Thursday
Nov112010
Hidden Gem
Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 11:17 PM 
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
Thank you to the various readers (Christina, Cheryl and Danika) who emailed to share this hidden and fabulous photo from the Os trip abroad. Above the president and first lady greet children during a meeting with the U.S. Embassy staff at the Shangri-La Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia. Now, who made Mrs. O's beyond gorgeous dress??
Reader Comments (32)
First Lady looks absolutely FAB! I am trying to find another pic. She is so stylish but accessible.
No one can accuse this woman of not having raised the profile of future first ladies. After a hectic trip to India and Indonesia, she still has time to meet troops and shake hands. She's amazing. And I agree, Mrs T - that dress is beautiful.
I do not care for this dress at all. It is a very odd juxtaposition of print and plain fabric. Although I know for certain that the dress fabric is not cheap, it looks as if it were. It is too hard to tell from this angle if Mrs. O. could have done without that particular belt, but I think a narrower self-belt would have been a big improvement. With all of the beautiful dresses by talented designers there are to choose from in this world, I don't know why anyone would choose this dress.
Lovely dress! May I hazard a guess? I would say it is either by Basso & Brooke (which the First Lady has worn before) or Mary Katranzou - they are designers known for superb print work. Although, Peter Pilotto is also known for his print work, so who knows? I have always thought that the First Lady would look really fabulous in any of the dresses from the Basso & Brooke Fall 2009 collection - please take a look at it at http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/F2009RTW-BASSOB and see what you think.
By the way, this could be a fun little project for Mrs O readers - go on style.com, set up a lookbook (which allows you to save your favorite looks from the collections), and dedicate a whole lookbook to the clothes you would love to see the First Lady wear (if you were her personal stylist). Pure fantasy, of course, but since we all have such strong opinions on her clothes, maybe we should put our money where our mouth is and actually put together a look book for what we think she would look great in, as per occasion, weather, etc.
Amazing! One of the best looks of the whole trip. I don't know if anyone as seen Sex and The City 2 where the women take off their burqas and are wearing s/s 2010 collections. Mrs. O did the same thing! Underneath her conservative loose fitting pantsuit and scarf she had on this gorgeous colourful sexy sheath dress and chic chignon. Seriously Mrs. T....I sent you this link like 5 times on different posts. No recognition? oh..ok.
I wish I had a better memory. Because I know that there are some other dresses Mrs. O has worn that have featured an unusual mix of patterns (I'm thinking of one that is part plaid and part floral, that she wore to a Mother's Day event? But there have been others.) I can't think of the designer(s) though!! Argh! Well anyway, this dress with its mix of patterns reminds me of those.
Beautiful dress - and is she wearing a cuff? I'd like to know where that came from, too.
Christina, I think the one to which you are referring was a Moschino. I just hated that one, but this mix of prints really works and Mrs. O looks great. It's so good to see her looking more like herself!
Honestly I really don't see the need to play armchair stylist for the First Lady, she does pretty well herself with plenty of touchdown looks and the occasional fumble.
Thanks for the challenge, Claire. I think I might actually do that:)
Christina, I think that little pattern-mix number on Mother's Day was from Moschino. But this one ..?? I don't think so. It's a pretty dress. I like the cut and colors and the XL cuff.
I really like this dress and one should be in really good shape to pull off this fabric and pattern.
That dress looks good. I like the cuff as well. Nice touch. :)
She looks very nice and the dress appears to have a wonderful pattern and cut.
I hope the President and First Lady feel the trip was successful for them....they deserve a break.
MO's approval rating is in the high 70's - she will be in campaign mode after the new year - I hope to see some great new campaign ensembles when she hits the road.
Have a good weekend everyone
I love this dress. I am thirty and would love to own it. Mrs. O must be exhausted from such an eventful trip. I wish her and the whole family the best.
Claire,
Sounds like a fun little project, I might try it! Occasionally I will look at collections on Style.com from designers I know she has worn before, and there's usually a few looks that jump out that I fantasize Michelle would wear.
Begging somone to post a link to where I can buy this dress. Mrs. O, I *heart* you!
Pretty dress and I like the belt and cuff. Love the energy of the children. It struck me how we usually focus on the politics of a trip, but the President and First Lady always take time to greet the staff (and their families) at the various embassies around the world, in this very informal way. Very personal, very approachable.
Christen, it's not up to you to figure out why anyone chooses anything. The only choices you need to worry about are your own.
Mrs. O looks great. Very few women could wear a dress like this and look so good in it. I really like the fact that Mrs. O defies all the critics, bends all the rules and still comes out shining! God Bless America!
I love this dress. It has an African feel to it. One another note, I don't think that Mrs. O shined as well as she did on her first trip overseas last year. For some reason, things just didn't click as well for me as before. A highlight that I found somewhat disappointing was Mrs. O's hair - i have a suspicion that the hair was swept back due to humidity, but nontheless, I am really not feeling the hair this trip. Does anyone know if Mrs. O traveled with a hairdresser on this trip?
I love this dress. The cut is flattering to Mrs. O's physique, and the colors are sublime.
There is nothing cheap about this dress IMO> I wish some people would think more and whine less.
@ Nyon: "Tell her!" ...*shaking head* Some people...
I think the dress is great! I love when the First Lady wears clothing with eclectic or ethnic or asymmetrical patterns, prints, and motifs. (Ditto, for women in general.) And she does it so darn well!
Wow, the cuff, elegant arms reaching the masses, and a gorgeous dress! Nothing cheap about that.
Mrs. O's dress reminds me of the Prada dress that Eva Mendes is wearing in this photo. Check it out.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/11/eva-mendes-grabs-prada-wh_n_782403.html#s180361
It might be a sleeveless adaptation of this Dries Van Noten (she wore several other pieces of his) - in a different colorway and with a semisheer addition at the top to cover the bareness for Indonesia:
http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/slideshow/F2010RTW-DVNOTEN?event=show2062&designer=design_house35&trend=&iphoto=43
Is this the dress that she wore under the pantsuit? I understand it was a last minute thing to go on the tour and putting the pantsuit and scarf on over the dress was the only way to manage it. That pantsuit is probably one of the only things big enough to cover the dress. Can you imagine Nancy Reagan doing something like that, or Mrs. Kennedy? Michelle Obama is our gal--she always steps up. God bless her.
I think this dress is just gorgeous! It reminds me of this dress
http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/slideshow/F2010RTW-DVNOTEN?loop=0&event=show2062&designer=design_house35&iphoto=43&play=false&cnt=14
How much time is spent on hair, makeup, gym and wardrobe. How does she find time to put her energy in all the other first lady duties?
You can hardly see the dress in the photo. How can it be declared either gorgeous or hideous? You can't see the full print, the cut, the fit, the length, the hem, the bodice, or the back.
I agree with Kaybeel. I can't tell enough about this dress to like it or not.
the dress is etro