Thursday
Oct292009
A Healthy Harvest
Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 4:49 PM 
Photo by Tim Sloan / Getty Images
Photo by Mark Wilson / Getty Images
Oh how we love the White House garden ... The first lady's purple Converse aren't bad either!
Update: Actually a question. Is Mrs. O's belt purple? We can't tell, though other blogs seem certain. We're almost postive this is the Sacai belt that Mrs. O wore on the cover of Essence, here. But perhaps in a new color?
Reader Comments (56)
This amazing woman makes me soooooo proud! She's changing this country in ever so subtle ways. Can't wait to hear about what they harvested.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could start a movement to have a garden like this in every city in America next year? Think of how much these youngsters learned from this experience, think how much more connected they will be to waht they eat from now on.
We need to raise up a troup of women all round the country so that when spring comes we could repeat this wonderful process all across America. As a child my step fathers mother taught me about growing things, and working in her garden taught me some of the lessons of life that carried me through tough times!
A person like Mrs.O, comes around once in a generation and I would venture to say in a lifetime. A person that so many can relate to, love, admire and respect. I am so happy this well rounded, balanced and secure fashionista came along in my life time.
Mrs. O is not only harvesting vegetables but she is responsible for a harvest of young women and older ones, with renewed self-confidence and a desire to be the best that we can be. She has truly inspired me to be the best that I can be at all times. She has taught me how to be true to me and do what makes me happy.
I can never "overdose" on her. I can never get enough of her.
God bless you and your family.
Leah that's a great idea. I've been thinking the same thing. It would certainly help feed the millions who've lost jobs and depend on local food pantries.
Nobody has said anything about the belt yet, so I"ll shut up. I am officially done with belt-bashing.
Time to admit defeat and move on.
Wow !! What a harvest... are those sweet potatoes and lettuce ?
I so agree with the other posters. This woman is such an inspiration. She gets better and better by the day. You're so right, Tsetse. This isn't about a food harvest but harvesting a whole new generation of young people. People who really need someone positive to look up to.
And Leah, as a child my father always grew our vegetables and it really helped us out a lot and was nice when he would give bags of food to neighbours. I'm not much of a farmer, gardens take up a lot of time and I have a full time job but since Michelle started doing her thing, I am proud to say that I have got a beautiful herb garden going. I'm really proud of it.
Just look at the First Lady, fresh as a daisy in her tones of blue. The power of a woman !!!
Just had a crazy thought about all the belts. Maybe she thinks they make her look less tall.
I just don't understand why they never actually sit on her waist.
I love the garden idea. Unfortunately, I'm distracted by the awful belt Mrs. O is wearing.
yeah babs.. its time to get over yourself dear LOL :)))))) its her choice and she looks great in whatever she chooses. as i am sure you must look fabulous as well.....
I love how she makes use of her accessories. whether its a belt, brooch, bangles. I appreciate fashion that is personal and not going with trends. I think this is just the personality of the OBAMAS and probaly why they have been so successful in education and careers and seem to be pretty darn happy in their personal lives. My heroes :)!
Mrs O looks great - and so do the sweet potatoes - my son is one of the 8 gardeners that have been working hard every day on the White House Garden to produce this harvest - and I am proud of them - they have been using organic methods and personally picking off bugs - hand watering - it has all paid off ! Look at those vegetables ! Wish I could get my son to do the same for me ! Kidding - I am very proud of him !
Great autumn outfit! Purple is one of my favorite colors.
KarinC -
How cool is that?!! Your son will have the best of memories from this experience.
Love the garden and the veggies. Not so much the belt. Accentuates her tummy - chub chub! Chuck it.
There are so many life lessons that these children are learning that will have an impact on them for life. These lessons can serve them well while they make their way in this world. They will never forget the opportunity of being a part of something historical like this. We congratulate these kids and their parents for encouraging them. We are so proud of our First Lady for making a profound impact on all of us. As for the fashion, I betchha those chiildren could not care less, they're having fun while working. Oh, to be a child again!
Why on earth some of you just couldn't keep from yielding to the temptation to criticize Mrs. O's belt. One even went further, criticizing her tummy. I don't believe some of you women. How many times do you have to be told that Mrs. O doesn't need your approval to wear what makes HER happy. Do like the rest of the decent ladies on this blog and compliment HER style for HER, keep your negative criticisms to yourself, they aren't entertaining, productive, nor beneficial to anyone reading this site.
Mrs O is to be complimented and applauded for the tremendous work she's doing in our communities all across this country. Compliment and applaud her for the life lessons she's imparting to these impressionable minds and souls. What a great job! By the way, **Leah PettePiece**, I totally agree with your awesome suggestion of planting gardens in every community across America and reaching out to help our neighbors in need. Love, love, love the idea!!! You have definitely captured the spirit and essence of Mrs. O's WH garden example/message to us all.
I Second everything you said Tsetse Johnson !
