Thursday
Oct292009
A Dose of Jason Wu Glamour
Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 1:05 PM 
Image via Glamour.com
We've confirmed that Mrs. O wears a Jason Wu dress on the cover Glamour magazine. Hooray! Click here to read our earlier coverage.
Update: Mrs. O wears a FENTON by Dana Lorenz necklace.
Reader Comments (25)
Absolutely glamorous! I am ready for the Holidays!
Mrs. Obama looks great! I wish I could see more detail in the necklace.
I wish I knew who made the necklace!
Nice one Mr Wu!
Superb colour and style! The necklace is a wonderful addition!
She looks stunning. Great job Glamour and fantastic job Mr. Jason Wu!
Just beautiful!! Who created the necklace?
I like the necklace. IF you look closely it looks like several strands of small pearl beads intertwined with 2 ribbons on either side put together to make a more cohesive necklace.
This is something that probably could be done with necklaces you have. Looks lit a creative way to use necklaces, pins, brooches and ribbons, wouldn't you say?
I also use scarfs as accents pieces to my wardrobe. I use them as sashes/belts to accentuate my waist line and sometimes I use them on my hats or my head to add color or dress up what I am wearing.
Excellente Mr. Wu! Excellente!
Glad to see this at the top of the blog again. Can't get enough of it. :)
Wow! Jason did a great job with this dress...It's pretty and shiny...I wondered what it original looked like before all the alterations. This may sound strange but Michelle obama dress design remind me of the styles from the 60's she always seems to be channeling Donna Reed...lol
Still this looks great of Mrs. Obama...Love that she takes 60's chic and puts her modern twist on it.
I could look at this picture all day. Simply beautiful. The best EVER picture of the First Lady.
Spectacular!
Seems like Jason Wu is the chosen one for high profile covers. From what I gather, he is quite humble, but he must be bubbling with joy on the inside. On the previous thread someone mentioned the festive-ness of this frock. I agree. It makes me yearn for the holidays and their first Christmas in the White House.
sitting here in Sweden in Europe wondering where to find the necklace
I read that these are her own clothes & accessories & that she styled herself! She is flawless.
Sitting here in London, wondering where to find that necklace also, Joan.
Total Perfection!
Again...just gorgeous! Totally WOW!
Love it! Absolutely stunning!
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SWEET COMMENTS ABOUT THE NECKLACE! It is FENTON by Dana Lorenz. www.danalorenz.com
I agree. The dress is beautiful. The necklace is stunning and she looks beautiful...as usual. That said there's something a little off for me about the cultural message her hairstyle and dress are sending. For me both styles scream 1950's June Cleaver or some other very white bread image that's supposed to make her seem like she's just a chocolate-covered version of an old-fashioned normal (read: white) ideal TV mom. I'm not saying she should be in a dashiki, but there's something about the styling of the whole cover that's just creepy and colonized for me.
This is the NICEST dress she has ever worn! Beautiful in every respect! It makes her figure look fabulous. Maybe now, after seeing herself in this design, she will stop wearing belts up under her arms, and just let her figure flow.
What's with you, dkan71? I can't believe anyone would classify that beautiful dress as "white" or "colonized". Good grief!! What are you talking about??? Isn't this site for people of all races? And doesn't Mrs. Obama represent the MANY cultures of America? She's here for everyone, and she's doing a darned good job of it, too. We all love her.
The dress is very classically beautiful. Any person of any race could be proud to wear it. I guess I'm dumb, but what is a dashiki?
April....what's with me is that I'm in Graduate school and make a practice of looking at things critically. You say that her outfit is "classically beautiful". All I questioned was whose version of 'classic' it represents. I assume you are a white woman, and as such when people use the term 'woman' in this culture, it's assumed they're talking about white women. You're 'normal'. I, like Michelle Obama, am a black woman, and when I'm referred to it requires a qualifier, because I'm not a 'norma'l woman. In this culture, I am a version similar to, but slightly different from "the norm".
You use the term "classically beautiful" as if it's universal and relates to all American women. I say the idea itself ignores the particularities and differences of our contiguous history and unconsciously imposes the dominant (white) perspective on a diverse group of experiences.
Let me give you an example. I have in mind a particular black and white picture from the 60's of my mother looking gorgeous. She's sporting a huge afro, a sleeveless top with an African-inspired print and a slight pout. That for me, is a "classic" image from the 60's. I suspect your family album has no such "classic" images.
My point is, your 'classic' and my 'classic' are sometimes different and the difference is often shaped by culture. One isn't better than the other, they're just not the same, nor should they need to be. The image of Mrs. O on Glamour, from her hair to the silhouette of the dress and even the coy, innocent pose speaks TO ME of an image I associate primarily with the idealized image of white women in the 50's before the modern feminist movement. The styling screams "gilded cage" to me.
I could go further and talk about how the "feminist" critique of the "gilded cage" though it presumed to speak for all women was actually specific to the experience of middle class white women and ignored the distinct experiences of the majority of black women. It would take us on a long road full circle back to my original point, which is that "classically beautiful" is a culturally loaded term.
Look, I know this is a site to come ogle the First Lady and ooh and ahh about how much we love her and lover her style. Trust me, that's mostly what I do here. However, I found this image striking and added my two cents, which happened to come from a black feminist perspective. It may be too critical for your taste, but sometimes a little protein is needed to supplement to a diet of steady fluff.
dkan71, You’re a very intelligent and perceptive young (I don’t know whether to say lady or woman). I have done graduate work in MUSIC, but I don't understand what you’re talking about with my saying “woman”.
You need to know that I spent 34 years living overseas as a missionary. I lived among the Chinese, Thai, Malays, and Indians in Southeast Asia , and with every culture imaginable in Paris, France and Munich, Germany, for 13 years. Many of the people I was with in France were from Africa, both diplomats and students.
When I say something is classically beautiful, those are the words I use to describe a silk cheongsam or a lace kabaya, or a batik sarong, or an Indian sari, or a pleated skirt or a cotton dirndl. In fact I own clothing from every country where we lived. My husband was a theology professor, and I taught music.
When I look at Michelle Obama, I don’t see a woman of any color at all. I see her as the First Lady of the United States of America. That’s where I’m coming from.
I don’t appreciate being put in a box. And I hope Mrs. Obama will never be put in a box, either, because she does belong to all of us.
Thank you for enlightening me about where you're coming from. I learned something new.
And when I make comments here, believe me, I am completely innocent of using loaded terms. I just wanted to express my appreciation for the red dress on our First Lady.
I would NEVER say anything to make you, dkan71, or anyone else feel badly. This is the truth.
I suppose I was out of the USA so long I don't realize that people still think like you described. It makes me sad.