Sure, her husband was just elected the 44th president of the United States, but Michelle Obama shone last night in a black and red Spring 2009 Narciso Rodriguez dress (above).
While I am on the fence about the black bands crossing her midsection (some friends said they thought it was slimming, I thought it was distracting), I am delighted that the new first lady continued her stylish dismissal of the suit as campaign attire for women.
Her progressive, realistic personal style includes wearing J. Crew as proudly as Thakoon. I can't wait to see what she chooses for the inauguration.
Thoughts?
The dress as shown on the runway during Narciso Rodriguez's Spring 2009 show.
Posts
I did think it was a little distracting - the midsection bands. Although when I see it on the model without the jacket I "got it" a little better. I do commend her, however on remaining stylish and not wearing anything made by St. Johns on the stage - there are so many other ways to command respect than wearing boring suits!
ReplyDeleteI agree! The bands across the mid-section detract from the overall style and interest of the dress. They almost look like an afterthought, as if Narciso Rodriguez felt the dress needed something else. It was one element too many.
ReplyDeleteThat is one Ugly Dress!! TV could attribute to how it looked to the viewers but I doubt it. Michelle Obama will be a great First Lady but please don't ever wear that dress again.
ReplyDeleteI had to shake my head and actually had to look twice thinking no way. Sorry, but to me it looked like the markings top and bottom of a 'black widow' the spider. Did anyone else get this thought? I sure didn't like it and can't imagine anyone wearing it, much less calling it stylish.
ReplyDeleteIt looked like it came from the "Dollar Store" discount rack..
ReplyDeleteHorrible at best.
Maybe one of her children spilled a cherry juice drink on Ms. Obama.
The dress was a distraction from the historical moment.
One of the worst ever.
Kent
We were shocked into disbelief by the traffic light dress.
ReplyDeleteIt was horrid! Wake up Michelle; time to stop dressing down or wasting money on designer flops!
ReplyDeletesorry but we ALL thought it was horrid!it was good that she didn't wear the typically suit, but her shoice this time was just awful. the design want at all flattering and the material combination just didnt match! the color combination of red and black could have been fantastic had the design been more appealing
ReplyDeleteShe's a beautiful woman, but that dress was horrible. The black satin just made her look huge, and the criss-crossing satin made her torso look odd-shaped...kind of like an insect's thorax. I'm shocked that she picked such a disasterously unflattering dress.
ReplyDeleteI think Michelle looks pregnant? Is she??????
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was the most flattering thing I've seen her in but, it was OK.
ReplyDeletefor the inauguration I would love to see her go very old school glamour maybe Oscar de la Renta or even better and my personal fav - Carolina Herrera
do you all really care about what she was wearing? I thought she looked great and very 21st century. She is beautiful and always looks great!
ReplyDeleteMichelle looked beautiful in the dress. Everyone needs to stop hating on the new first lady. Its a shame people cannot find anything nice to say about each other than to tear them down over something that is not important like the dress she wore. Michelle dresses the way she wants to and I am proud that she is her own person. Some of us need to take a page out of her book... History was made last night and the only thing you all can comment on is her dress... Grow up America......
ReplyDeleteMichelle is so hit-or-miss fashionwise to me. Sometimes she nails it, other times the choices are just ... wrong. However, I applaud her willingness to take risks and express her individual style. That said, I didn't think this dress looked good on her ... BUT I have high hopes for her inauguration look.
ReplyDeleteLove her, don't love that dress!
ReplyDeleteLooks like she forgot to take her Halloween costume off. No offense to her, but beautiful? Attractive, I would say. And don't start about inner beauty, we all know it's outward appearance, especially in Hollywood
ReplyDeleteIt's Narciso NOT Narcisco. Shouldn't a fashion writer get it right?
ReplyDeleteI didn't like it. I thought she looked pregnant because the shading.
ReplyDeleteI think she looked cool and stylish, and to see a dress like that on a first lady (elect) is so refreshing! Good for you, Michelle!
ReplyDeletei thought that too - the way the dress was shaded made her look like she had an enormous bulging belly - like 9 mos. pregnant!
ReplyDeleteI thought she looked beautiful last night. I really appreciate their rule of only spending their personal money on clothing, rather than the campaign's. Once I heard that, she got a pass from me on anything she chose to wear.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, is she pregnant? I've been wondering ever since the Convention.
I didn't notice that she looked pregnant-course I was crying tears of joy. But if she is, how cool to have a baby in the White House. Talk about the symbol of new hope
ReplyDeleteI am, as most of the citizens in the US, very happy that Michelle Obama is now the "First Lady." However, she really needs to dress the part and stop wearing dresses that do not flatter her or her figure. If she is going to live in the Whitehouse, then please Ms. Obama, dress for the part. There is absolutely nothing wrong with wearing a beautiful suit. Michelle can wear any color but black and she would look terrific. I challenge the great designers to come to her aid with appropriate attire for our new First Lady. Thank you Michelle and we are looking forward to seeing you in the Whitehouse.
