Updated to include new information.
There’s always been a real interest in what first ladies wear during the inauguration. And for Michelle Obama, the public’s interest is really high! Read about what she wore, see photos and watch a fun video.
First Lady Michelle Obama
Updated: Michelle Obama’s Inaugural Ball Gown has been revealed. You can go here to see the photos. The designer is 26-year-old Jason Wu. And the feedback on MO’s dress? Decidedly mixed.
The media’s slobbering obsession with the Obamas reaches fever pitch tonight, as fashionistas wait – pens poised – to see what she will wear to the Inaugural Balls.
Most certainly, Michelle Obama wants to be the Belle of the Balls and I suppose she will be. However it is a bit tricky! The goal of the inaugural gown is to look great on stage and on TV, to look lovely in photographs the next day, and of course to look timeless for posterity. In some ways, she is more of the focal point of the evening Balls then her barackstar husband. Some want her to consider these gowns provided by the top designers in the world, while others want her to go green on her gown!
I will say it seems a bit trivial at a time when Americans are suffering under the weight of the economic crisis that we pay so much attention to MO’s wardrobe but alas, we do. She seems to favor simple cuts in jewel tones but somewhat loud prints. She also seems to favor the work of emerging US designers such as Thakoon, Narciso Rodriguez, and Maria Pinto.
For today’s swearing in ceremony she wore a yellowy-ish coat dress by Cuban-born designer Isabel Toledo. It had faux jewels (at least I think they were faux) around the neckline. She wore J Crew gloves and matching shoes. I hated the outfit personally – it seemed overly detailed, a bit gawdy, and somewhat matronly. But, of course, media across the globe will again call her a fashion icon.
Call it a burden of First Ladies, but if tonite’s choice for Obama Ball Wear is anything like this morning’s choice, she will fail horribly.
A picture of Michelle Obama at the Inaugural Balls will be posted as soon as one becomes available to us.
Michelle Obama Photos
Michelle Obama Video
Photos: wenn.com
January 20th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
The liberals posting on some news sites HATED her outfit..the comments are cruel, with the gentler ones coming from conservative women that feel bad for her. It was garish, butt ugly and made her look 40 #’s heavier than she is. If these Hollywood types really do like her, they will take her aside and offer to loan her a designer…anything less would be hypocrisy from them yet again.
Her Mom and the children looked fine, but good grief…what a mess she was !!!!
January 20th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
For those who say Obamas wife is like Kennedys there dead wrong. Kennedy was attractive she is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen and is that a cape she’s wearing.
January 20th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Oh good grief ! Her gown looks like it’s made of toilet paper ! White, loose, shredded…..just when I thought she would redeem herself….
January 20th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
WTF is wrong with you people?
January 20th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Ain’t nothing wrong here…being ashamed of a First Lady is new to me…not coping well, ya know?
January 20th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Her dress was absolutely FABULOUS.
There is no doubt that this woman has a following of jealous people who want the boney frail, unrealistic magazine ideal of what a woman should look like for a First Lady. Thank God that we didn’t get that. Don’t forget that Hillary’s style was not liked either. Both Mrs. Bush’s were just plain boring but they were a little older.
Michelle looked classy, conservative and poised. What more could America ask for.
I don’t know where you all got the idea of her dressing with a little African influence. There is no speck of African in her style.
Now Jill Biden, I am not sure where she got the idea to wear her outfit for this particular event. I liked the outfit, just not the proper time to wear it.
You should re-read your comments and take note of how cutting, nasty and terse you are. You are taking personal digs because of your apparent dislike for this woman. Tearing down her body, calling her ugly, ripping at her with degrading remarks… you should be ASHAMED, but probably aren’t. Take a look in your hearts and I would guess that there is some embedded disdain for your own self worth.
Shame, Shame, Shame
January 20th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
She is tall, model appearance, naturaly beautiful, with the ability to carry off any fashionable look. She chose what her personality reflected. Gracious, lovely, fresh and new. Like a summer bride she appeared before the world to dazzle us all. A princess american style and with a little shyness that makes any woman REAL! I love her, she is American Royalty! And Americans that have class give her the thumbs up. Her style is SPECIAL AND FILLED WITH PERSONALITY!
January 20th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
That white wedding gown makes her look like a giant block of ice. Michelle Obama’s inaugural dress is a fashion faux pax of historical proportions.
January 20th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
not to mention that it puts the emphasis on her elephant arse.
January 20th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Can the Ice Queen have an elephant’s arse? We are mixing metaphors as well as continents.
January 20th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I’m sorry but truth to power must be told. the dress is hideously ugly. It’s like a throwback of something Mamie Eisenhower might’ve work back in the 50s. On the other hand, Obama looked very GQ.
