Scenes from the Weekend (Updated)
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 10:46 AM 
Photo by Mandel Ngan / Getty Images
The Os made several stops out west this weekend as part of a working vacation for the president. Saturday brought a visit to Old Faithful Geyser at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Mrs. O wore an ensemble quite similar to that sported in Paris, reintroducing her Rick Owen Lillies vest.
Photo by Mandel Ngan / Getty Images
Landing in Arizona, Mrs. O debuted a new summer dress, paired with a Sacai belt. We have an idea about the dress, but want to confirm details first...
UPDATE: Thanks to those who contributed fabulous tips in the comments section. We have confirmed that Mrs. O's dress is in fact Merona from Target. It is from a past collection and no longer in stores. Another major moment for democratic fashion - hooray!
Merona, Rick Owens, Sacai, Target
Reader Comments (75)
This dress is perfect for an summer arrival in the West. The fit and fabric are right on.
I have to know where this dress is from! I bought a skirt in the identical fabric last summer on clearance from Target to wear to the DNCC.
Holy cow. That man really doesn't take a break does he????! Working vacation indeed. And there I thought he was actually going to kick back for a fortnight.
Anywho, more importantly (!), Mrs O looking fantastico in both outfits. I don't love the Rock Owen's jacket (sue me but I'm not fond of the silhouette, apologies to all Rick Owen's afficionadoes - this may be envy as I can't wear it) but she looks wonderful in it - the colour is one of my favourites so I love it for it's colour alone. The dress is just pretty.
Great photo's! Thanks Mrs T for the continuing updates.
Where can I get the belt? Love it!
Between the movement of Mrs. O's dress paired with that Sacai belt, I'm in summer heaven. What a beautiful ensemble! :)
Here are three great pics of the First Lady in the shorts she wore to go visit the Grand Canyon....she looks hot in those shorts and her legs are so defined and toned....she makes 45 look like a piece of cake!
By the way the last link has a great photo of her head to toe with her toned legs:
http://www.daylife.com/photo/0gub2SOenH6yB?q=michelle+obama
http://www.daylife.com/photo/0fVO5c0bS01V6?q=michelle+obama
http://www.daylife.com/photo/0gqZ10f0Mv20O?q=michelle+obama
This dress is made by merona and is sold in target. I have one of this dress, I must say she looks great in it and the compliments it
Thanx for those pics Eve! I am in absolute love with this woman. That dress fits like a glove. Fantastic ensemble.
I love the dress - those neutral colors are great on her.
Love the dress. There's something very American Craft Movement (feathers/arrows/colors) in the print. Very cool for a visit to Phoenix. I wonder what they'll do while President O is at the convention?
Love the dress and belt.......perfecto.......Mrs.O summer look has really kept us intrigued......I say those photo of Mrs.O in shorts......those legs at 45 gives her arms much competion.....obviously our first Lady is fit. Mrs.T I thank God for you! Mrs O should really inspire american to keep fit.
The dress is great! The belt is getting really old. Please retire the "Star Wars" belt, Mrs. O. A much simpler, thinner belt would have looked perfect. On another note, is Sasha crying in that first photo? Looks as if her dad has matters well in hand.
I don't always love this particular belt but in this case, I feel like it gives a nice bit of jazz to the outfit.
I don't think my girl Sasha is crying in the first pix, I think the camera just caught her making a bit of a face. Sasha never cries! She's too fierce. :-)
Mrs. T - You have to do a new post with this picture. http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Michelle-Obama/ss/events/pl/050108michelleobama It's Mr. and Mrs. O leaving AZ this afternoon for the White House.
She is rocking white this summer.
Please, I have to know more about the scarf!
Ketura
Closer view of the shot that IVA posted (white dress or skirt/top?),,,
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Michelle-Obama-first-lady-Michelle-Obama-President-Barack-Obama/ss/events/pl/050108michelleobama/im:/090817/480/94974d18bce344189c72b6768bab1d7b/;_ylt=Aj63PuG9nmQaNlcjhsOEUTlsaMYA
Iva, I saw the dress as well and she does look good.