ReplyDeleteShe needs to go on What Not to Wear: First Lady Edition. Seriously, I have yet to see her wear something that was flattering. I too thought she was pregnant in this dress. Someone please get her a stylist!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous post:
ReplyDelete"Its a shame people cannot find anything nice to say about each other than to tear them down over something that is not important like the dress she wore."
Too bad this wasn't the media's take on the Sarah Palin Clothes-gate scandal!!! Michelle said on the view, that she prefered "Target" clothes. I guess it is o.k. for her to wear designer threads now, but God forbid the RNC buy Sarah Palin anything but Wal-Mart.
Leave them both alone about thier clothes!!!
I thought it made anyone that complained about the amount the amount of money spent on Governor Palin's wardrobe look silly and petty.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous post:
ReplyDelete"Its a shame people cannot find anything nice to say about each other than to tear them down over something that is not important like the dress she wore."
So it is now ok to wear designer clothes? God forbid Sarah Palin wear anything other than Wal-Mart!!!
Leave them both alone!!!
Love the dress, hate the shoes!
ReplyDeleteIt's Narciso NOT Narcisco. Shouldn't a fashion writer get it right?
ReplyDeleteYes! It's been fixed. Thanks for the catch! Guess I shouldn't have stayed up so late last night.
I mean really is that all you all have to time to do is talk about Michelle's Dress! I see why the whole is the way it is noe because you people focus on the wrng things. Here we are waiting and hoping to see Obama as our nes President and there's some jacka--- worrying about the dress that his wife have on.. BE FOR REAL!!!!
ReplyDeleteI find it fascinating that it's ok to blast Gov. Palin for buying clothes but then spend time discussing the merits of Obama's dress. Once again, those in the media show their true colors...
ReplyDeleteAnyone notice the significance of the colors of black and red? Communist colors, and those of Castro's 26th of July movement. They are way too smart not to plan something like this, it clearly was a statement by the campaign and/or family of what their true aims are.
ReplyDeleteSo much for Michelle's Obama's declaration that she shops cheap..
ReplyDeletePrice aside, the dress was absolutely horrible and made even worse by the fact that once again she's squeezing herself into something that's one, maybe two sizes TOO SMALL! I certainly hope the American people won't have to endure four long years of her cringe-causing panty lines. Could someone please introduce her to Spanx.. or even better-- the next size up in whatever she's wearing.
A Jackie O she could never be!.... give me a break.
A lot of black woman like to wear tight clothes. God forbid they ever try to avoid the spotlight. The look at me affect. Some of us go without the latest fashions, too busy taking care of our families. Hope ur wrong about meaning of colors though. Just remember 44 or any version of 4 is unlucky in some cultures.
ReplyDeletethe dress looks just *okay* on the model. certainly should not have worn the gap cardigan with it - should have picked another dress, maybe a nice red sheath with her cardigan.
ReplyDeleteand i agree - she looked like a black widow spider.
O.K. Obama's win was fantastic and his family is lovely, but.... Michelle, what were you thinking when you selected that dress? It was a terrible choice. It does not translate from the runway to real life and real sized women. I did not like the color choice either. Sorry, it was distracting and I think almost anything would have been better than that.
ReplyDeleteSnap out of it America! Stop listening to CNN and Fox (look at who owns these networks…look deep at who owns them) and start researching this mans friends and look at who is behind him. (who is funding his campaign and his internet campaign) We have been taken in by a huge marketing scam, glossed with a logo, a slogan and embedded with hidden dangerous intentions. I am a Democrat and I am mad as fire. The colors last night were symbolic! His marketing campaign really showed American their true colors last night and still millions cheered. This is not rocket science if you know anything at all about marketing. And using color is the oldest trick in the book. Power colors…yea you got that right..
ReplyDeletebut not the kind of power that is going to help America.
Obama is bi racial not full blooded African American. My best friend is black…and the blacks supporting Obama is not what bothers me at all (except for Wright I don’t agree with his sermons on hating America) but nothing is as bad as his friends that have ties to terrorist. America….blacks and whites must truly come to understand what it is we are dealing with and do YOUR RESEARCH. “A new American leadership is at hand…more like a new American leadership is Iran” Think people…do your research….then connect the dots.
No, don't stop watching CNN or Fox news. Listen and learn....
ReplyDeleteThe dress was just plain fugly!!!!
I thought the black widow had attacked Michelle. Was it a K-Mart blue light special??
