Ushering in the New Season
Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 6:57 PM 
Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson / Creative Commons
As part of the ongoing G-20 events, the Os hosted world leaders last evening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. First Lady Mrs. O embraced an autumnal palette in a burnt orange cocktail dress, featuring a draped neckline, gathered waist and beaded bow embellishment. Mrs. O accessorized the look with bronze heels, a stack of gold bangles and gold deco inspired earrings.
Sidenote: a peek at the Department of State Flickr set reveals the vast number of photo ops the Os endured last evening. We can't even begin to imagine!
Update: Thanks to Karen, who has has identified this dress as Nina Ricci. Click here to see the dress on the runway from the Nina Ricci Fall 2008 collection. (We wonder if Mrs. O has been waiting for the right occasion to debut this one?)
Nina Ricci
Reader Comments (43)
Beautiful, mustard colored dress. Love the cowl neckline. Very classy. It reminds me of a dress I once made for a client (not the same shift silhouette though). Bold Color rules!!
I like it, it's an unusual color but it's fitting for fall. I like the cut and the top of the dress looks like it can even be worn off the shoulder. Imagine the stir that would cause! LOL
That's a beautiful dress. I love that gathered waist. Ohh and those shoes. I have to find more pictures. Yahoo does not have this one posted.
I like the dress but man o man I think my face would have hurt after having to smile in all those pictures lol
I really love the color, I am the same complexion and I love how orange looks on my skin. OT she and the president face must have been tried after all of that smiling lol
Gorgeous! The color of that dress and those earrings are beautiful and the clever bow detail at the waist is so cute. Love it!
P-e-r-f-e-c-t-i-o-n. Our. First Lady looks soo beautiful!! Love the silhoutte of the dress, makes her waist look teeny-tiny. Her shoes are pretty too. I wish I knew what creams Mrs O uses, her skin always looks so radiant, of course she starts out with naturally lovely skin to begin with..
As always, I have to say that I am just so proud of President Obama. I am praying HCR gets passed..
Last thing, the new first couple of Japan looks cute. The first lady's ensemble is whimsical. I like it.
this dress is stunning and perfect for the occasion. It photographs well with the outfits of the other women without overshadowing them.
Wonderful!
Best Wishes by edjane obama
The President and First Lady seem to tower above everybody. They both look lovely.
very classy. everything is right about this dress and she is glowing.
NICE SO FOR HER CLOTHES DONT HAVE BELTS ON HER HIPS.
She looks great most of the time, but I'm not sure I've seen her in a more flattering dress than this one. Is there ANY color this woman cannot wear?
When I saw that parade of pictures, I remembered when Hillary Clinton was being asked (and asked and asked) about her relationship with someone with whom a picture at a similar function had been taken. She said she didn't even remember having the picture taken, and barely remembered the person. Anyone not believe her now?? Jeez - it's like the wedding photographer from hell.
There's much that I like about this dress. I don't usually comment on fashion because I really am an ignoramus about it. But this is a sophisticated look. Agree that the working at the waist makes it appear very tiny and the sparkly bow is a nice touch. But where i would find fault is in the neckline. Now I am not going to flat out say that this should be done or that because I do not really know. What I see when I look at it is an optical illusion that makes her look like she has little neck and that he head is sitting directly on her shoulders. Perhaps it should drape lower?
The fabric has a slight sheen to it. And the president did not change his tie, althought it, too has a sheen. Is this a shiny week for her? Red dress in New York, sparkling traveling dress, orange sheen last night and shiny dress tonight.
Thanks for posting the link to the official pictures. I can't believe how cheerful Mr and Mrs O look in them all! And they really are quite tall (or are other world leaders just on the short side?)
I find this dress very exciting, in it's unusual, but very complimentary color, and it's unique style. How Mrs. O! Love it! I see your point, Sharon, on the collar, but I still love it. The shape and drape of the dress compliment her body beautifully, as does the perfect length. Love the shoes.
What I'm not loving so much is her new, straighter hair do. Maybe I'm old fashioned, and not very hip, but I preferred her previous do.
I, too marvel that the President and Mrs. O could maintain smiles that looked so genuine through all those pictures. My smile takes on that frozen quality after a while, if you know what I mean. :-)
i am REALLY excited by this dress. i agree its rather an unusual choice but i think it is extremely contemporary and different in a good way. i love the color and the coordination with the heels. it all makes her look very put together and powerful which i think is a first for the position of first lady.
So is killing it! Awesome! I am speechless.
That parade of pictures is scary. I would have forgotten how to smile at the end of something like that.