Mrs. O looks so calm, relaxed and refreshed. Viewing the pictures on this website helps take my mind off all the drama happening in our country, if only for a little while.
Twitter = Strongforu
What appears to be an aqua Rick Owens jacket is actually a vest with a color-matched silk long-sleeved tee underneath (the white showing under that must be another layer?). Google Rick Owens's website and you'll find these pieces.
You're welcome Jay...and I think that they should make a new link with the pics of the First Lady's shorts.
Love the dress and the hairdo.
gorgeous dress. not crazy about the bun.
both the O kids are cute, but man, that little Sasha and her mischevious smile, she has my heart.
I am intrigued by the sneakers both Michelle and Mailia are wearing as they exit the plane in Phoenix. Wish I could find out what brand they are.
Love the dress and EVEN the belt, though I'm not usually a fan of the way MO wears belts. This time, however, she has used it as an accessory over a dress that already has a great shape and fit, and the color and style I think go with the dress. This--I think--is the way to wear a belt.
The shorts? Not so much. I admit to being a bit old-fashioned about what people should wear in public, especially first ladies, etc. But that's not even my main problem here. Although there is NO doulbt that she has GREAT legs, I don't think short shorts are all that flattering to the stomach and butt--unless you're 16 and athletic.
Oh, those shorts are definitely A+ in my books. I've been a lurker on this site for months now. And just love it. I'm not a fashionista, just find my daily inspiration on these pages - inspiration to live strongly and passionately with motivation for what is right and true. Mrs.O embodies that for me. I love much of what she wears too!.
But those shorts - that speaks of a working Mom who incorporates style and grace in every thing she does. Funny that this is what has sparked me to write. I guess I see myself there! - except for the body build which is to die for.
Can people just lay off about the belts? I am SOOO tired of hearing people complain about such a silly issue. One of the reasons I like (or liked this site) was b'c is was all love for Michelle. There are so many other sites you can go to to JUDGE. Let's keep this one happy & positive. PLEASE. Can we?
If I don't like something MO is wearing I keep it to myself. We women have so much negative stuff out there about body image etc. let's use this site to life UP Michelle & one another.
Ok. That's my rant. Sorry.
Love Michelle's dress. Love even more that it is from Target!
Mrs. O wore shorts on Air Force One and the President's limo which is absolutely bad form. When we fly first class on a commercial airline we are not allowed to wear jeans so what makes Mrs. O think she can wear shorts on AF One? Someone at the protocol office needs to have a talk with the First Lady.
@ MsG
I agree. Those shorts were a little too short. Bermudas or pedal pushers would have been much better. I like the dress in the 2nd pic and the other dress she was wearing when they arrived back at the White House.
@ bice710, I'm gonna have to agree again. I like buns but I don't like buns that high. It should have been in the middle of her head or much lower.
Miss Sasha can rock anything though, she's 8 and fierce. Malia is very lean so she can also rock anything.
Those particular shorts were not a good look. Many other choices would have been appropriate for the Grand Canyon and been more flattering and suitable to her present station in life. Much too short, much too tight (did you see the front view coming down the plane stairway?). We all make mistakes. Hers are very, very public. And captured forever in photos.
And she looked v. odd with the president, who was in white shirt and trousers. And still looked suitably casual. (They weren't out for a hike.)
Her favorite J. Crew could have done better.
@ MrsR
Ummm excuse you, the first lady and president can wear whatever they want on their (technically for 4 years) plane and limo. This isn't London, we have no royalty.
I mean get real. I would like to see a link to a list of these so-called "protocols".
Um, technically the planes belong to the United States Air Force and the limousines and other vehicles are put at the president's and first lady's disposal. They do not own them.
