Michelle, my belle

Published on Monday 19 January 2009 19:46

BEAUTIFUL, elegant, chic and statuesque, Michelle Obama is a First Lady for the 21st century. From the earliest stages of her husband's presidential campaign, her personal style has shone out as being perfectly pitched.

The media obsession with Michelle Obama's sartorial choices will reach fever pitch tonight, as fashion commentators wait – pens poised – to see what she will wear to the Inaugural Ball.

It seems trivial that, at a time when America's President Elect Barack Obama warns that "only a handful of generations have been asked to confront challenges as serious as the ones we face right now", we might pay so much attention to his wife's wardrobe. It may also seem patronising to show so much interest in Michelle's fashion sense when we also know she's a fiercely passionate, intelligent, educated woman, a devoted mother, a loving wife and an experienced lawyer.

However, because the Obamas bring an unprecedented degree of hope and promise of change to the US – and to the world – Michelle Obama's chic and youthful personal style has helped to define the breath of fresh air that is blowing through the White House today.

South American designer Oscar de la Renta, a favourite choice for previous First Ladies including Laura Bush, remarked to influential US fashion bible Women's Wear Daily that "it's not only about the way she dresses, but also the way she will conduct her life… The eyes of the world will be on her. She will have a big impact". Diane von Furstenberg, one of America's bestselling designers and the president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, told WWD that Obama is "smart, engaged, beautiful and confident... Her style is who she is… and people will discover it little by little. Fashion is a reflection of our time and this is truly an exciting time." In short, Michelle Obama's sartorial choices matter.

She favours simple silhouettes, jewel colours, and the work of emerging US designers such as Thakoon, Narciso Rodriguez and Maria Pinto. She knows what suits her skin tone and six-foot frame; she accessorises judiciously with statement brooches or chic necklaces, confidently mixing high-street purchases with designer labels. Fashion insiders have drooled over the red-and-black Narciso Rodriguez dress she wore the night her husband won the presidency, as much as over the banana-yellow J Crew ensemble she wore to appear on Jay Leno's show. The low-cost H&M and J Crew lines are favourites, mixed with mid-priced designers such as Pinto. It's a far cry from Sarah Palin's $150,000 wardrobe, and yet it's Obama, not Palin, who wins the sartorial gold stars. "Michelle has demonstrated a distinct fashion bent over the past six months, favouring simple shift dresses in vivid colours and floral prints, adding her own touches such as vintage brooches or embellished cardigans," says Laura Jackson, the assistant fashion editor at UK fashion-trade journal Drapers.

"This modern take on classic shapes and details has worked perfectly for so far and, I think, will be carried through to her Inaugural Ball gown. She knows what she looks good in, and she's been very careful to pick stylish pieces which will make a statement but won't overshadow her husband."

Michelle Obama doesn't use a professional stylist, and it shows. This is a compliment, by the way, meaning that she never looks too 'put together' and always looks as if she genuinely likes what she's wearing, whether it's the bold royal purple shift dress she wore the night her husband clinched the Democratic nomination or the camel coat and matching skirt she wore to this weekend's Inauguration Concert. She forgoes the double-strings of pearls and trouser suits favoured by so many First Ladies, instead looking like a modern working mother in waist-cinching belts, flat pumps and stylish but comfortable dresses.

However, even for a woman who knows fashion, has an intuitive sense of style and always looks impeccable, tonight's ball is the ultimate what-to-wear dilemma. The eyes of the world will be on her at a time where a financial crisis looms large and America is looking to the Obamas for a fresh start. So what will she wear?

"I think she'll play it low-key," says US style expert Leah Feldon. "A simple, elegant design in a fabulous fabric and a solid, muted, but telegenic colour that plays up all her assets – height, skin tone, fit body, sparkling personality – worn with a few dazzling accessories. She's got a very good idea of what works for her. I think of her style as feminine, professional, and chic."

Mary Tomer, the founder of www.mrs-o.org, a blog following Michelle Obama's style choice, is even more specific. "I envision a gown in winter-white chiffon, gathered asymmetrically from an empire waist to one shoulder, with a silver-grey full satin skirt and a bejewelled diamond brooch worn off-centre at the waist line," she says. "I'd love to see her in (the designs of] an up-and-coming American designer, like Thakoon or Narciso Rodriguez."

Naturally, designers are clamouring to dress Mrs Obama: a number have submitted sketches, which range from the sublime (Diane Von Furstenburg's simple, white wrap dress) to the ridiculous (Alexander Wang's backless mini-dress which he describes as "business in the front, party in the back").

Chicago-based designer Maria Pinto – whose designs Obama has worn on a number of public occasions – says she envisages her in something "sleek but with more froth. It's right for the moment. I don't see her in a big, poofy skirt." Pinto has described Obama's style as "very approachable. That's what people love about Michelle – she's comfortable in her own skin."

When it comes to picking the perfect dress for tonight, Obama will have much more than just style to consider. Considering the formality of the event and the current political and economic climate, how does one adhere to etiquette on such an occasion? "Gloves are not necessary and way too 1960s, but the severity of the times and seriousness of the position call for a covered bosom sans cleavage," says Feldon. "Bare shoulders are OK, and since hers are lovely she might go for it. But since bare shoulders are considered a bit risqu in some parts of the world, and the inauguration will be televised globally, I would suggest a design that discreetly covers them up."

The experts all stress that Obama will adopt for a US designer, but beyond that, it's difficult to predict what she'll wear. In the past she's varied her look with everything from fashion-forward to classic, bright palettes, neutral tones, bold prints and clever detailing, all pulled off successfully. She understands the importance of style, but ultimately knows that it's only fashion.

She understands that her sartorial choices help to reflect her husband's vision for his first term in office, but recognises that her responsibilities as First Lady go beyond matching a twinset with pearls.

In fact, with her cool, effortless approach to style, perhaps the person least concerned about what Michelle Obama will wear on this historic occasion is Michelle Obama.

Live blog (2-6pm GMT): The inauguration of Barack Obama