Michelle's dress was plain awful...she does not have a figure for clinging clothing....she needs to disguise her large faults and play up her assets....all black would have been very attractive and concealing....there are many individuals available willing and able to help Michelle find her style....do so
ReplyDeleteloved the dress. however, where's the outrage that she was wearing a straight-from-the-runway new designer dress? the same outrage that was heaped on sarah palin about the cost of her clothes? narciso rodriguez dresses of this type cost nearly $2000. what's good for the elephant is good for the donkey, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteMy instantaneous reaction was "Whoa! That looks like a black widow spider caught in a forest fire!" Obviously not literally true, since the black widow's hourglass shape is red on black, not vice versa, but that was my snap judgement.
ReplyDeleteBut that's cool, at least it not boring!
Obama '08!!
Horrible dress, made her hips look huge and made her look pregnant. What an awful choice.
ReplyDeleteMichelle Obama will be 45 years old in January, which means there is about a 0.03% chance (that's about 1 in 3000 for the math-illiterate) she's pregnant unless they got donor eggs. Add the fact that she is on record as saying that she had trouble getting pregnant even in her 30s, and you can take to bank that she is NOT fertile now.
ReplyDeleteSome of you may remember that she and Barack have been a little busy with another project for the last, oh, 18 months, so they have probably not had time to waste churning out another baby. Unlike Pipeline Barbie, they have a Country, First, to run. And a hellishly difficult job it's going to be...
We Americans are so into how we look that if someone appears to be different from what we are used to we ridicule them for it. Mrs. obama has the right to wear what ever she chooses and who are we to judge her. many of us care too much what people think that's why we are where we are today.
ReplyDeleteWhat on earth? Some of the comments about communism, irag and their relation to the colors chosen in the Narciso Rodriquez black/red dress worn by Michelle Obama, is absolutely absurd. I'm not from the south and as northern as you can get. I wasn't a fan of her dress but, it goes to show how the south needs to get into the millenium about their referencing crazy anolgies about someone's dress. Hmmmm, maybe why you lost the war. Wake up, it's a new day. Everybody makes mistakes/missteps on their clothing choices. Narciso Rodriquez is one of my fav designers, but I wonder what he was thinking with this dress.....I bet not communism and Iraq. You people scare me.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is the red section of the dress is 4x's the fabric as the red section on the model.The Designers dress is great,just not on Michelle! A model's Size 4 doesn't always translate well to a size 14-16. She will need to find a designer who is experienced in dressing someone with the Stance, and legs of a Mule. Maybe she needs to stick to pants,like Hillary.
ReplyDeleteI was offended by the idea of her dress. I am a Cuban American and have been in this Country since I'm 4 yrs old.. the Black and Red color is a symbol of Castro's
ReplyDeleteRevolution that has killed and is still killing thousands of innocent people, children included.. I googled the designer "Narciso Rodriguez" and I'm going to quote what Wikipedia wrote about Michelle's dress: "On November 4, 2008, Michelle Obama wore a dress from Narciso Rodriguez's fall 2008 collection when she joined her husband, Barack Obama, appearing for the first time as president-elect of the United States, on the stage at Grant Park in Chicago.[5] Nrciso Rodriguez was inspired to design this dress by the Revolutionary colors of the Fifel Castro Movement. The Fidel Castro 26 of July movement colors is Black and Red." if you don't believe the comment, check Wikipedia for yourself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narciso_Rodriguez
I AM APPALLED AND EXTREMELY OFFENDED THAT SHE WOULD WEAR A DRESS THAT SYMBOLIZES THE DEATH OF SO MANY INNOCENT PEOPLE!
TO THE PERSON THAT WROTE THIS COMMENT: Some of the comments about communism, irag and their relation to the colors chosen in the Narciso Rodriquez black/red dress worn by Michelle Obama, is absolutely absurd.
ReplyDelete----------------------------------
To you Communism in Cuba might be ABSURD, to ME IS REAL and TRAGIC.. I HAVE LOST FAMILY MEMBERS b/c of the revolution... SO LEARN HOW TO RESPECT OTHERS. HOW DARE YOU MAKE SUCH A SELFISH COMMENT. for Michelle to honor a designer's dress that has caused death in a Country, is APPALLING! I'm sure if you were Jewish and lost your family in the Hollocaust, you would be appalled if the Elected president's wife was wearing something that would represent the death of others...
REMINDS ME OF A BLACK WIDOW SPIDER
ReplyDeleteI think Michelle Obama is a beautiful woman and I am thrilled about her being our new first lady and her husband being our next president! That being said ... The dress - overall I think it's a nice dress. I'm also of two minds about the bands in the middle.
ReplyDeleteI did not like that dress on Mrs. Obama, though. I can't put my finger on exactly what didn't work. I think perhaps the skirt length might have been wrong? Or maybe the shoe heel height and shape? At any rate, she overall she looked wonderful to me!