Definitely take the time to look at a larger picture of this dress, the details are amazing. The design and the color are so sophisticated. I'm not totally in love with designs that are so high up on MO's neck, because I just love the look of a gorgeous long neck. But that's just me.
The First Lady looks beautiful in every dress I've seen her wear this week. She and the President always look so rested, radiant and upbeat. I am so proud of both of them and I wish them success in all they do.
I admire the First Lady for trying a variety of hair styles. She looks stunning when it is pulled back but I love it when it is down and a bit to the side. She inspires me and women everywhere. She has such a warm and winning smile which is really notable in all of the Flicker pictures.. I loved looking at every one of them. Thanks for such great coverage.
Christina,
Where did you find larger pictures of this dress? I haven't seen any except those on the Department of State flickr set linked above. They are all quite small.
Thanks
This dress is SPECTACULAR!!!
I must have those shoes. GORGEOUS. The dress, not such a fan of the color but this is a nice cut for her body. She looks like a woman. Unfortunately the Japanese woman next to her looks like a little girl. I would say no to white hose if you're over the age of 5!
Mrs. Obama looks great here. Nice dress that is appropriate for the occasion, great color that offsets her complexion, the dress flatters her figure, and I love the bangles. Thumbs up!
@ Willow:
If you go to the Flickr page, click on any of the pictures of them posing. At the top of the picture you will see something that looks like a magnifying glass, with the words "all sizes" next to it. Click on that. The picture will come up larger, which may be enough, but if you really want to scope out details, click on the "original size" option which will also be across the top of the image. Then the picture will be large enough to fill your monitor.
You can do this with any picture that's on the White House flickr stream (or any flickr page, as far as I know) as long as the photographer uploaded a large image. I've noticed that when it's pictures of the Obama girls, the White House doesn't always make the large image available. Probably for privacy's sake (small images don't reproduce well in print) and because they don't want us to see super high-res images of the children. There's no need to be examining their pores.
Great color. I am going to try mustard this season!
The dress is Nina Ricci:
http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/2008/fall/main/europe/womenrunway/ninaricci/index1.html#slide34&ss1
This one definitely goes in my favorites column. What is there not to love about it...the color, fit, unique style. I could go on and on and on!!! And her hair worn straight back, off her face is just fabulous. She's stunning!
Christina,
Thanks so much. I had forgotten about that feature on flickr. Wow! Seeing her up close is a whole new revelation! She's radiant! Now I can really see the earrings, which work with the shoes, and the bangles. Up close, I even like the straighter hair style better. Just gorgeous.
Love Michelle Obama style, she looks always so confident. Please does any one know about her shoes?
I like this dress. I love her earrings and her shoes. And I must say it and hopefully nobody goes crazy on me, but Mrs. O got to be using vaseline or baby oil because I don't know any lotion that will produce a shine like that. I love it ;-)
Nyon, I wondered about that shine, too. It's beautiful.
This is a very sleek look for Mrs. O. I find the cut more flattering to her physique. Certain cuts make her look bottom-heavy!
nothing wrong with " looking or being bottom heavy" is it????
This is one of the occasions where Michelle looks her best - - the dress flatters her in every way, and in the way it should - - you first notice how stunning she looks, and then notice the dress. However she chose this piece to wear, I wish she would stay in these lines more often. Just beautiful.
WOW! Black Barbie!
I love everything about this look! Love the bronze pumps, the bangles, and those earrings! All around an A+ Look!
I also love how her complexion appears so much darker in this shot.
I think this one is great - it's not a colour everyone would choose, but Mrs. O wears it beautifully. I also like that she has her hair swept back away from her face to keep it from distracting from the beautiful neckline. As to it being from 2008, I like to think she bought it off season from a clearance rack, like 'regular folk' would!
WOW. That is outRAGEously beautiful. Mrs O, I think that might be one of my top favourite dresses! In the history of ever.
Nyon, Her legs do look great. There is a Cocoa Butter Lotion by Vaseline (gold container) that will make you have shiny skin like this. It is what I use. Try it. I would love to see a closer pic of the earrings.
What a wonderful color. The length is perfect and the fit is fine. Really a nice choice.
Stunning cut and color!
This is the most flattering dress I've seen her wear. It emphasized her slim waist and the color is absolutely marvelous against her skin. While her clothes are always beautiful, I think some of them make her look huge and she's not!
Wow! Our gorgeous, smart, accomplished first lady really looks slim in this picture. I'm wondering if maybe the picture got "stretched" a little bit vertically - sometimes that happens inadvertently. In all the other pictures Mrs. O has her signature hourglass shape. Here she looks really thin.