Saturday
May302009
Date Night in the Big Apple
Saturday, May 30, 2009 at 5:30 PM 
Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
First images here. More to follow!
This evening, the President and First Lady are enjoying a date night in New York City, where they'll see the Broadway show 'Joe Turner's Come and Gone' at the Belasco.
Mrs. O wears a square neck black dress, with horizontal bands of ruffles through the skirt. To accessorize, the First Lady adds a stack of diamond bangle bracelets, a blue clutch and Jimmy Choo Lantern heels.
Update: "Another Mrs. A" reports spotting a doppelganger Alaia dress in white at Barneys. Several people have suggested Alaia and we agree - the body hugging fit and detailed ruffle work seem to fit the bill.
tagged Alaia, Jimmy Choo in Outfits
Alaia, Jimmy Choo in Outfits
Reader Comments (354)
Mrs O looks fabulous and Mr O is as handsome as ever!
Getty images has even better shots. She looks so cute and flirty!!! I sure am taking notes on how to keep it fresh - looks like she's doing something right!
wow, i think michelle obama reinvented what intellegence, beauty and sophisticated truly means, it comes in many different colors, but only she knows how to present it. awesome, love you michelle!!!!
The First Lady looks so nice and classy. I hope the two of them have a blessed time together tonight.
Perfect dress to wear to a play set in the '20s!
Alaia?
desertwind I immediately thought Alaia too which made me LOL Until MrsO I had never even heard of him and now I am all "yes! That has to be Alaia!" LOL
They definately looked great and I love the dress. It looks like some type of jersey knit and reminds me of the dress worn in Europe.
LOL @ Brook. Me too. I haven't heard of 3/4 of the designers Mrs. O wears, and now I'm calling them out like I'm "in the know." LOL.
@desertwind--I'm with you, I felt Alaia immediately. I too never heard of these designers had it not been for Mrs. O--haha. The design also reminds me of the black skirt bottom worn for a staff party right after the inauguration where she had a black jersey knit long-sleeve fitted shirt, boots, and her hair in a ponytail.
wow they are so beautiful and happening!!
Deltona, FL
I'm so happy to see President and Mrs. O getting away from DC for a fun night out. Michelle knows how to keep things light and get him laughing. I think she looks great. I agree with desertwind, what a great design for a play set in the 20's.
Daylife has wonderful photos.
So General Motors will declare bankruptcy on Monday and Prez and Michelle Obama are flying into New York for dinner and a play. How much is this costing: flights, landing costs, security, motorcades, etc. etc. etc.
Love the blue purse and those shoes are dynamite.
Did you all notice that Michelle is carrying a small wrap of some kind? I'm thinking it's probably that bolero sweater. You think?
It's just too funny to read the pool reports when (probably male) political reporters try to describe Mrs. O's outfits.
Here's cute bit from Politico: ... Mrs. Obama wore a black cocktail dress and black heels. Her hair was up and she held a small blue purse, which I'm informed is called a clutch.
I usually love Mrs. O's evening wear, but I don't care for this dress at all. It reminds me of the flapper-style with fringe that EVERYONE was wearing a few years ago. Not a fresh look, and it is also too similar to several of her other black dresses...at least in the cut.
I love it when men try to describe clothes! That's hilarious.
I hope they get dinner or something while they're out! That dress is too pretty to "waste" sitting in the dark (well, I suppose it's not being wasted on Mr. O!)
Sexy and classy. Wow! Did you see her back, she looks so healthy and in shape. Also loving the side profile with the lash extensions, they look great.
They look so happy together! I'm so glad that the first couple regularly makes time for a date night. If they can do it, then the rest of America should be able to. Call Auntie or Granny or a good friend to babysit and head out for a night on the town. Every couple should do this at least once a month.
I love seeing those two lovebirds out on the town together! More of that is the prescription doctor orders to prevent forgetting romance in clothing of First Lady and Mr. President & many in demand of your time love and energy!
Strange - according to Politico, Republicans have decided to try to score political points with this trip:
Hmmm...am I missing something here? Are we really going to see the Republicans attack the President and First Lady? Do they really think this is a way to get back into power? Let's see.
Anyway, the First Lady looks as fabulous as ever. I like when she wears light lips stick. Very 1960s.
Please link the Getty Images site!
I'm thinking that Mrs. O's hair and make-up don't look as polished as she usually does for a night out. Perhaps these will be attended to in flight?
@Strong--totally agree. The RNC has already issued a scathing statement against their date night to NY, even though the President issued a statement that he promised Mrs. O during the campaign that if he won, he would take her to see a broadway show when the campaign was over. After all the other "100 days" pledges the press got on the President for, Mrs. O's pledge has just now been satisfied. She looks particularly happy in the pictures that her man put her first...that's what I'm talking about.
