#1
Posted: 1/21/09 at 11:19pm
Last night, PalJoey suggested that there be an "ongoing thread" dedicated to the clothing worn by our new first lady.
We can post photos, articles, background on the designers she chooses and the stores in which she shops. And we can offer our opinions, thoughts and commentary on her outfits. (In other words, you can like or dislike her fashion picks—and say so!)
I posted this article in another thread, but I am including it here to get the ball rolling. (Sorry about that.)
Robin Givhan perfectly sums up why what Michelle Obama wears matters to us as a culture—especially women, who continue to struggle with body image issues to the point of ill-health, by far more than their counter-gender. I highlighted some of my favorite lines in the excerpt. (But there are many quotable comments in the complete article.)
My hope for this thread is that it is FUN!
**********
All Hail the Leader of the Fashionable World
By Robin Givhan, Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Few first ladies have caused as much breathless anticipation for their Inauguration Day wardrobes as Michelle Obama. But soon after she stepped onto the national stage as the candidate's wife, Obama was elevated to a fashion star whose tastes ran from high-end designers to mass marketer H&M. She had the impressive height of a runway model, the figure of a real woman -- a size 12 according to one fashion publicist -- and took an admitted delight in looking "pretty."
For the historic moment when she became this country's first African American first lady, Obama chose a lemon-grass yellow, metallic sheath with a matching coat by the Cuban-born designer Isabel Toledo. The dress followed her curves -- paying special attention to the hips -- and announced that the era of first lady-as-rectangle had ended. It signaled a generational shift in what women could be on the national stage. They could boldly embrace color and reveal their power, their femininity and their legs.
Recent first ladies seem to have tried -- at least during the first term -- to hold on to the idea of normalcy, no matter that they are living in the White House with staff, security and the albatross of history. At their husbands' first inaugurations, Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush wore uninspired clothes that seemed to make a case against the women's being unique.
Obama's mere presence on the Capitol steps yesterday was an anomaly -- and her clothes celebrated that. Her coat and dress made her look exceptional -- and vaguely regal -- as she stood holding Lincoln's cranberry-hued Bible in her gloved hand as her husband took the oath of office. Her daughters, Malia in a grape-colored coat and black tights and Sasha in pale pink and tangerine, were like her little ladies-in-waiting. President Obama, he was the somber one, in his dark overcoat with a tiny flag pin, his white shirt, red tie and his face tilted ever so slightly to the sky.
Full Washington Post Article by Robin Givhan, January 21, 2009
"Be on your guard! Jerks on the loose!"
http://www.roches.com/television/ss83kod.html
**********
"If any relationship involves a flow chart, get out of it...FAST!"
~ Best12Bars
We can post photos, articles, background on the designers she chooses and the stores in which she shops. And we can offer our opinions, thoughts and commentary on her outfits. (In other words, you can like or dislike her fashion picks—and say so!)
I posted this article in another thread, but I am including it here to get the ball rolling. (Sorry about that.)
Robin Givhan perfectly sums up why what Michelle Obama wears matters to us as a culture—especially women, who continue to struggle with body image issues to the point of ill-health, by far more than their counter-gender. I highlighted some of my favorite lines in the excerpt. (But there are many quotable comments in the complete article.)
My hope for this thread is that it is FUN!
**********
All Hail the Leader of the Fashionable World
By Robin Givhan, Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Few first ladies have caused as much breathless anticipation for their Inauguration Day wardrobes as Michelle Obama. But soon after she stepped onto the national stage as the candidate's wife, Obama was elevated to a fashion star whose tastes ran from high-end designers to mass marketer H&M. She had the impressive height of a runway model, the figure of a real woman -- a size 12 according to one fashion publicist -- and took an admitted delight in looking "pretty."
For the historic moment when she became this country's first African American first lady, Obama chose a lemon-grass yellow, metallic sheath with a matching coat by the Cuban-born designer Isabel Toledo. The dress followed her curves -- paying special attention to the hips -- and announced that the era of first lady-as-rectangle had ended. It signaled a generational shift in what women could be on the national stage. They could boldly embrace color and reveal their power, their femininity and their legs.
Recent first ladies seem to have tried -- at least during the first term -- to hold on to the idea of normalcy, no matter that they are living in the White House with staff, security and the albatross of history. At their husbands' first inaugurations, Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush wore uninspired clothes that seemed to make a case against the women's being unique.
Obama's mere presence on the Capitol steps yesterday was an anomaly -- and her clothes celebrated that. Her coat and dress made her look exceptional -- and vaguely regal -- as she stood holding Lincoln's cranberry-hued Bible in her gloved hand as her husband took the oath of office. Her daughters, Malia in a grape-colored coat and black tights and Sasha in pale pink and tangerine, were like her little ladies-in-waiting. President Obama, he was the somber one, in his dark overcoat with a tiny flag pin, his white shirt, red tie and his face tilted ever so slightly to the sky.
Full Washington Post Article by Robin Givhan, January 21, 2009
http://www.roches.com/television/ss83kod.html
**********
"If any relationship involves a flow chart, get out of it...FAST!"
~ Best12Bars
