Michelle Obama touring London. Photo by Times of London.
by Mark Silva
The Times of London is having some fun with some first-lady fashion-showing on a sightseeing trip through Westminster Abbey for Michelle Obama and her daughters.
The president has defended the first lady's "right to bare arms,'' which she forfeited for the time-being with this display in the category of walking "wedding cake.'' (See review here:)
"While the men around her look to be in mourning, Mrs O stands out like a beacon against the night sky,'' the Times reviewer notes of the Obama outfit pictured here. "Ok, the appliquéd tunic has the air of Malia or Sasha's art class about it and sure, it does nothing for her hips - all that extra fluff and detail around the middle adds bulk to her usually smooth lines. But when did looking trim become part of a visit to Westminster Abbey?
"From a fashion purist's perspective, the colours are bang on the money,'' the reviewer continues. "Designers have been consumed with Post-it note yellow, flamingo and tangerine for the past season or so, and Marc Jacobs, who sets many global trends, has taken neons to the extreme for winter by painting all of his outwear in Mrs O's lurid brights. And wearing them stacked as she has done, is also correct. ....
"Mrs O is a clever woman: pretending to have just thrown on any old holiday number whilst actually acknowledging pioneering catwalk ideas is no mean feat...
There's a catch, however:
"Unfortunately, those three-dimensional flowers, that strange orange snake working its way around her middle and the yellow curtain pelmet are impossible to defend. As a stack, they look like one of those modern, fancy wedding cakes that brides' co-ordinate with their flowers. For a woman who established her look on the principles of sophistication and elegance, the detailing is just a bit too sugary...
"So, this outfit isn't 100 per cent faultless, but at least the First Lady has the confidence to have fun with what she wears. It takes a brave woman to wear pink daisies. And bloggers rejoice, her arms are covered.''
Comments
OK, someone has to say it:
Imagine if Sarah Palin had appeard in public in this get up. The MSM would be on fire and Letterman would probably stop breathing!
Posted by: Me | June 10, 2009 3:39 PM
This is the wife of the president of the US!
Geesh, bare your arms and grow up.
How childish and unbecoming; though it does distract from Obama's economic blunders and taxes.
Posted by: Yikes | June 10, 2009 4:36 PM
As the right-wing continues it's relentless and utterly unsuccesful attempts to smear Michelle Obama as an angry black woman who hates America, apple pie, white people, and Winston Churchill, their criticisms seem to be getting more and more bizarre. This is the top story on the right-wing bottom feeder Drudge Report today - not the GM bankruptcy, not the fake outrage over Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, or the turmoil in Iran in the run-up to a potentially game changing election.
To the right-wing lunatic fringe, none of those things compare in newsworthiness to the "shocking" fashion choices of Michelle Obama during her recent trip to London, or is is the case with Drudge, what Mrs. Obama wore to go to a birthday party for her 8-year-old daughter.
Posted by: Heather | June 10, 2009 4:43 PM
This is a test of the sheople and the fawning media. They figure that if she can get away with wearing that, then the obambiacs will not only swallow but defend his next big lie.
Posted by: Carl | June 10, 2009 6:18 PM
Heather, I read that the birthday party was at the studio where they were flmling the next Harry Potter - the cast was invited. Although it is different, it does nothing for those hips, but it does scream "look at me", so it got the job done!
Posted by: vla | June 10, 2009 7:23 PM
This is a test of the sheople and the fawning media. They figure that if she can get away with wearing that, then the obambiacs will not only swallow but defend his next big lie.
Posted by: Carl | June 10, 2009 6:18 PM
-------------------------------
Keep on hating Carl,
With a little luck maybe you right-wing nutjobs can get the GOP party affiliation numbers down below 20% before 2010.
.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/parsing-the-polls/21-percent.html
Posted by: Sally | June 10, 2009 7:29 PM
This MUST be the effects of global warming!
Marie Antionette Time?
Where's the cake?
Posted by: mary sullivan | June 10, 2009 9:38 PM
This is one First Lady who would look good no matter what she wears.
And Heather is right. I'd forgotten about that "angry" bit and that cover of National Review.
(That one was not fawning, so Carl can go out and buy up all the back issues.)
If the media seems to love the Obamas, maybe that's because they deserve it.
Sorry, Carl.
Posted by: ornery | June 10, 2009 9:44 PM
That's what European socialism looks like. Just kidding. I'm no stickler for First Lady fashion, but...so what did her kids wear. No stretch of the imagination could make this out to be fashion forward. If this outfit was fashion forward, Sesame Street has been hitting it outta the park since 1969.
Posted by: millionandone | June 11, 2009 9:44 PM
This is a non story. I think Michelle Obama looks just fine in this picture. Everyone is entitled to dress to suit their own feelings, and to do so without the fashion police getting their underwear all bunched up over it.
Posted by: John W. | June 12, 2009 1:40 PM