady who is establishing a new tradition for that role via her fashion statements vs. her new role being one of strong character vs. Presidential wife.
Because what Mrs. O is actually doing is asserting that the two are NOT mutual exclusive and that Presidential wives can project strong character through fashion choices.
IOW's you can be a women of strong character AND the Presidential wife AND make fashion statements.
Mrs O--New York mag is trying to copy your blog, your is still much much better than theirs. Keep up the fantastic work.
@valdivia - you are right. I'm sticking with Mrs. T's blog. Hey, opulent - why don't you check out the New York mag blog!
Check out how Hillary is reflecting some of Michelle's style choices with a belt and flower brooch. She looks great.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/09/hillary-clinton-channels_n_185028.html
Wow, that is the best look I've seen on Hilary.
Opulent is now actually contributing constructively to the conversation, rather than mocking the other commenters, as before. And I agree with his/her comment. Even though I had used the phrase "First Lady Uniform" many times, I really admire both of our last two first ladies, and I think they both had strong character. Their style was just not at all my taste, unlike with Mrs. O. But I don't think there is only one way for a woman of character to dress.
I was thinking about Sarah Brown, someone who I didn't know anything about until the Obamas visited Europe. From the little that I learned...I like her a great deal and she's definitely a woman to admire. But of course, she was not interested in fashion at all, and we saw the results of that. And guess what? It's not that important really. I think of Mrs.O's fashion sense as a PLUS, a sort of accidental benefit to who and what she is, and the qualities that make her a great first lady. So the fashion stuff is kind of like the cherry on top, as far as I am concerned.
Wow, I am impressed! Hillary looks great in that picture. Thanks Edwina for sharing.
I know this is a site for Mrs. O, but I saw those photos of Hillary earlier and thought wow! I don't think I've ever seen her wearing a belt. This belt is elegant, thick and really softens her without diminishing her strength. Really nice look for Hillary I must say.
Hillary looks great! Just like Mrs. O, she is looking good while doing a great job for her country.
Loved the NYT article! It breaks down her style or lack of it, which isnt to say that she isnt stylish but rather to say that she is her own woman and wears what she wants to wear not what some unspoken social standard says she should wear. I love that she looks so casual and natural, yet still has a subtle elegance...she looks like a normal woman not a stuffy porcelain doll.
Also yay for Hilary praise! I always thought she pulled of the technicolor pantsuits well but I LOVED the outfit with teh broach and belt. It was very much her style but had a little something extra to it...hopefully she keeps this up. I love that she just looks so happy....shes glowing and absolutely radiant, probably the happiest shes looked in year. Hurray for strong women who look awesome while being themselves!
Along the lines of the Wife wear piece, I see hopeful signs that women can embrace their individuality and femininity, if they so choose, while being in positions of leadership. Hillary has always been an attractive woman and I believe her handlers during the primaries tried to get her to de-emphasize her feminine side.They were afraid that the public would not take her seriously.
Michelle is saying, "I enjoy being a girl" and that in no way minimizes my strength or intellect. It's girl power for the new century; all sides of a woman can be celebrated, beauty along with strength.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.....Hillary looks great with her belt, brooch, and pearls. Edwina - thanks for sharing.
@Jenna - you really did a nice turn on summing up what are probably the feelings of many Mrs. O watchers on this blog.
My body type is more close to Hillary's than to Michelle's so I know that wearing wide belts and large flower-brooches can be very challenging. However, I noticed that Madame Secretary lost a bit more weight and,perhaps, this gave her more fashion confidence. Good for her!
Hillary looks really good in that outfit. The color is so much more flattering than what she's been wearing.
Hello Mrs. T,
Mrs. O's wax replica was unveiled yesterday in Washington D.C. She's wearing her infamous belted sheath dress and cardigan. A lot of people went to see it yesterday. Perhaps you can showcase the work of art here on the site.
I was disappointed in the faces of both Mrs. O and the President in the DC wax replicas. Now the hair, dress, cardigan, belt, and pearls were on point. They got that right. But the faces were a little off with the Prez and a lot of with Michelle. I just looked at the styling of it. Also, the pose for the wax of Mrs. O was very nice and natural. I think they need to rework the faces for the Obamas. I thought that would be the easy part.
Another awesome slideshow with pics summing up the entire trip in Europe for both the President and Mrs. O! There was a lot of excitement about our fabulous Mrs. O, but the President did an awesome job too! I give him a perfect 10 for all that he was able to accomplish with our allies. Also good to note that he was looking very good in his suits. We have a fashionable President and First Lady.
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/us_world/The_Obamas_Euro_trip.html
MSNBC just said that soon they will be showing Michelle Obama in the White House garden.
@ Leah D,
Thanks!! You give the best updates.
Hmmmm.. the clip that MSNBC aired was from last month.
Leah D what was so weird is that i thought for a minute it was an old clip but I think the skirt is different. she was wearing a grey skirt with a blue turtle neck?
