Wednesday
Feb202013
Official Portrait
Wednesday, February 20, 2013 at 8:36 PM 
A new term, a new official portrait - and Mrs. O's bangs have been captured for posterity! No word on the dress just yet.
Many will recall that Mrs. O wore sleeveless Michael Kors for her first official portrait in 2009, here.
Update: Per WWD, Mrs. O wears custom Reed Krakoff in her official portrait.
Reader Comments (25)
She has never looked better! Her hair is fabulous. It seems like the bangs have been trimmed a tiny bit, which highlights her face and eyebrows more.
Beautiful! So proud of our First Lady.
Great potrait. Shows she has gotten better.
What a beautiful woman and a fantastic portrait!!!
Her gorgeous eyes smile at you so warmly and follow you around. That is so powerful!!! She exudes such power, grace, femininity and dignity and has this effortlessy regal thing about her.
She exudes good health from the inside out and her flawless skin is a testament to her good habits. And don't get me started on her beautiful hands. Mrs Obama has the most beautiful hands I've ever seen. Not even women half her age have such lovely, youthful, sensual hands.
This is a woman who clearly takes really good care of herself and it certainly shows. She is such a very good role model for all women. We must all take care of ourselves and do it with as much pride as Mrs Obama does.
She totally rocks!!!
This is a lovely picture of Mrs. O, the photographer really captures the essence of the Lady. Her skin is so beautiful and those bangs are really growing on me. Has anyone noticed the strands of silver that are starting to appear? It's hard to tell but is the fabric of her dress a wool knit. Her clothes are never predictable. To all the lurking seamstresses and fashionistas, how would you describe the front of the dress?
Wow. The FLOTUS projects such a powerful and compelling mix of wonderful qualities--warmth, strength, intelligence, style. Whether she wants the job or not, a woman married to the President of the United states is an Ambassador without Portfolio on the world stage for the US--we couldn't ask for better than we got with Mrs. Obama.
And while I have not been a fan of the bangs, I wouldn't change a thing about this portrait--so I guess I've come around...
@Ladywatcher, It does look like a wool knit. It's a very simple dress that does not detract from the essence of and powerful presence of the woman. You first notice her and all the beautiful attributes she possesses before the dress and pearls.
Her engagement, eternity and wedding rings also strike you in this picture. It's a deceptively simple photo, but sends so many powerful messages about our elegant, grounded and unassuming First Lady.
I love it. This is a beautiful portrait.
This is a beautiful picture of her face, one can see the kind of person she is through her eyes and the expression on her face. Loving, caring and just being herself. I question the photographer's positioning her so that her upper body is so twisted. The dress pulls, the beads are off center and the sleeves have too many creases - I think sleeveless would have worked better!!
Among other things, I love the way her beautifully manicured nails are featured.
I would like to see the portrait side by side!
"This is all 'me'!" Love it!
What a beautiful photo! I love the styling of it. The color of her dress and the green of the rest of the photo is very complementary! The positioning of her body really does work so well with the overall feeling of the photo...so gracious and warm! Luv her!
The dress is custom Reed Krakoff! She looks absolutely radiant!
Mrs. O looks amazing! Love that lip color also!!
I love this photo! She looks so "real". When I compare it to 2009, I like that this one is a more close up view of her beautiful face and hands. I wish she had chosen a sleeveless dress because I consider it her "signature look" and at 49 she should display her trim arms whenever possible. Love our FLOTUS!
To me this is a much better portrait then her first, as with the President's new portrait, it's a more confident and relaxed image of Mrs. O. I was never fond of the 2009 image since the way the photographer positioned her it made the blue draperies look like they were coming out of her head. Also the setting in the Green Room is much more complimentary. Mrs. O looks simply lovely…happy, healthy and confident of who she is. Brava Michelle!
anne in canada,
Just leave the compliment and please stop with the passive aggressive tendacies. I am certain the photographer had no ulterior motive to 'position' the First Lady's body in a manner to distort or cause her upper body to 'twist'. Please, let's stop making ado about nothing. Mrs Obama is a strong woman and after review of this Still, I am certain if she (Mrs Obama) felt it was wrong, it would have been fixed. Please, stop with the non sense drama.
I like the simplicity of the black dress against the green backdrop. It makes for a very pretty setting.
I've never noticed her hands before - long fingers. I wonder if she plays the piano?
I like this picture much more than the 2009 portrait. She seems more confident, comfortable in this picture. I love the outfit, with the two tone color comb .As for the white beaded necklace, that was a great idea. I think any other necklace would have "downplayed" the oufit
A beautiful, make that "luscious," portrait of the First Lady. (I'd buy a copy of it, if it were available.)
"Oooh!" And those arms...covered or bare, always look fine. Makes this man swoon, and smile.
P.S. Add those lovely "hands" to the Beautiful List, too. (The ought to be in new Palmolive commercial! ;-)
Well said, Lissa. I could not agree more. It's the confidence that shines through. In fact I noticed it in the first couple on inauguration day. They both seem more relaxed, more comfortable in their roles than ever before, and happy, they seem so happy. I also agree on the choice of pearls as it brings out the beauty of the dress even more.
What makes this picture so beautiful and so natural is that it is not 'posed'. A portrait of a normal, natural woman sitting as normal people do. I wear pearls almost everyday and they are never straight. This picture is not a 'still'. It is alive. She positively sparkles.
On another note, please don't be disheartened, Mrs. T there are many of us out here, who post infrequently but who really appreciate the tremendous effort that goes into maintaining this website with everything else you have to do. I stop by daily, no matter where I am in the world. Thank you!
Michelle Obama is pretty and has a nice figure. However, I really don’t like her new hairstyle. Each of her previous hairstyles complemented her lovely face. Hopefully, she’ll get tired of the bangs soon, and choose something that suits her better.
The dress in this portrait is a great– choice though elegant.