Is that a purple version of the Sacai belt she wears in black all the time?
Those sweet potatoes make me very hungry. great inspiration she is, Mrs. Obama.
The First Lady looks so happy in her garden...I will admit the belt thing is not working for her today. But I accept the fact she will dress however she pleases. I truly think Michelle uses the belt as some sort of girdle. Why I suggest that is my grandmother use to do the same thing with her belts...If you notice when she is not wearing a belt she uses her arms to cover her stomach like in the "Glamor photo"...Often times when she is not wearing a belt she wears huge baggy tops or ballroom dress styles.
She still looks great in this photo but would have looked even better with out the belt. Just my opinion so don't kill me...lol
Okay now look. I love the woman and just about everything about her. I especially love the garden and the fact that she had followed through with just regular children who live in Washington D.C
These are not children of VIP's they are just kids, the experience and message she gave them planting, growing this garden is worth more than any amount of money can buy.
The belt thing is just crazy.
Yes, yes, yes, I know she's her own woman and can wear whatever she wants. I know she's happy with herself, (yada, yada, yada) But ENOUGH with these belts that sit high. The cut her right in half and are not flattering to her figure.
And please don’t bother telling me I’m hating on Mrs. O because frankly the ones we love are the ones we give the hard messages to.
Mrs. O, I love you to death, now deep six the belts.
I'm thinking The Belt may already be a hot ticket Halloween item this year, like the Kate Gosselin wig..............it lives..............make it go away!!
Really and truly, it makes her look pregnant! She needs to get herself into a good body shaper and lose the belts. Why doesn't someone just tell her? Good shapers aren't like the restrictive armor our grandmothers wore......in fact some of them are downight sexy! Don't think for a minute the celebrities we think look so amazing aren't wearing the proper undergarments beneath those beautiful pricey clothes!
I love the purple sweater and tee. The belt ruins the outfit, per usual with the very wide belts. I do not object to the slimmer ones. This particular belt, which has been repeated so often, is the worst offender. It looks like the back brace my husband wears.
Sorry, but I've just got to say something to a few of the commenters.
I wish some of you would think before you speak. Just take a second to think about the context here.
This is a community celebrating Mrs. O. Find a nice way to express what you don't like or keep quiet and move on to the next post. Think about ways to keep the conversation on a positive track. Don't sidetrack the good energy with aggressive remarks. Don't take everything so personally.
Don't like her belts? Move on down the road.
Well said, Miss Jules. Just think how much we could achieve and how far we could all go if we didn't preoccupy ourselves with trying pleasing others, trying to be something that we're not or constantly striving for perfection and acceptance. When you are content in yourself, you are more focused on what you want to be.
Michelle loves her belts. They clearly aren't going anywhere. In my opinion, the belts work and sometimes they don't but I can overlook her personal choices and celebrate what she is striving to achieve. This woman is unstoppable. Lets look past the clothes for a moment and see those fresh green leafy vegetables and those juicy sweet potatoes.
I am so in awe of this woman.
The colors she wore works well, but the belt (sorry all) looks out of place and uncomfortable.
I agree, it is time to put the belt to rest. It does not look good with the sweaters. Her selection in clothes is usually very good but the sweater and belt look is a loser. I adore the First Lady.
Let's be honest, do YOU really think that Mrs. O doesnt know what people say about her fashion choices? She obv doesnt care. LOL, some of us may not agree with every choice, but why the negativity? Maybe these computers should all have mirrors on them. Geez..... Less tall? Would you want to look less like a model? Chubby? I don't think so.
I'm truly surprised and perplexed that some have not moved on from talking about her belts. Enough! It’s as if you expect her to say OMG you guys are so right. Not going to happen! She wears belts simply because she likes them – and that is all that matters. It’s her personal choice. Bravo Michelle!
LOVE the purple, LOVE the shoes, LOVE Mrs. O!
That belt? ARRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!
Desert wind, this is not a community celebrating Mrs. O. This is a fashion blog. Read the title.
So instead of falling all over ourselves to compliment her all the time, let's discuss the FASHION. Like the horrendously ugly belt. By saying we don't like the belt, we are not saying we don't like Mrs. O, or we don't like community gardens, or we don't like all the other wonderful things she does. We just don't like the belt! It's a bad fashion decision!
If you can't handle some critical fashion comments, get off the Internet.
I do get a kick out of how her belts just get at people. If I was in the anti-belt crowd, I'd use this situation as a chance to learn how to accept things I cannot change. No one is breaking Mrs. O out of her belt habit.
And KarinC - very cool about your son.
Resistance is Futile when it comes to the belts. lol. She is NEVER going to stop wearing belts. NEVER. I love the work she's doing with the Bancroft kids. There are life lessons being taught that I'm sure they will never forget. I also dig the idea of more community garden across the country. There are numerous properties owned by cities, states, etc that could go to good use to feed people.
