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New First Lady in front with fashion
Source: Agencies |
January 22, 2009, Thursday
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Print Edition
MICHELLE Obama mixed her wardrobe choices on her first day as First Lady, showing that she is indeed a modern style icon who embraces new designers as well as retail standbys, high fashion and mass market.
The white, one-shouldered gown, covered in fabric petals and dotted with beads, that she wore to the round of balls on Tuesday night was by 26-year-old Jason Wu, a rising star in the fashion world but otherwise not well known.
"Her support means so much to designers who can't afford to advertise," said Nicole Phelps, executive editor at Style.com.
The fitted-bodice, gathered-skirt gown was a departure for Obama, who has made a sleek sheath her signature silhouette. She also has shown a fondness for jewel tones. The Isabel Toledo lemongrass-yellow ensemble she wore to the inaugural ceremony and parade was much more what the public has come to expect from her.
But the ball gown, worn with red-carpet-worthy dangling diamond earrings by Loree Rodkin, still felt fresh and different.
"It's soft, feminine, but powerful; I wanted to convey all that in a dress," Wu said. "I wanted it to look like a sign of hope."
Hamish Bowles, Vogue magazine's European editor-at-large, who curated the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute exhibit on Jackie Kennedy in 2001, called the gown "supreme modern elegance. A pitch-perfect choice: appropriately formal but romantic and imaginative."
Clearly President Barack Obama approved. "First of all, how good-looking is my wife?" he asked a cheering crowd just before their first dance at the Neighborhood Ball at Washington's Convention Center.
He wore a single-vent, notch-collar tuxedo with a white bow tie and an American flag pinned to its lapel.
The gown's slight train swirled pleasingly and the new first lady's shoulder-sweeping earrings picked up the gown's sparkle. It caused a stir on the Web, as devoted fans debated whether it best suited Obama's figure - and their high expectations.
The fashion industry has anxiously looked to the election of Obama for months, embracing his wife as an ambassador, along the lines of Kennedy.
The white, one-shouldered gown, covered in fabric petals and dotted with beads, that she wore to the round of balls on Tuesday night was by 26-year-old Jason Wu, a rising star in the fashion world but otherwise not well known.
"Her support means so much to designers who can't afford to advertise," said Nicole Phelps, executive editor at Style.com.
The fitted-bodice, gathered-skirt gown was a departure for Obama, who has made a sleek sheath her signature silhouette. She also has shown a fondness for jewel tones. The Isabel Toledo lemongrass-yellow ensemble she wore to the inaugural ceremony and parade was much more what the public has come to expect from her.
But the ball gown, worn with red-carpet-worthy dangling diamond earrings by Loree Rodkin, still felt fresh and different.
"It's soft, feminine, but powerful; I wanted to convey all that in a dress," Wu said. "I wanted it to look like a sign of hope."
Hamish Bowles, Vogue magazine's European editor-at-large, who curated the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute exhibit on Jackie Kennedy in 2001, called the gown "supreme modern elegance. A pitch-perfect choice: appropriately formal but romantic and imaginative."
Clearly President Barack Obama approved. "First of all, how good-looking is my wife?" he asked a cheering crowd just before their first dance at the Neighborhood Ball at Washington's Convention Center.
He wore a single-vent, notch-collar tuxedo with a white bow tie and an American flag pinned to its lapel.
The gown's slight train swirled pleasingly and the new first lady's shoulder-sweeping earrings picked up the gown's sparkle. It caused a stir on the Web, as devoted fans debated whether it best suited Obama's figure - and their high expectations.
The fashion industry has anxiously looked to the election of Obama for months, embracing his wife as an ambassador, along the lines of Kennedy.
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