I didn't see a grey skirt. It looked like the same outfit to me. And also the long-handled tools were in the clip and they wouldn't be using those today to plant seeds. Guess we will have to wait and see if some photos start coming out soon.
The event hasn't happened yet.
I rewound the clip and that is the old clip/same clothes.
It said at the bottom of the TV screen that planting of the garden event starts at 3:15pm eastern time
I don't get MSNBC but I keep cnn internet up in case it pops up. I would have thought it would have already aired though.
Oopps. It MUST have already happened. It's 3:15pm here now in Texas so it is 4:15pm at the White House. Wonder why there are no photos or clips anywhere yet!
Leah MSNBC has the secretary of agriculture Vilsack. He was talking like the event already happenned.
Wow - It appears that Mrs O has had a fashionable influence on Hill - her ensemble looks great !
I am impressed w/ her use of accessories - touche'.
Whats next – perhaps a YSL 'le smoking' ensemble for evening wear ?
Thank god for Suzy Menkes. I've loved her writing since the day I started following fashion.
She is a writer for the International Herald Tribune in England and she was the one who wrote this amazing piece for the New York Times. I almost lost my faith in the NYT fashion coverage.
I was furious after reading the article by Cathy Horyn and Eric Wilson about how Michelle should choose more mainstream designers, and that Ikram has a conflict of interest. If they took anytime to do some research outside of their New York and stepped away their biases, they would realize that it isn't the job of the first lady to save the fashion industry. Those who survive the recession are the ones willing to adapt to the needs of the changing consumer demand.
Ikram does custom orders and private billing for many of her clients. It's the kind of shopkeeper that she is. She adores, respects and appreciates her clients. She started from humble beginnings, so she doesn't take her success for granted. And there is no conflict of interest in my opinion, since Ikram isn't even acknowledging her work with Michelle. Also, these people think that's she's Neiman Marcus or something. She has ONE store in Chicago. Pretty much everyone who has the means to shop there already knows about Ikram her store. Her clothes aren't inexpensive and people aren't going to suddenly rush to buy a $3000 Jason Wu dresses from Ikram because Michelle wore it. The people, who are receiving most, if not all the benefits, are the incredibly hard working and talented young and/or relatively unknown design talents who she is proudly supporting.
Sweet! FL Michelle had a nice fuchsia raincoat on during the garden planting.
Go to Yahoo photos to see it
This time she was wearing gloves.
She needed those last time when she was diggin'
Black pants and it looks like black shoes with white soles or something on them. Hard to tell by the second photo Yahoo has put up.
Looking fully like Mom-in-Chief today! Love the Converse sneakers with the short pants... that should throw some people for a loop.
Getty Images has some nice close-ups.
Wow she looks so young in these pictures!
I want to be Michelle O when I grow up. LOL
Cute gardening outfit! And she looks so much like Sasha in these photos!
Oh how sporty and cute does Michelle look! I like the sneakers. With the velcro flaps they look more like light slipons and not really meant for working out. They just look like comfortable flats for walking like on a beach or wherever there is sand or dirt. It looks like something you would find in Land's End.
The outerwear she's wearing doesn't look like a raincoat to me. My mother gardens a lot and wears something similar over her t-shirt...it's a very light gardening coverup that doesn't make you hot but keeps the dirt from getting on most of your clothes in the torso area. Someone else may disagree, but my mother has several in different colors-- they don't look as good as what FL is wearing. My mother owns floral designs that are a bit dowdy looking. I've got to upgrade my mother, because I thought that's all that was out there to wear while gardening.
How nice that she's apparently working with some of the same kids as before. It'll be great for them to experience vegetables from seeds to plate.
I'm in D.C., and today was a lovely day to work on a garden, too.
WOW!! This is the cutest gardening windbreaker jacket I've ever seen. Check out the detail from the back: http://www.daylife.com/photo/0fXgdj448g21M
I like! :p
That's definitely Land's End and it's a couple of years old. Here's this year's version (I like the turquoise.)
http://www.landsend.com/pp/WindPocketJacket~191561_59.html?bcc=y&action=order_more&sku_0=::TQB&CM_MERCH=IDX_00002__0000000141&origin=index
I like Mrs O windbreaker. Its back is nicely pleated and feminine. Check Yahoo photos for a pic.
@ Jenna,
Um, I always like positive feedback, but I gotta telll you, you may have me confused with another poster. While I have disagreed and had opposing opinions, I at no time mocked any poster.
However, Chicagoan was mocking of me...calling me a troll.
I have contributed in a like manner as most of the posters here when it comes to fashion....very opinionated...and everyone has a different sense of style and fashion.
So, often times, we just have to agree to disagree.
Happy Easter!!
I stand corrected..it is a windbreaker. I just saw photos of the front with the zipper. I was only viewing it from the back and the side. But I knew it was Land's End! The shoes gave it away. If you're walking on dirt, Land's End is the place for shoes.
They have the best summer/beach wear around.
cute garden gear. love the sneakers.
www dot HuffingtonPost dot com has the gardening event up as the top story on their STYLE page with a slideshow included.