A Penchant for Flat Footwear

Photo used with kind permission from photographer Hemen H. Mehta

Ever the style pragmatist, Mrs. O has been open about her preference for flats, citing her 5’11” height and the pressures of the campaign trail, not to mention keeping up with her two girls.  We’d go further and say she often uses flats as a deliberate choice to bring her overall look – quite literally – down to earth.  For the DNC finale in late August, we saw Mrs. O use a classic pair of black patent flats to set off a stunning Thakoon print cocktail dress (note the family’s shared rose colored palette and penchant for black patent flats).  Had the dress been paired with, say, black patent heels instead, the effect would have been different: perhaps more high glamour than her usual, pared-down yet personalized style.

Flats – once the exclusive preserve of the very young or the very elderly – broke back into the mainstream in 2005, where they now seem set to stay.  For those of us who love shoes and are fans of the flat, they can uniquely combine a happy practicality (walk, don’t totter) with real feminine flair: embellishments which can look tacky on a pair of heels look quirky and interesting on flats. A view Mrs. O seems to share when we see her here again in a favorite pair of silver flats given standout and texture via the layering around the toe. High end brands like Miu Miu, Sigerson Morrison and Jimmy Choo have taken ornamentation to the extreme over the past few seasons, while cult brands like Repetto take their inspiration from their definitive dance roots.

The question for now is will Mrs. O stick or twist in the style stakes as election day draws closer?

If it’s the former, we wonder whether she might take her taste for a well-placed bow or floral brooch to her flats:

Going Tweed for Thakoon

Photo credit: Flickr user Barack Obama // Creative Commons

We thought we were short on Mrs. O fashion news today until we stumbled across this stunner. Watching the Vice Presidential Debate last Friday night in Detroit, Mrs. O wore Thakoon's Tweed Loop jacket with woven rope print blouse underneath. The jacket and blouse mix both pattern and texture, which could pose a style challenge, but work well here due to the consistent color palette. The light softness of the tie-neck blouse also has a nice balance with the more structured, weighty jacket. We're happy to see that Mrs. O has brought her DNC brooches back into rotation. The taupe colored brooch at the top right, while a departure from the palette, keeps the look from becoming too matchy-matchy. This is the first we've seen Mrs. O in Thakoon after she wore two of his dresses for the final night of the DNC and then to first Presidential Debate. With this ensemble, Thakoon has officially propelled himself to go-to designer status for Mrs. O, joining the ranks of Maria Pinto and Narciso Rodriguez. We hope he and this look make encore performances soon.

Date: October 2, 2008

Venue: Vice Presidential Debate watch party, Detroit, MI Get the look:

Thakoon II

Photo via Flickr users Barack Obama / David Katz for Obama for America / Creative Commons

More excitment on the Mrs. O fashion front - another Thakoon dress - this time for the first Presidential debate on Friday night. Excellent slide show here. Mrs. O wore Thakoon's Inside-Out dress from the designer's Fall 2008 collection, named for its exposed darts in white. The dress fabric is a silk floral print in pink, yellow and brown, overlaid by a subtle lattice pattern. Mrs. O embellished the look with a brown satin bow worn diagonally at the collar. Might the bow be a new Mrs. O signature? The bow at the collar was also seen in Mrs. O's October More magazine cover.

Date: September 26, 2008

Venue: Presidential Debate, University of Mississppi, Oxford, MS Designer: Thakoon

Thakoon Finale

Photo used with kind permission from photographer Bill Burke, Page One Photography

For the DNC finale, Mrs. O wore a rose print cocktail dress from Thakoon. This dress has since received loads of media attention, propelling Thakoon into a well deserved spotlight. Thakoon has gained mainstream exposure in the past year through Gap Design Editions and his highly anticipated Target collection, but it's been suggested that Mrs. O's endorsement will give the designer a further boost. Designers like Maria Pinto and Thakoon must be loving Mrs. O! How did Mrs. O decide on the Thakoon dress for the finale, we wonder? She gave a clue in this week's People Magazine: "I've learned to go with color and cuts that look good on me, that I'm comfortable in. Like pinks, purples and grays, fitted dresses and wide-leg pants."

Date: Thursday, August 28, 2008

Venue: Democratic National Convention

Designer: Thakoon Description: Radzimir Kimono dress from Thakoon's pre-spring 2009 collection, accented with three Erickson Beamon brooches

Get the look: