For those who can’t get enough of Michelle Obama’s style and eclectic wardrobe, the US first lady will appear on the cover of Vogue’s March 2009 issue and also showcase her clothes in a eight-page spread.
Read the full story

The striking First Lady is now quite the established fashionista. Evoking memories of Jackie Kennedy, everything Michelle Obama wears is followed closely. Read the full story

After Michelle Obama and Barack Obama, it is now the turn of the Obama offspring, Sasha and Malia Obama to be treated like celebrities in their own right.
Read the full story

Michelle Obama makes People magazine's Best Dressed List for 2008

US election candidates are nudging out celebrities in the style department. While Sarah Palin is getting famous (or infamous, depending on how you look at it) for her looks and style, Michelle Obama has made it to People magazine’s Best Dressed List for 2008. Michelle Obama, who nearly started a riot over her black sundress that she bought from a chain store Steve & Barry, has been included in the list for the panache with she carries her clothes.

The others in the informal People magazine’s Best Dressed List for 2008, are Sarah Jessica Parker, Rihanna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Heidi Klum, singer Fergie, Charlize Theron, Kate Hudson, Eva Mendes and Anne Hathaway.

Sarah Jessica Parker has been hailed for her sophisticated, chic look in Sex and The City. People magazine has been quoted by accesshollywood.com as saying that Sarah Jessica Parker“effortlessly mixes high-end and affordable prices.”

Rihanna in People's 2008 Best Dressed List

Rihanna has made it to the People magazine’s Best Dressed List for 2008, for her stylish hair and for “straddling the line between sweet and street.”Rihanna was described as having a “sugar and spice” style and a“sophisticated mix of glamorous gowns and funky dresses.

Gwyneth Paltrow was lauded for her short dresses and “she plays up her legs.”

Gwyneth Paltrow

Kate Hudson was included in the People magazine’s Best Dressed List for 2008 for her haute hippy style, while Charlize Theron made the list for her bold and daring style.

Kate Hudson's hippie style

People was quoted as saying, “Classic or rebel, girl-next-door or vamp, each of these women made all the right fashion moves this year.”

People magazine obliquely called out “American Idol” judge Paula Abdul, Lucy Liu, Sienna Miller and Tilda Swinton, Solange Knowles and Tori Amos for wearing the Worst Dresses.

Michelle Obama’s black and white sundress that she wore on ABC’s The View has created quite a stir. After Michelle Obama said that she bought the sundress from a retail chain store called White House/Black Market, the store has been thronged by women looking for the $148 dress designed by Donna Ricco. White House/Black Market are, of course, having a lot of fun, and they have cleverly put together similar dresses and called it Road to the White House Style.

Michelle’s dress has also created a lot of excitement in fashion circles. Many are seriously pondering over what will be the implications for fashion (don’t mock, this is very very important) with Michelle Obama’s lack of pretension on picking low-end as well as high-end designer wear.

Many important questions have been raised. Firstly, will it start a trend among political circles, now the first lady in-waiting has generated mass hysteria? Is this the right way to connect with women voters? Is her wardroble of choice a strong political message that she is not ashamed of her middle-class roots?

Does her wardrobe signify what real America stands for?

Analysts are busy predicting what her personal style will be in days to come. Right now, it seems like stylish middle-class wear. But will it metamorphise into a whole new style? The hard-headed business woman? Nah. Earth mother? Weeeel, she does say kids come first, but baby food dribbles on a smock will not quite befit the first lady. Elegant sportswear? Hmmm, maybe a pinch of this and a dab of that. Yes, that’s it, a mix of all to reflect all the facets of her personality. That of the complete modern American woman, who does not apologise for being smart (maybe, smarter than her husband), who doesn’t flinch from baby goo-goo on her business suit, never sacrifices family time, and keeps fit.

Think about it while I rush to pick up the sundress before stocks run out.

Michelle Obama, 44, spouse of the 2008 Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Barrack Obama, is a Harvard-educated lawyer and Vice President for Community and External Affairs at University of Chicago Hospitals. Michelle La Vaugh Robinson Obama was born in Chicago, Illinois to Frasier and Marian Robinson. Michelle Obama went to Whitney Young High School. She passed out in 1982 and went to Princeton University where she majored in sociology and minored in African American studies.

After graduating from Princeton in 1985, Michelle Obama joined Harvard Law School and got her JD degree in 1988. Michelle, then, went on to work for the law firm Sidley Austin in Chicago. It was at Sidney Austin that Michelle Obama met Barack Obama who was her mentee.

Michelle and Barack Obama got married in 1992. The couple have two daughters, Malia Ann, 10, and Natasha, 7.

Career Milestones

1990: Assistant to the Mayor and Assistant Commissioner of Planning and Development, Chicago city government.

1993: Executive Director for the Chicago office of Public Allies, a non-profit organization encouraging young people to work on social issues in nonprofit groups and government agencies.

1996: Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago

2002: Executive director for community affairs, University of Chicago Hospitals

2005: Vice President for Community and External Affairs

Photo:

Political Role

Michelle Obama, while she claims to dislike politics, has been an integral part of Obama’s presidential campaign. She has often been referred to as The Closer in the media because of her ability to pull in votes.

In the early days of the campaign, she traveled for nearly three days a week taking part in events and giving interviews. In February 2008, Michelle attended 33 events in a week.

Photo

Michelle Obama has said that she is not a senior adviser to Barack Obama when describing her role. Michelle gave two stump speeches in 2007 for Obama’s presidential campaign. Her speeches were described as intelligent and honest. She appears to project herself as a real woman, a professional who has to juggle work with raising kids, and being a wife.

Photo

Michelle Obama’s public persona: Guts, glamor and grouses

The first Black First Lady in-waiting, Michelle Obama has engendered great curiosity, not just in what she says and how she behaves, but also in terms of her glam quotient. She has been touted as one of the World’s 25 most inspiring women by Essence magazine, she has also been dubbed as among the
World’s top 10 best dressed people by Vanity Fair.

Photo

Unlike Laura Bush who is considered to be a supportive homemaker, and Hillary Clinton who is considered to be a shrewd politician, Michelle Obama is perceived to be smart as a whip with indisputable professional credentials. She is also considered to be a consenctious mother who has cut back on her demanding career to raise her children.

Photo

She has often been described in the media as a straight-talking, smart, and outspoken to a fault. In fact, her detractors think that she is not diplomatic enough and her tendency to say exactly what she pleases may do Obama more harm than good.

Critics have accused her of being anti-American when she said that,“for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country … because I think people are hungry for change.”

Michelle Obama’s speeches are peppered with details of how tough things are for average Americans; she often cites the example of her own struggle to make good in life. She has often mentioned how difficult it was to be a black student in Princeton and Harvard. Conservatives have denigrated these statements as the carping of a bitter, ungrateful, ghetto American.

Michelle has also come in for criticism for belittling her husband in public. In order to project Obama as a regular Joe and get a few laughs, she has made references to his big ears, snoring, bad breath, and other assorted masculine failings.

But for all the quibbling about her personality, no one denies that she is pretty much the “rock” in her husband’s life as described by him.