There is a difference between what we can do and what we should do. That is what the rules of protocol are all about. They have nothing to do with royalty. They have to do with civility and appropriateness. They go with the office, not the person who happens to hold it.
Screw protocol....its 2009! Even the Queen dropped "protocol" when she publicly embraced Mrs. O. God bless the Queen and the First Lady for stepping into the 21st century!
Mrs O, you look HOT in those shorts. Rock on!
New photo of BO. Photo #10 on the link below:
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Jackeens/464
They all look appropriate for the trip they were on. She should keep the bun like that, like it in the center rather than in the back.
On the shorts, who cares. She has the confidence to wear it period. I don't see that as a short short or whatever anyone wants to call it. Confidence is the key. We ought to stop projecting ourselves onto others, you wouldn't wear it does not mean she can't wear it.
Victoria Leon I agree where is this so called "protocols" people talk about. I didn't know you could not wear shorts on airforce one, i guess president bush should not have worn shorts too. She wore shorts when they went waterrafting too. She wears shorts when she walks her kids dog too.
She has a couple of things alot of folks wish they had CONFIDENCE and LOVES HER BODY. She dares to be diffent. I know she is raising some very self aware kids there, ain't nobody in the world going to be able to break them, they got the best example in their mother and father.
"When we fly first class on a commercial airline we are not allowed to wear jeans "
@Mrs. R:
Hmm. I don't know "we" are, but I can assure you that the airlines do not enforce a no-jeans dress code in first class for paying customers. Where are you getting these made-up "protocols" from?
As for the shorts, please. People wear shorts on vacations. IWhy does she need to wear bermuda shorts or pedal pushers like an old lady when she most certainly is not? Bermuda shorts would easily put 20 years on her. When she wears pedal pushers, the comments immediately start up about how they're unflattering.
If these were "booty shorts" I could understand gasping about the inappropriateness of it all, but they're not, and this is 2009, not 1959.
Anyway, some cute pix. Please, Mr. President, don't squish this little girl's hand!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/3817377153/
and Rahm Emanuel, you're such a kidder:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/3817366077/
Yahoo always has the most amazing photos......I like the hair in buns - I'll bet they were trying to do a mother-daughter thing together and wear their hair the same way. Bravo, Michelle.
As for the shorts....well, I gotta agree, maybe not the best choice. Still, she wore climate-appropriate clothing.
I love Sasha. Wears her heart on her sleeve. She is the real Sasha Fierce!
Gadzooks - what a fuss over a pair of shorts that aren't even that short! These are what we used to call jamaica shorts (in the 60s) - not the longer burmudas, which were just above the knee, or a short short like what we wore in phys ed. Are they the best look in the world? Well, maybe not - but that is her choice, not ours. Give her a break. She's on vacation that is not even close to being long enough, she's got two kids with her, a husband who's probably on his BlackBerry everytime the cameras go away, and she's flying on a private plane and deplaning in Arizona, where it's about 180 degrees at this time of year.
I'm not sure why, but Americans wear shorts on vacation. It's like we don't know we're on vacation if we're wearing anything else. At least she had the good taste to wear them at a location where it's suitable. Unfortunately the O's must see these wonders almost completely alone. I guarantee you that 90% of the other vacationers at these spots were in shorts. And about 1% of them looked half as good as she did.
As for the "we aren't allowed to wear jeans in first class" decree, I have no idea what airline you've been flying on, Mrs. R - but if it's true, there are some arrests that need to be made on every American Airline flight I've been on in the past decade. I have seen grown women in everything from sweatsuits to pajama bottoms, with far more shorts on chubby legs than I care to count. Jeans would have been a site for sore eyes.
Sorry I got carried away above (grrr) and forgot to mention that I think her dress and belt look great. But that's not the Alaia/Starwars belt we've seen for months now. This is a new one. I like!
The first family looks amazing. Love them, love them, love them.
I don't know what airline Mrs R flies but I'm on a plane at least once a week and fly first class within the country and internationally and I nearly always wear jeans. Never had a problem, not even a raised eyebrow.