January 20th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
look at her picture. not only does our first lady, the ice queen, have an elephant’s arse, but she also has cankles. not good.
January 20th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
frankly, the dress looks similar to my grandmother’s sofa.
January 20th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
I agree with Karen. Shame on you women! Don’t you have anything better to do than rip on beautiful Michelle Obama. Women who are confident in their appearance aren’t so catty. My guess is that the posters of mean comments are either fat, unattractive or have no style. I am a petite, very attractive woman and believe that Mrs. Obama’s fashion choices weren’t nearly as important as the incredibly beautiful woman she is and what she represents.
January 20th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
So a woman with a pudge face dressed like an iceberg is beautiful in an Orwellian world? I’m no girl but that image could not have been attractive to anyone with free will.
January 20th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Louise, you would be wrong. I am an attractive, quite tall woman and I’m tellin’ ya…some women need to be careful how they dress. Mrs. Barry O is one of them.. And truth be told, if anyone does give a darn about her, they will tell her.I certainly would want to know !
January 20th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
louise give me a break. if you really think that MO’s outfits today looked good then sadly, you have no taste either. and frankly if you really are a confident woman, you wouldn’t need to talk about the way you look on a blog for gosh sakes.
January 20th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Louise. Anyone that has to inform a forum of strangers that she’s a ‘very attractive woman’ probably isn’t.
I’m sure it makes you feel better to live vicariously through Michelle O’s life – but you aren’t her and you will feel much better to focus on making your own life better.
Meanwhile, when you are in the public life, you have to be able to take the heat of public scrutiny. Surely you don’t think that Michelle O is so frail and insecure that she can’t take what every First Lady before her has gotten. Should we treat her differently for some reason?
BTW – I bet you were one of those people booing Laura Bush because that was the popular thing to do in that crowd. Were you?
January 20th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
The dress reminds me of my grandmothers bedspread – the kind that’s white with the little puffy balls all over it. I forget what that style of bedspread is called.
And the poor thing has to keep pulling the hem up and out of her way so she can walk, dance and walk up the stairs. I wonder why the designer didn’t hem the dress.
I wish she’s hold her shoulders up too. I know that’s hard for tall women. They are used to slumping over so they can be shorter than their men – but she should stand proud now that she’s First Lady and hold those shoulders up!
January 20th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Jill Biden’s dress isn’t bad. She looks nice. At least when she needs to hold her dress up she can hold it from the front. Michelle O has to pull her’s up from the back – she’s going to REALLY hate the videos when she sees them.
I wonder why her stylist isn’t following her around. Her make-up is gone. She needs someone to fix it for her. She’s going to hate these videos.
January 20th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
I love the first lady, but I disagree that her inaugural dress is the best choice for her (Sorry, I dislike that dress). Nevertheless, she is still a wonderful woman. I think that some people here should stop being so harsh on her. Whatever you wrote here is not going to be part of the history, but she is your first lady, regardless of that white dress!
January 20th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Okay, this is getting clearer by the comment.
By the telltale signs from some of the aforementioned comments these people are mean spirited by default. This really isn’t about her dress or style. It is about your dislike for this woman and I don’t think that it is only her gender. You don’t want “this particular” woman to represent you as our country’s First Lady. Well, take a deep breath and know that the VOTE is in and the OATH is taken. These words of bitterness are nothing more than water over the dam – more than is wanted or needed.
This reeks of dissension and bias and a sore loser. Certainly not in the spirit of kindness or reconciliation. Take a deep breath and consider the collective venture of America and not just yourselves.
Let’s quit being vicious and come together… create a new outlook.
January 20th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
karen you said:
“This reeks of dissension and bias and a sore loser. Certainly not in the spirit of kindness or reconciliation. Take a deep breath and consider the collective venture of America and not just yourselves.
Let’s quit being vicious and come together… create a new outlook.”
ORLY? where were you and your buddies 8 years ago when we said the same thing about president and mrs bush?
January 20th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Some of these comments absolutely amaze me. Today was so much about crossing color lines and judging people by the quality of their character. Can we get cross the clothing lines and not judge people based on their clothing and their looks too. Beauty comes from within. I don’t care what she looks like. What I see is the love the Obamas have for each other and that’s all the beauty I care about. THAT an image that I think speaks volumes – not what she wore.
January 20th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Sure love is great but the dress sucked. Let’s speak truth to power by stating the obvious to the most powerful woman in the world. Nobody is politically correct about clothing.
Michelle Obama’s inauguration dress made her look like an angry fat snowman on ice, so fat that the kids couldn’t reach up to put an appropriately sized head on the body. Can’t we all agree that the dress offers no hope and should be changed?