Fashion Forward Footwear
Monday, August 31, 2009 at 1:25 PM 
Image by Mandel Ngan / Getty Images
Mrs. O and family made their way home to the White House yesterday, after a week away on Martha's Vineyard. Of great interest was Mrs. O's choice of shoes as she exited Marine One - a pair of asymmetric, toe loop Maison Martin Margiela sandals.
Margiela is a Belgian designer, known for his minimalist, avant garde designs. His name is relatively low profile, but widely celebrated within the inner circles of the fashion industry. The choice is an exciting new addition to Mrs. O's fashion repertoire (the first lady is also rumored to have acquired a white Margiela tuxedo). For more detail on the sandals, see here.
From Crocs (worn in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, below) to Martin Margiela in a single week's time, we love everything about this combination of footwear; it's unexpected and delightfully contradictory.
Image by Jewel Samad / Getty Images
Crocs, Maison Martin Margiela
Reader Comments (63)
I disagree with the comment that this site is "to honor & support Michelle. If people didn't like what she was wearing they had the good manners to keep it to themselves."
What? This is supposed to be a site to comment on Mrs., Obama's fashion: the hits and the misses. Am I right? Or are we just to say we all love all she wears all the time????
Other Jenna--love you. Crocs--dont knock em if you havent felt like your feet are in heaven when youre wearing them!
@ Strong Foru
You're absolutely right and I noticed that too. She is not a politician and she is not in an official political position like her husband is. In a great way she has embraced that and it's reflected in how she dresses.This is not to say she is not in a very powerful position but you can tell she has chosen to have fun with it and live her life on her terms. I've heard some political analyst's talk about how First Ladies often find it hard to balance public and private life because they are not public citizen's like their husbands where everything about them is make public like their medical records, however they do not get to be complete private citizens like their children. Sometimes when she steps off Air Force One in a casual outfit it seems like she's sending the message "Lighten up people. Enjoy your life. I'm enjoying mine"
@MJMR the answer to your question is YES, comment on Mrs. O's fashion and NO you don't have to agree with everything she wears, but can it be done without attacking the woman personally, from what I read some have difficulty doing that.
Yes, someone please help the President find a nice pair of jeans! He rocks a suit like nobody's business, but he could do a lot better in the jeans dept.! He's not alone. A lot of guys are still wearing jeans that look like they came from the set of Ferris Beuller's Day Off!
Can anyone id the white bag?
The bag looks like a coach bag, not really sure.....I can't wait to see her fall wardrobe. Comments can be made be in a respectful way. Some posters are really deep here. Just comment on the oufit and move on.
Why would anyone help the president with finding jeans? It's his free time, he can wear a burlap sack if he wanted. I just don't get this oppressive feeling that one must look perfect 24/7. I mean who looks perfect when they are going to the super market. Should'nt we allow these people some time to BREATHE!!
Ari,
ITA we need to lighten up, its just fashion! If Mrs. O wears something I don't like I don't see it as a national offense...I don't see it as a blight against her character, It's just an outfit I don't like.
The POTUS will care when his daughters are older and look at him with that withering look only teenage daughters can give their parents and say, "Dad, we love you, but those jeans need to GO." That's what got my husband into this decade as far as what he was wearing.
I like the Margiela shoes. They look kinda cool. I'd look an idiot in them because I've got fat legs but they look great on Mrs O.
Here is an important point for the bewildered and the low in I.Q. points. Please read carefully now:
Mrs O CHOSE to spend HER money that she EARNED from her JOB on a pair of SHOES that she LIKED.
OK, now read it again. Slowly. Got it?
Here's my point. There is nothing in that sentence that is any of your business. If you don't like 'em, that's cool. Stay quiet. No-one will mind. Like all those people who saw you in something that wasn't quite right for you, on the street one day and didn't fall about laughing or point or say something nasty that didn't help you any.
The most expensive shoes I own cost me £420. That's about $800. I bought them when I earned a good deal less than Michelle Obama did in her job (try less than a quarter). As is MY right to do with MY money. Anyone thinks they have the right to tell me what I can or can't buy with money I earned is looking for a whack round the head with a large wet fish.
****
The Other Jenna. My heart went out to you. There's not a lot else to say that isn't platitudes and they're maddening. Just lots and lots of love for you.
****
I loathe crocs. Always have. Why does Mrs O look good in them??? WHY????
Ohhh, cruel world......
To the writer who asked about the Obama's getting sunburned...NO the Obama's did not get sunburned, they got naturally sunkissed.
Thank You,
Just Me
Posh, this is exactly why I missed you. HILARIOUS AND THE TRUTH!!!!