Must Read: Barbara Tfank

Official White House Photos by Pete Souza and Samantha Appleton

In this circle, few designers have received quite the reception that Barbara Tfank has enjoyed. The First Lady has worn two of Ms. Tfank's ladylike, vibrantly printed dresses, and on each occasion, they've sent the collective us into something of a splendorous fashion tizzy. 

I've been eager to learn more about Ms. Tfank's work, as I'm sure you have been too. Lucky for us, Forbes has published a new interview in which she elaborates on her experience creating dresses for Mrs. Obama (and reading the Mrs. O blog!). Enjoy! 

"What It Takes to Dress Michelle Obama" [Forbes]

The World's Most Powerful Woman

White House Photo by Pete Souza

Mrs. O has been named the world's most powerful woman by Forbes magazine, topping even Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Clinton, who round out the top five. The basic methodology for the list factors a dollar component and a "buzz factor," so almost certainly, the first lady's fashion prowess, along with its mass media following, were of some impact. More qualitatively, Forbes offers up this concise but quite astute rationale for the first lady's top seat on the list:

She has made the office of First Lady her own. A forceful advocate of school nutrition standards and military families' affairs, she's more involved in policy than Laura Bush was. But unlike Hillary Clinton, who championed a secretive (and ultimately unsuccessful) health care reform, Obama has stayed away from hard policy. A fashion icon and an athletic mother of two, she's Jackie Kennedy with a law degree from Harvard and street sense from Chicago's South Side. She's also effective: In response to her Let's Move! campaign against childhood obesity, companies like Coca-Cola, Kellogg and General Mills have pledged to reduce the calorie content of their foods by 2012. The first lady remains popular: 54% of Americans view her favorably.

The first lady's power ranking is also a good excuse to share the photo above, in which Mrs. O wears a wonderfully feminine dress by Barbara Tfank. Thank you to meta, who pointed out fabulous new photos on the White House Flickr stream.

First Ladylike

Image by Larry Downing / Reuters Pictures

Earlier this evening, Mrs. O joined the president in presenting the Medal of Honor posthumously to the sons of U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger for bravery in March of 1968 in Laos. To read more about the honoree, click here.

For the White House event, Mrs. O wore a blue and green first ladylike dress by designer Barbara Tfank, accessorized with a double strand of pearls. To see the dress in the designer's Fall 2010 collection, click here.

One Fabulous Frock

Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton

The White House has a released a photo of the First Lady posing with participants from the Wounded Warrior Soldier Ride, taken three weeks ago. This is our first static look at the fabulous floral frock Mrs. O chose for the event. Any ideas on the designer? This dress is just beyond gorgeous!

Update: The first lady is wearing a Fall 2009 dress by Los Angeles-based designer Barbara Tfank. For more on the designer, click here.