I personally think seeing them out is very calming for me as a citizen. Also, the First Lady makes him laugh and smile and helps him stay calm and relaxed trying to fix so many things. Also, they're a stimulus package by themselves. As Strong just said, it reminds all of us to get dressed and go out somewhere; spend some of our stimulus money if we can. In addition, I want this family to stay strong, because with so many issues, and now N. Korea acting like a hot mess, I want the President to have a stable, happy marriage and home life. Also, the President works all the time, not just when he's giving speeches, and he recently said on C-Span he's up to at least midnight every night and up at dawn everyday. They're going right back after the show. If he could go privately by car without the press and entourage, I'm sure he would, by I for one am glad that he is a man of his word, and if he promises something (especially to his wife), he keeps that promise. Reminds me of their anniversary during the campaign and he flew back to take Mrs. O to dinner, even though he was slammed by the Republicans. Mrs. O has always said that the President has always been consistent, even if it costs him in the press.
The Obamas show what is really important---marriage and family. Rock on Obamas, that's real family values and not just rhetoric.
With this comment, I feel I'm prying a little into Mrs. O's personal space. But in this picture, I seem to see a rather significant scar along her right shin bone.
http(colon)://www(dot)daylife(dot)com/photo/0giD2tM6OO6gG?q=Michelle+Obama
There is video of them getting on the plane at NECN
I love their date nights. Love this site too!!!Thanks for making such a great website!!
Love the dress. The up and down ruffle look is big this spring/summer: just spotted a D&G version in Paris Vogue, and a knockoff in Forever 21! I'm assuming Mrs. O's has a designer label. The restaurant where they are dining, Blue Hill, is fabulous. It stresses local food, served in season. Their sister property, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, was featured on Top Chef this year.
@Willow, I'm thinking this was not supposed to be a formal event, but just their regular date night type of evening. She has rarely gone full blown using her stylists for date night. The President has also said that he prefers his wife without makeup and not too dolled up. So unless it's date night while traveling overseas or other announced press events, it's usually normal that Mrs. O won't use her hair and makeup stylists for her more done up looks. I like the variety. I'm sure the normality, yet classiness and flirtiness of her look today keeps the Prez happy too---hehe.
Holy crap that's a great dress. Can't wait to see who it's by.
@Janelle - Thanks for letting me know that the President has expressed his pleasure at seeing her with less make-up, and for your observation that for private date nights, she seems to go more casual with hair, too. She does look youthful and flirty. I'm glad she's dressing for him, not for all of us who are watching. (smile)
The RNC statement is kind of funny to me - I didn't see it as scathing. In fact, it seemed kind of petty and unnecessarily mean-spirited. And it almost came off jealous. But I love how our President will take the heat, in order to spend some quality time with Mrs. O and keep his promise. Can't hate a guy who's got his priorities straight.
But alas, next week our President will be back to slaving it for our country, going to Saudi Arabia trying to get them to take some of Bush's torture victims and ease up on oil prices; in Egypt trying to convince the Arab and Muslim world to work with us, and not against us; then he'll be in Europe to keep fortifying our old alliances and paying tribute to WWII vets.
OMG - the baby Air Force One is the coolest plane EVER!!
www(DOT)necn(DOT)com/Boston/Nation/2009/05/30/Date-night-Mr-Mrs-Obama/1243715403(DOT)html
@IVA, you're right, "petty" is a much better word than "scathing" for the RNC statement--they're really grasping for straws, especially with Judge Sotomayor. Thanks for reminding me what his agenda is like next week--whew! Now is an even better time than I thought for his dinner date with Mrs. O. Next week is a beast of a week for him. I hope they have a great time tonight. I think I read either Politico or Yahoo that Sasha was on the balcony waving and shouting goodbye when they left to go on Marine One.
@IVA--that little AF1 plane is so cute and cool! I also always notice the general with the nuke codes (football briefcase) always goes with the President even for date night!
SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL!!!
That dress - can you just imagine how those rows of fringe just dance as Mrs.O walks and emphasizes every nuance of her gait!! I always snicker to myself thinking that the press and all those opinionated "fashionistas" will never be able to pigeon hole Mrs.O - as hard as they try.Cause she just whips it up different everytime... Just look and the smile on the President's face, the man is proud of his woman.
Hope they have a blast tonight, and 2 thumbs down to all those nay-Sayers about taking a trip to the big apple to see a play. Hey, the last time I checked THIS IS THE PRESIDENT & THE FIRST LADY! HELLO!!!
IVA - I appreciate your keeping us in touch with the reality of the context in which we watch this beautiful woman entertain us with her interest in fashion. That's what I was feeling on the previous thread, where I may have been perceived as too serious.
I've been pained this last week at the strain and fatigue sometimes showing on President Obama's face. How could it not? But, it pained me nonetheless. I can't imagine how pained Michelle must feel to see the stress on her husband. So many weighty issues to deal with.
I haven't seen the comments of the RNC attacking our first couple for their outing to NY for a play, how ridiculous! How many vacations had Bush taken to Crawford by this time in his presidency?
@ Willow:
I agree, it is painful to see how strained the president is looking these days. We have given him a lot and we expect so much from him. Thankfully, he has his rock.
The count of vacation days of President George W. Bush:
487 days spent at Camp David, 490 days spent at Crawford ranch (77 visits)
This is a total of 977 days, or 139 weeks, or 2.67 years! Can this be right? I have read repeatedly that he took more vacation time than any previous president, including Reagan, who took more vacation than anyone before him.
From: http(colon)//www(dot)cbsnews(dot)com/blogs/2009/01/16/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4728085.shtml
Ahhh, the first couple looks dashing (lol!). They are so beautiful and I love how the President makes sure his "baby" is well taken care of. Hey if the mama's happy, the whole house is happy.
And shut up RNC, maybe if some of them added a little romance to their lives, they wouldn't be so uptight and negative towards Mr. President...lol! Do they ever shut up? President Obama do you, damn.
You know even in this tough economic time (and believe me & hubby are feeling it) we still scrape up enough to take a small road trip or go out to dinner and a movie.
I like the dress she is wearing and think it looks great for her date night with her husband.
I love how he values her, not just in words but by actions. Back in 2007, he said in an ebony magazine interview that what she appreciates most is him doing things which are difficult such as carving out time for her. They seem to be on the same wavelength when it comes to keeping their relationship strong, from the date nights, to her trips to the oval office, to his trips to the residence.
The people criticizing him for this are just mad he's in the whitehouse, so everything he does they will find fault.
I love the dress, she looks very flirty and sexy. She always brings the sexy.
loove the dress..so sexy and fun..perfect for date night! :D
Ditto Willow and YOLA. I thought I was the only one who felt that way at times. Sometimes I look at pictures of him, or watch him during various speeches, and he just looks so serious, so tired, or so frustrated. But what's weird is at the same time, he looks so content in himself and in his space. He manages to convey the seriousness of our times, while also conveying the strength to persevere. He truly is supposed to be President and this precise time.
This week has been visibly difficult for him, and that is why no RNC hating can damper this evening for me, and I'm sure for them too. The Republicans want to beat him down - emotionally, physically, and spiritually - but it won't work. His friend and family - and the people of this world are with him lifting him up. So, just like during the campaign, he will persevere for our country's sake.
And then he's going to write a billion dollar best-selling book calling a bunch of folks out! LOL!!
@ Toni - yes she does bring the sexy.
I think the President and First Lady look great! I can't wait for Mrs. T.'s commentary.
I like the dress and think Mrs. Obama wears it well. I need to see the shoes better to see if I like them and at first I didn't think the blue bag was a good idea and then realized that a black bag would have been too "matchy-matchy" as Clinton and Stacy are fond of saying
I read somewhere (don't know if it's true) that President Bush took more vacations than any other president. Even if it's not true, it's not like the guy was a stranger to Crawford during his time in office.
You know, I don't mind principled opposition to any president; in fact, I think it's our duty as citizens. We didn't elect a king. But I get so tired of bitchy, hypocritical criticism. I mean, come on, RNC spokeswoman person. You mean to tell me that every Republican right now is working through the weekend while the president is la-de-dahing off in New York? Somehow, I doubt it.
OMG SHE LOOKS AMAZING AND I HAVE A CLUE ABOUT THE DRESS. WILL POST IN A SEC WITH THE LINK!!!!!
Oh Christina, I can only imagine what the members of Congress have been up to - this has been their week break for Memorial day, you know. So, while they've been on vacation for an extended Memorial Day vacation, Obama's been working. And then they have another break for like a month in August - do you think Obama will take the month off too? Nope.
These folks are bitchy and hypocritical, as you so eloquently put it. To be honest, I'm so glad they're not even close to having power - they are so tone deaf that I don't see how they'd react well to the problems and threats we're facing. They shoot first and think last.
I think she looks great! She embraces her arms and her curves, which young girls really need to see
Jcrew doing well!
www(DOT)nydailynews(DOT)com/money/2009/05/30/2009-05-30_j_crew_gaining_momentum_on_wall_street_thanks_to_first_lady_michelle_obama(DOT)html