White House Photos on Flickr

The White House has released a series of behind-the-scenes photos on Flickr. It reflects a spirit of openness and sharing, for which we are grateful! These photos are stunning. We have highlighted our favorites below, but please click here to see the full Flickr stream. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza / Creative Commons Official White House Photo by Pete Souza / Creative Commons Note: For those curious about the stunning dress pictured above, it is a custom made Peter Soronen gown, worn to the Alfalfa Club Dinner. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza / Creative Commons

Celebrating a Kennedy

Photo credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Just back from a weekend at Camp David, First Lady Mrs. O and President Mr. O appeared at the Kennedy Center on Sunday evening to honor the 77th birthday of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. As part of the evening, the senator was honored with the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award. The evening's entertainment included several of Senator Kennedy's favorite performers - James Taylor, Bill Cosby, Bernadette Peters and Lauren Bacall.

For the event, Mrs. O wore a tiered and ruched black dress last seen at the Obama Staff Ball, paired with a standout statement necklace with yellow and blue stones that we believe has been confirmed to be Tom Binns. As several have noted in the comments, the necklace shows resemblance to that worn for the Vogue/Calvin Klein fundraiser last June. Per usual, The Huffington Post has fantastic images, here.

Mrs. O Sparkles at Governors' Dinner

Photo credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images Tonight the Os will welcome the National Governors Association to the White House, hosting their first black tie dinner at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. As we mentioned earlier this week, Earth, Wind & Fire is slated to play, which will surely make for a fun evening. From the White House press release:

"The White House is the place where our bond as Americans is strengthened," said Desiree Rogers, White House Social Secretary.  "We look forward to welcoming the nation’s governors to celebrate our democratic ideals, our diversity, our shared values and the best of the American spirit." 

We're curious to see how Mrs. O will interpret black tie attire at the White House - a cocktail dress or a formal evening gown? (Of note, the reference to "black tie" came from Lynn Sweet's very reliable column for the Chicago Sun Times.)

Update: This afternoon Mrs. O spoke with a group of culinary students from L'Academie de Cuisine in the White House kitchen before the Governors' Dinner. The Huffington Post has a slideshow here. The dress is a cocktail length cobalt blue gem from Jason Wu's Spring 2009 collection (runway image here). As many have already observed in the comments, the dress is quite similar to the white Jason Wu dress that Mrs. O wore for an interview with Barbara Walters in November. We imagine the materials and construction - raw silk with hand embroidered rosettes - are the same. Lynn Sweet at the Chicago Sun Times also has the scoop on the menu, china and flowers for tonight's event, which can be read here.

Update: Mrs. O has changed dresses! The First Lady is wearing a sequin, strapless gown by Peter Soronen paired with a dramatic multi-strand necklace of pearls and crystals by Tom Binns. The dress is the "twilight gown" from Peter Soronen's Fall Winter 2008 collection. As is Soronen's signature, the top part of dress is a corset, with a long bias skirt, all in sequins. The color, we're told, is actually a deep purple / ink blue. With her hair pulled up, our First Lady Mrs. O is the epitome of style and glamour this evening. The Huffington Post's "The Other Red Carpet" slideshow is a must see.

Found Treasures: Tom Binns Jewelry

Image used with the kind permission of Tom Binns Design.

"Jewelry is always a treasure and though it may not be made of gold and diamonds, it should still have that sentiment." Such is the philosophy of Tom Binns, whose jewelry designs have been worn by Mrs. O - most notably at the Vogue fundraising event hosted by Calvin Klein in June 2008. The ornate and clever work of Binns (born in Belfast, Ireland, and now residing in California) has long been known to the fashion cognoscente.

Influenced by the Dada movement (a philosophy that started around 1916 and rejected conventions in art and thought), Binns concentrates on "object trouves" - found objects like beach glass and faux gems - and reworks them into stunning pieces of jewelry. Mrs. O wore his necklace with a flowing black tunic and evening pants by Isabel Toledo. The necklace is a unique piece from Binns' The Raj Collection (so unique, in fact, that Binns himself doesn't have a studio photograph of the necklace).

"It was a take on the Maharajas' jewelry from India, which is extremely decadent," Binns told us. "I tried to interpret the look using faux materials such as fake pearls, vintage rhinestones, and sea gems." "To go to an event held in your honor and hosted by Calvin Klein - well, that could make anyone feel intimidated," says Sally Singer, Fashion News Director for Vogue. "But [Mrs. O] didn't hesitate or pander; she wore this outfit and jewelry - I mean, Tom Binns is a sophisticated choice! - that made her very special. That is not Fashion 101 - that's graduate level." Of course, we already knew that Mrs. O was at the head of the fashion class. But we continue to be awed by her ability to find and combine exciting pieces of fashion. Evidently, she excels at the object trouves philosophy as well.