Zip it Mrs R or take your useless propaganda elsewhere sweetheart.
This belt is not the Alaia belt, but it's not new. It's the same studded belt we've seen on several occasions, I think, including the Essence magazine cover.
What is the "Star Wars" belt? I'm not aware of that one.
The First Lady was involved in absolutely zero official duties. She was off white water rafting and picking peaches while he held his public events. For her and the girls it was strictly personal vacation time. When they landed and left Arizona and were greeted by officials, she was dressed nicely like in this dress. They stopped at a Mexican restaurant for dinner.
Her shorts were fine. Some think they were short because she has such long (good-looking) legs. Her shorts on me would come below my knees. Her shorts were neither overly short or overly tight. Very appropriate attire for the occasion.
Hey, I'll bet she even gets naked on AF1 (changes clothes there a lot). The President, too, and even those darling children. Is this family desecrating this auspicious place????? Can the prim, puritanical protocol police rectify this??????????
Those shorts were hiking shorts. She was going hiking, not strolling around the city.
Perhaps in the future, she should wear a skirt to enter and exit the plane and then change into her hiking shorts in the car so she doesn't offend our delicate sensibilities.
I like her dress in the 2nd picture.
Love the peek into the weekend of the First Family. I know with Air Force One and Marine One you don't exactly get the scenic view of the places they travel and the "are we there yet's" take on a whole new meaning. The O' s seem like any normal family except for the ever present secret service and not being able to blend into the crowd of onlookers blending into the scenery. What must it be like to live in such a fishbowl that a simple family weekend turns into a media circus? Sometimes I feel a little guilty. (Ok, can I just say I really want to know what is on Malia's camera. What must it all look like from her perspective?
But I digress. The clothes were entirely appropriate and wonderful. Mrs. O and the girls totally rocked. I love that she can come off Air Force One in shorts and t-shirt as well as haute coutre (sp) and even a dress purportedly from Target.
And just like many families at the end of the trip the parents look dog tired from the whirlwind and keeping the kids entertained and not fighting and the kids just run like the wind with not a care in the world.
Just a side note, Mr President I know that you have security issues and the secret service probably nixed the idea of helping your wife into the car (like you did at the inauguration), but dude step back and help the lady down the stairs of Marine One will ya!!!!???
@Mrs R.
VA.CA.TION
noun
- an extended period of recreation
REC.RE.A.TION
noun
- Activity done for enjoyment when one is not working esp. involving physical activity
So, as far as I gather from the meaning of these two words, physical activity does involved lots of movement and I'd think that comfort is also an added plus! Shorts (Jamaican, Bermuda or otherwise) are totally appropriate and I quite appreciate the non-pretentious nature of them rather than a skirt!
Cheers!
I think Michelle should only wear a burqa, and that Air Force One should be kept in shrink wrap to prevent it from getting "cooties." Anything else is a GRIEVOUS breach of protocol, according to Rules of How to be A First Lady Part II section 319, subsection a, paragraph 19.
@Christina
Is it my imagination, or do I detect a sarcastic tone... ;)
Im gonna say it again. SCREW PROTOCOL! God Bless the Queen and First Lady for recognizing we are in the 21st century.
@BEEGEE
Get over yourself this is no such thing as protocol. DUH, this is not the 1930's, where you have a lily white woman who wears clothes down to her ankle. The shorts were great, the first lady is not going to stop wearing shorts because YOU think she should not. She is NOT 80 years old, she is a 45 year old attractive woman who has a nice body. When a President and First Lady enter the white house there is NO rule book on what they should do with THEIR lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is not school, this is the REAL WORLD.
@ Mrs. R
I don't know what foreign country YOU live in, but here in America women are not told what they cannot wear. This is a free country, Mrs. Obama live in a FREE COUNTRY were she can were what she damn well pleases. "no Jeans" wow