Wednesday
Oct272010
Ladies in L.A.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010 at 10:59 AM 
Image by Jae C. Hong / Getty Images
The first lady joined Dr. Jill Biden for a fundraiser in Los Angeles to support Senator Barbara Boxer last night. For the event, Mrs. O wore a textured white sheath dress, paired with her signature metallic kitten heels. Dr. Biden turned to a forest green frock, featuring a sheer panel through the shoulders, and quite impressive heels!
On a shoe note, fans of Mrs. O's heels of choice may enjoy "Michelle's High-Heel Revolution" by Isabel Wilkinson of The Daily Beast, here.
Update: Mrs. O wore a cream peony jacquard shift dress by L'Wren Scott.
Reader Comments (71)
What is that white thing that Mrs. Obama is wearing? She looks like a huge Modess pad or maybe a smear of marshmellow cream. Not at all a good choice and so tight that it's painful to view.
I was all ready to jump into the fray. Then I went to L'Wren Scott's page at Style.com and found that the runway photo on your typical model body shows a dress that is very tight in the bust and all over to the point of being very seriously wrinkled all over. And the tagline for the look is "body conscious" or something like that. So I will pass. An interesting note at Barney's about sizing mentions that the sizing is Italian and runs small.
Although I realize that Jill Biden's shoes are very fashionable, they make this petite woman look all feet. Oddly enough they would be a better proportion on Mrs. O. I noticed that the very stylish Sheikha of Qatar was photographed wearing platform pumps and she is at least 6 feet tall.
Barbara Boxer's suit is drab and looks as though she'd slept in it.
@Mica
You are very so catty. Also, white house tours ARE already free, just a fyi.
@Sharon
I agree with you about Jill Biden. It seems that Michelle always makes sure to include her in events, which I like.
I totally agree----too long and too tight. Who was responsible for this dress mistake---don't they have any mirrors? Michelle should have seen the way this dress made her look and nixed it until it was fit to wear. Mrs. Biden is the clear winner---understated and elegant, and she sure can wear the heels correctly!!
I am sure that 99.9999% of us love Mrs O which is why we follow the site. However, that does not mean that we have to think that EVERYTHING she wears is a hit. The dress does seem a bit tight but she looks overall quite glamorous. It could also be the camera angle and lighting.
Another dude in the mix....
I like the shift dress MrsO is wearing but I think the hemline could have been raised an inch or two to give it a better look imo. Jill Biden looks great in her green dress.
Wow. It sems you can't actually comment on Mrs. Obama's style unless you have compliments everytime. Michelle is fabulus and quite the fashionista. But to be this she has to take risks and obviously this risk results in a failure. Her dress is much to tight. That is a fact. It doesn't mean we don't love her. These women who are going on and on about how she looks great are akin to girlfriends who wil not tell you the truth. The worst kind...
Our FLOTUS looks great, as always!!!!!!!!!!! With her elegant, slender shape she flows gracefully in whatever she wears and ALWAYS outshines whether in kitten heels, stilletos, flats, sneakers...whatever. She is lovely, smart, compassionate and endearing...thanks Mrs. T
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/26/michelle-obama-hangs-out-_n_774355.html#s165928
Please look at photo #8. Notice where the hem hits her. Notice how totally in proportion she looks. The camera does not lie. This pink dress needed to be perhaps a good 8-10 inches higher and I'm not sure the round neckline is the most flattering thing in the world on her. A v-neck seems to suit her much better. The Wu looked incredible on her. This one was startling in its disproportion and it's color. I would say she wears most colors well but pastels are probably not her best friend. Her coloring is that of a true "winter" (remember the seasonal color charts we did back in the day). that's why she rocks the jewel tones and hot oranges and yellows and pinks like nobody's business.
Ladies, the negative comments are all about the dress. No one needs to get their feathers ruffled. This is a fashion blog.
I think someone asked what color you would call Jill Biden's shoes....caramel, maybe?
I hate to say it, but when I first saw this picture, my reaction was "Oh honey, no." The dress in itself is lovely, but the fit is wrong. The dress is too small across the bodice and torso, and it cuts her wrong at the legs. Mrs. O has worn that sleeve before, but it hits her wrong here.
Altogether, the dress makes her arms too big, torso too small and legs too stocky. The whole ensemble makes her look heavy, which she is not.
Maybe we need to start a site called Dr. B because Dr. Jill looks smashing in that dress. Love those shoes and look at those heels. Michelle looks fab as usual. These two are certainly the most stylist first lady and vice president's wife that we have ever had certainly that I can remember in my short lifetime. I like the way that they shatter the mode for what is stylish, fashionable and yet still professional. What great role models and style mavens!
Kahalia - it is not a fact. It is an OPINION. According to quite a few posters here, the dress looks great. Notably the two posters who were actuallypresent at the event said that it looked amazing in real life, as opoosed to the millisecond captured here in a picture. Conversely, some people don't like it's tightness. I don't have a problem with it, you do. it's just an opinion.
Whoever it was who wrote that the standard is different for an elected official is way off base. Clothes should be a reflection of your individualoty, not a uniform, and where women repeatedly lose out in business and politics is when their clothes reflect either their budget OR their job, instead of themselves. Because of the fact that there is no female equivalent of the male business suit, there is never a way for a woman to dress that is as neutral as a man. Dull, grey, beige, black, pinstripe business suits mostly fail women because they do not sit in the same way as a male business suit does, and they don't neutralise gender and sexuality and flaws in the way a mans business suit does. In which case (in my view) it's time to give it up and just be who you are. I'm more interested in what comes out of a persons mouth anyway, and what's in their head. A beautiful suit is never a barometer of what someone is capable of or whether they have integrity. And yes, nancy Pelosi does wear some beautiful trouser suits. But they are beautiful, and suit her, and fit well. This suit is in neither category and so fails its wearer sadly.
