What's your vote regarding Michelle Obama's dress on election night? Do you give it a or ? I personally loved it and thought it was a very bold and stylish choice it was a refreshing change from the typical blue suit. So go on, girl!




[Edited 11/5/08 15:55pm]

I didn't like it

http://omg.yahoo.com/blog...t-dress/84

Last night, Barack Obama made history when he was elected the 44th president of the United States! Obama was joined onstage in Chicago's Grant Park by his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters, Sasha and Malia, as he addressed an estimated crowd of 240,000 people.

While Obama's eloquent victory speech moved me to tears, unfortunately so did Michelle's dress. Barack looked sharp as can be in a dark navy suit, which was custom made by Hart Schaffner Marx, but I just wasn't feeling Michelle's splotchy red and black Narciso Rodriguez frock.

It might seem a little shallow to be discussing fashion the day after such a big moment in America's history, but I'm not the only one buzzing about Mrs. Obama's election night attire. Yahoo! users are searching like crazy for info on her dress, while critics are weighing in on whether it was a hit or miss.

Like me, LA Times blogger Elizabeth Snead was not a fan of the frock, calling it "disastrous." Of course, not everyone agrees. BlackBookmag.com's Alisa Gould-Simon found the dress to be shocking, but notes that it was "unexpected, uncoventional, and right on trend." InStyle.com also applauded our First Lady-elect's bold decision to wear something modern instead of a classic Oscar de La Renta number like many of the First Ladies before her. "Michelle Obama made fashion history last night," writes InStyle's Katrina Szish. "America, get ready to see what a true modern style icon is all about."

I guess I have to give Michelle props for daring to be different!

veronikka said:

Really? Why come?

I thought last night's dress was a miss-fire.

And, I thought her dress on the night he accepted the Democratic Party's nomination was pretty horrible, too.




Red-and-black appears to be a theme.

I liked it, but I think it would've looked better if she didn't have that little cardigan on.

ThreadBare said:

Yes, this is ugly as sin. But I like last night's dress minus that shrug/sweater she wore with it but I guess it was chilly or something.

SCNDLS said:

the black on the sides and middle doesn't look right to me and the cardigan doesn't seem to go either. I love that shade of red though

veronikka said:

Yeah, the cardigan definitely detracted. I like the color and the texture/pattern of the material.

Obamas may bring new fashion sense to White House

NEW YORK -- The Obamas' first official appearance as first family-elect will be long remembered for many weighty historic reasons, but it could also signal another new beginning: An entirely different fashion sense in the White House.

The Obama family took the stage in Chicago Tuesday night in color-coordinated outfits, all with touches of red or black.

For Michelle Obama, no stuffy suits or demure pastels here: Instead she wore a striking red-and-black dress designed by well-regarded, but not-so-mainstream, Narciso Rodriguez.

President-elect Barack Obama wore the same style dark-navy suit custom-made by Hart Schaffner Marx that he wore at the Democratic Convention, the company says, accompanied with a deep red, striped necktie.

Older daughter Malia wore a red bubble-hem dress, while the younger Sasha wore a black dress with an oversized bow on the front.

Together, they made a pleasing picture of coordination and confidence, style-watchers say.

"One of the things about Michelle and Barack is that they have classic American style," said Pamela Fiori, editor in chief of Town & Country.

"I hope as they move into the White House, they'll continue that and dress in a lot of American designers - it certainly has been the case so far. She says on TV that she's wearing an outfit from J.Crew," she said. "You have to appreciate her honesty and sense of style."

Michelle Obama also has worn some relatively new names on the fashion scene, including Thakoon Panichgul and Maria Pinto. She also wore an off-the-rack style by White House Black Market on "The View."

"You know what I think is amazing? She likes fashion but she doesn't really let fashion wear her," observed Adam Glassman, creative director at Oprah magazine.

(Longtime Obama supporter Oprah Winfrey, attending the Obama victory party in Grant Park, wore a long green Agnona tunic that ties at the waist.)

"She (Michelle Obama) is incredibly democratic when it comes to fashion. She doesn't just do the old guard, she represents the new," he added.

The straight-from-the-runway Rodriguez dress highlighted both her attractive figure and her savvy sense of style, Glassman said. He also said he thinks she - not a stylist - is calling the shots about her look.

