Jet Black Brilliant
Friday, February 12, 2010 at 1:36 PM 
Image via the Carole Tanenbaum Vintage Collection
A few weeks ago, Mrs. O gave a speech to the Joint Armed Forces Officers Wives Club in Washington, D.C., wearing a sleeveless green dress, accessorized with a stunning black floral brooch. It's a finishing touch we've seen the first lady turn to before -- a quieter take on the statement brooch, and a perfect complement to the wintery hues of the season. Our friends at the Carole Tanenbaum Vintage Collection have been kind enough to point us to a similarly inspired vintage '60s piece, measuring 4" in diameter, seen above and available here.
I'm also delighted to announce that the Carole Tanenbaum Vintage Collection will offer a second collection of Mrs. O-inspired pins to readers of this blog on the first day of spring. For those who missed the first collection, have a peek here. We are beyond excited to see what gems Carole Tanenbaum has in store for us come March 20.
Images by Tim Sloan / Getty Images
Reader Comments (13)
Jcrew has a similar pin as the one Mrs. O is wearing. I bought it in brown, I don't recall if it came in black too. It is a pin of feathers...very fun accessory.
IVA, I was thinking the same thing.......it seems like there are feathers or something underneath this brooch.
Yes, I wish we had a better shot! There were limited photos at that event. Perhaps Mrs. O will wear it again...
I bought one of the pins before and look forward to the new old collection! Your credit card does charge you for a foreign transaction as she is in Canada.
It appears to me that Mrs. O.'s brooch has feathers and netting in addition to stones. Gorgeous!
New this morning is that Maria Pinto has declared bankruptcy.
http://www.suntimes.com/business/2047493,CST-NWS-pinto14.article
BEAUTIFUL in this color--I'll ad this one to my preferred colors for her! Love the pin too--a modern combo of rock and roll with a little Chanel thrown in, LOL! She is GORGEOUS--and this dress silhouette is perfect for her defined waistline. Classy dress and the pin makes it modern
New Michelle (& the girls) pic: http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//100215/480/74e2a11be4a147218838c6925974b260/
I am so happy to see jet jewelry in the modern world. I've been collecting vintage jet (mostly Whitby jet from the UK), and wearing it for years - usually black on black.
Can't wait for the Tannenbaum pieces in March. I've marked my calendar!
Speaking of jewelry: on gilt.com there is a link to a sale they are having of Bochic jewelry. Those gorgeous earrings Mrs. O wore to the state dinner were made by Bochic. The pieces on Gilt are crazy expensive, but it's a great feast for the eyes.
You can achieve the look of antique jet at a much cheaper price by wearing jewellery made of French Jet. French jet was a popular alternative in the victorian era. It is a highly polished and faceted type of deep black glass . Similar also is black Vauxhall glass which is moutned onto a metal base
French jet is gorgeous, and much more sparkly than Whitby (also heavier; Whitby is very light). Funny this should come up this morning - I was trying on a new black and white tweed dress, and nothing looked quite right accessory-wise until I took out a few French jet pins. I think I'm going to wear three of them on the dress. Now where did I get THAT idea??
Her skin looks so silky smooth and the makeup and hair is perfection.
February has been a good fashion month for Mrs. O
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/26/michelle-obama-dons-green_n_437449.html
Go to photo number 4 for a frontal closeup of the brooch. So pretty........no idea who designed it!