I hesitate to jump in as I do not wish to have my views seen as an assault. I had a wonderful tailor, God rest his soul, who use to say to me: "Honey, this is a beautiful dress and you are a beautiful girl, but we need to ease it out a bit her (in my hips) and take it up a bit here". He always told me the truth and articles of clothing were enhanced and even transformed because of his truthfulness. Whether people like it or it not, Mrs. Obama is in the public eye and a good tailor is someone who always advise her in her choices for public appearances. I say this with all respect. This dress did not do her justice she deserves and should have been altered.
I hesitate to jump in as I do not wish to have my views seen as an assault. I had a wonderful tailor, God rest his soul, who use to say to me: "Honey, this is a beautiful dress and you are a beautiful girl, but we need to ease it out a bit here (in my hips) and take it up a bit here". He always told me the truth and articles of clothing were enhanced and even transformed because of his truthfulness. Whether people like it or it not, Mrs. Obama is in the public eye and a good tailor is someone who always advise her in her choices for public appearances. I say this with all respect. This dress did not do her justice she deserves and should have been altered.
Wait a minute did I not hear a whole lot of complaining the other day about her clothes being too short?
@Posh Tater: "Because of the fact that there is no female equivalent of the male business suit, there is never a way for a woman to dress that is as neutral as a man." Sorry, but that's just not true. My feeling is most American women are afraid to go to a tailor. It is common around the rest of the world but for some reason we want to rip things from the rack and wear them as is, much to our detriment. Have you ever seen Armani's pantsuits for woman? If properly tailored, perfection. And women who wear great neutral pantsuits usually know how to rock them with a pop of color in the shell or blouse they wear underneath or a pair of killer heels or a statement cuff.
I'm inclined to think this is more camera angle than poor fit. What I find interesting is the contrast between the very feminine looking FLOTUS and SOTUS and the very masculine looking Barbara Boxer. What I like at Mrs. O is the way in which she is bringing femininity back to women, not any easy task when you stand 5'11.
I will NEVER understand why Mrs. Obama wears some of her clothing so darn tight that it looks quite uncomfortable. Dr. Biden looks fabulous!
@canyongal. It is true. What you are talking about is not quite what I'm talking about. Maybe. Or maybe not! Maybe I just disagree with you. Which is cool. I'm talking about the issue of why do women persist in thinking that a certain style of business dress wil neutralise their sexuality and enable them to be seen as a person rather than a woman. There is no such garment.
All female business clothing marks a woman as female and feminine regardless of fit or cut. We can keep the outfit as discreet as possible and believe that "business attire" is something real and necessary, or we can grasp the nettle and admit that it's a load of rubbish, a myth to make HR feel better, and a pretence that has always failed us and always will.
Yes having something tailored can make it fit better. But nothing disguises a woman - garmentwise - in the way that the male business suit does for men. Partly that's because we have borrowed it from men, and so it must always be an adaptation. But they make women look sexual, so what's the point? Why not just wear stuff that you love? Yes, Nancy Pelosi looks great in Armani. And I'm sure she loves them. She looks pretty and elegant in them. Not powerful and neutral. The very fact that we KNOW it's Amarni ..... The imbalance is vast. She looks great because it elongates her legs, emphasises her waist and therefore chest and hips, the shoulders frame her neck and face and glossy hair. This is not the goal of a navy pinstripe on a chap which is to draw the eye to powerful areas of the body and completely neutralise sexuality. It is a disguise. No hair, no genitalia, just a wall of smooth fabric, widened to make the shoulders look perfectly even and wide, and add an illusion of height. A navy pinstripe on a woman will show up every curve of breast and hip and magnify it a hundred times. Because we don't wear a tie, the neck is often on show, not hidden.
So, I do not disagree with you that an Armani suit on a woman is extraordinary. But it does not neutralise her sexuality and gender - it ALWAYS enhances both. That's the way he designs them! So yes, if wearing such a suit as part of one person's personal commitment to look the way they want to look then great. But, as a recurring look for business wear, a single breasted jacket over wide legged uncreased trousers will always make a girl look like a girl.
It is my belief - and has been for a long time - that we have two choices. Either we all have cropped hair, wear no make-up or jewellery, flat shoes and a suit that is cut to obliterate all signs of gender as men do, OR, we wear the things that make us happy and stop apologising for that. Currently women are at a disadvantage because we are sold this idea that there's a way to play the game... But it isn't. And don't get me wrong, there are women that dress the first way and I love it occasionally, but I couldn't do it every day forever. I love clothes too much.
The women I named as prime offenders may wear these suits because it's easy and they are comfortable. Except that if that was the point we wouldn't see heels to match.... earrings to elongate the face, to pick out suit colour, red nails, blonde streaks. They've been conned and squash themselves into an acceptable mould instead of saying "sod it". This suit - my god it's even beige - looks like nothing. Khaki. Shapeless. No power. No personality.
You know, there's an idea out there that if you want to succeed in business you have to do what the boys do. And we all know that's a big fat lie. I just think it's time to drop all the other lies as well.
Mrs O recently named the most powerful woman on Forbes list. And managed to do it without wearing ONE pseudo business suit. Thank the heavens.
And - sorry, if you're bored just ignore me it's fine! - but... Ten women in a blue business suit would all look different. Slingbacks, stilettos, low heels, lots make-up, no make up, long earrings, studs, dress and jacket, pencil skirt, wide-legged trousers, tapered trousers. Shirt, camisole, tshirt.... we're all marked as female in everything we choose. Ten men in a blue business suit would look pretty much the same. It's a con.
I agree with someone who said something about the colour of the dress making it look like its too tight.A dark colour would have been better.