It's worth noting, especially amid all the comparisons to the Obamas and Kennedys that Rodriguez also designed the wedding dress that Caroline Bessette wore at her wedding to John F. Kennedy Jr. That could be a coincidence, said Bridget Foley, executive editor of W magazine and Women's Wear Daily, but it's fodder to fuel further connections.

The sheath-dress silhouette that Jackie made famous is indeed a favorite of Michelle Obama's, albeit a more modern version.

"She took a dress shape she looks great in - a curvy sheath, but she still makes a powerful visual statement. She wants to project a bold image ... but it's not over the top wild," Foley said.

As for the new president's two-button suit, it is a classic power suit, says Homi Patel, chairman and CEO of parent company Hart Marx. "It's strong, navy and it does make you look powerful, but what makes it presidential is the man in it."

But if fashion insiders applauded the Election-night look, many bloggers called in the fashion police.

Yuli Ziv, co-founder of the user-generated online fashion magazine Myitthings.com, gave Michelle Obama points for not wearing a suit, but she also thought the dress was unflattering. "It accentuated some parts of the body I would try not to enhance," Ziv told the AP.

A posting on "The Dish Rag," an online component of the Los Angeles Times, called it a "bizarre dress that looked more like a Halloween costume than an election night frock."

But eveyone seemed to love the children.

"I love how Barack and Michelle's beautiful daughters matched - a perfect complement," said designer Zac Posen.

Town & Country's Fiori thinks the Obama family will help usher in an era of more refined dress. "Obama has taken to task the style of young boys who let their pants hang low and let their underwear show," she said. "I think we're all going to dress better and speak better and behave a lot better than we have in the past."

Here's the Narciso Rodriguez dress during fashion week for Spring 2009.

I liked it. Young & fresh for a first lady. Who says you have to spend $150,000 on a dress to look good?

i'll agree that the cardigan thinger was a little bind-y and weird, but i thought she looked beautiful and very contemporary.

JessieJ said:

Agreed. Without it, it's a beautiful dress, with it, it's dowdy. She should have chosen something more temperature appropriate for a crisp fall evening in Grant Park.

That said, I generally think she looks fabulous. My favorite is the lavender dress with the black belt.

her dress was very jack and meg

CarrieMpls said:

I love that lavender dress!

CarrieMpls said:

This is a pretty color on her but dang she walks hard kinda like Mary J Blige. But she's definitely a classy dame.

SCNDLS said:

full view and no cardigan makes a difference! I like it much better now!

CarrieMpls said:

Hell No!!!


She almost pulled off the black and red dress (not quite but almost) but that purple thing is just wrong..

SCNDLS said:

Nope, still don't like it.

I hated it but I hate most of Michelle's outfits. I think she dresses older than she really is. Now I can't stand Skeletor, I mean Cindy McCain but that woman can wear some clothes.

If it had been black from the waist down I might have liked it better. From a distance it looked like she was pregnant. Bold choice though.

i think it was even more stunning with the cardigan. her fashion sense is so regal, i like it.

SCNDLS said:

I think Michelle has a lot of style, but when she walked out in that dress, I just gasped !

Here's the thing:
The dress wasn't right for Michelle's body type. On the above model, it works; she has no hips.
Michelle- like me- has hips, so the black criss-cross in the front opened into an inverted "V" that exaggerated that feature and made her look wider than she really is on that field of red. As a result, I pictured the Heinz ketchup bottle.
Along the same lines, the short cardigan cut her off. It was probably pretty chilly out there, so she needed a long black cardigan the same length as the dress that created a straight line, thus a slimming effect.

The model's shoes are too chunky, and I don't remember seeing Michelle's. A simple black peep-toe would have been appropriate for that occasion.

Just my

I wanted more color on the dress; the fit coulda been more smoother...but I think that more colors would have brightened up the look...red is a good power color tho

either way the moment was so inspiring...who cares about fashion when this is actually happening!!!

SCNDLS said:

do you see the irony there?

chocolate1 said:

That's what I wanted to say.

chocolate1 said:

Yeah when she came out I was like, "Dang she looks wide!" I got more hips than enough myself so, I understand.

This all seems horribly insignificant...

Stymie said:

I agree with all of this.

Well, I don't hate Obama's outfits... They just strike me as a bit stodgy.
[Edited 11/5/08 19:17pm]