While many were waiting on Michelle Obama's speech to kick off the DNC, many others were anxiously waiting to see what she was going to wear. She has already begun establishing her own trend. But is Michelle O the successor to Jackie O as a White House fashion icon?
Whether you think her clothing was important or not, Mrs. Obama, inevitably, was going to be making as big a statement with her garb as her gab. The fashion "voters" are split on whether the Day 1 turquoise sheath dress with THAT brooch WORKED or not. I expected her to want to "soften" her look a bit by avoiding a structured suit...but I wasn’t thrilled by this selection.
The dress was created by Maria Pinto, a designer from Obama’s hometown of Chicago. She has been dressing Michelle and her two daughters since the beginning of the campaign. The color and the shape of the dress were great. The large brooch on the dress, which I found distracting, reportedly came straight from Michelle’s jewelry box. So imagine my chagrin when a darker turquoise dress appeared on day 3 with numerous large pins around the neckline. Maybe the pins are subtle references to the Obama campaign logo.
On the last night of the convention, Obama wore a printed Thakoon dress adorned with three Erickson Beamon brooches as her husband delivered his nomination acceptance speech. Thakoon Panchigul, who was recently approved for membership in the CFDA, said "I am incredibly honored that Michelle Obama chose to wear a dress from my collection on such a historical night for her, her family and this country.”
Isn’t it absolutely fabulous that Michelle O is choosing to use emerging fashion designers in developing her First Lady clothing repertoire? I think so! She could have worn anything from Oscar to Vera, but she chose to give exposure to new designers that are building their companies from the ground up. That’s a fashion and political statement in itself!
However, let the record show that so far, no one is stepping up to take responsibility for the yellow “house dress” Michelle that she wore on the night the Hillary wore her orange traveling pantsuit. I couldn’t even find a picture of it. Surely there was a better way to “defer” to Hillary without the fashion police wanting to issue a critical citation.