BRAVO!!! to DC Right on girl!
IVA, per my earlier post, I too have been granted the serenity to accept belts I cannot change.
In numerous photos elsewhere, the cardigan is purple, the top underneath is pale lavender, the pants are bright blue and the belt is the same black one we've seen before. The belt rides high because it appears to be elasticized - those belts naturally ride at the narrowest place.
DC, you said it! I've been thinking for a long while that the fashion discussion gets short-circuited by the we-love-Michelle discussion. Well, I love Michelle, too, but that's not why I come to this blog.
IVA, I too laugh at the posts about the belts. LOL!! If it were newcomers to the blog, I could understand, but it is the same people. Guys, seriously, you might as well be talking to a brick wall. Mrs. O does not see your comments and if she does, apparently she does not care.
One good thing I have noticed about this whole belt dilemma is that you ladies and Mrs. O included are women that stand your ground. Mrs. O continues to wear her belts and you ladies continue to say she shouldn't. YAY! for strong women and their opinions, but I'm still laughing ;-)
Sorry I sounded like such a schoolmarm earlier. Believe me, I can mix it up with the snarkiest of 'em at the political blogs. BUT, COME ONE. That's not why we come here, is it, DC?
Talking about girdles & shape-shifters & jawin' on and on about the belts! If that's what I wanted to read, I'd go to the HuffPo.
Come on. Mrs. Obama obviously likes the FEELING of wearing this belt. She works out more than most of us and still she has a little tummy and people complain about that? She's not a doll or a red carpet celebrity with a stylist.
I think at this point Michelle is telling us I'm wearing this belt, get used to it! and it seems the whole world loves belts so maybe she is on to something.
The main point of the story are those HUGE @##$ sweet potatoes!!
DC appears to be a newcomer, and to her statement I say: Hoooooray!! You go, girl!!
If Mrs. O doesn't care about her husband ragging on her belts - she's said that he referred to one as her Star Trek belt - I'm sure she doesn't care what some anonymous posters have to say about them.
I am certainly NOT suggesting that Mrs. O. either reads this blog or cares what anyone says about her fashion choices. What I am wondering is: If some of the wide belt-defenders had a very close friend they truly cared about, and she wore an accessory that was incredibly unflattering, wouldn't you want her to know that it did not look good on her and was ruining her otherwise beautiful outfit?
I see your point, Nyon but I also see DC's point as well.
Michelle is not phased by the belt comments but I also think that as bloggers we should reserve the right to say how we feel. Like I said earlier, in my humble opinion, sometimes the belts work and sometimes they don't. I haven't always enjoyed some of Michelle's fashion choices and I often reserve my comments however I fear that this site will get extremely boring if people were constantly attacked for voicing their opinions. The fact that people don't like an item of clothing does not mean that they dislike the first lady and all the good that she is doing. We all agree that she is an incredible woman but I think this site would be more interesting when there is discussion around likes and dislikes rather than font fighting. After all, wasn't it the President who said that we can disagree without being disagreeable ?
Now the one on the Essence cover is looking purple to me, just as yesterday's belt does. Maybe the same one?
That big studded belt is boring and ridiculous. Please remember this site is called "Follow the Fashion of Mrs O"
I am not criticizing her as a person or role model. I am commenting on her "fashion" choice. I am as entitiled to my opinion as she is on her choice of clothing and accessories.
Right on, DC!
What I meant to say is what I like about what Mrs. O wears is not necessarily what she's wearing, but the spirit in which she's wearing it. She enjoys fashion & she's got her own style.
Washington, DC is full of appropriate clothes, but fashion is a pretty shocking new thing.
I think the belt is fun. It's always a little "off" and that makes a look more interesting to me. I like the vibe. Is it stereotypically figure-flattering on Mrs. O? Not really, but I also don't think that's the point of fashion. Not all the time. Sometimes a girl just wanna have fun.
In the immortal words of Santino Rice: Lighten up! It's just fashion.
When you are the First Lady of the United States you can wear a belt if you want. Also, as a ballet student we often wear a small belt around our leotard to remind us of our posture.
I, too, wonder about Mrs. O's belt. I love Mrs. O and most of the time I love her looks, but her use of belts bothers me at times. Thing is, the belt is way up under her bustline. That's not her waist. And if a huge wide belt won't stay put at her waist or is uncomfortable there, then why does she persist in wearing them? This habit/idiosyncracy of hers is my only criticism of her style choices. I just wonder if there's anyone at all advising her, because these belts -- and in particular this one -- make her look hippy and clunky and give the impression her tummy is protruding. It's not a flattering look. The rest of us mere mortals can get away with looking less-than-our-best; Mrs. O can't. She's an icon, like it or not, gardening or going out on the town. And her detractors are just waiting to pounce. I just don't want her to give them more fodder.
My daughter would tell me to take off the belt. I have worn belts for many years because I like the look and the extra support it gives my waist.