Two First Ladies Honor 9/11
Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 1:23 PM 
Photos by Jim Watson / Getty Images
First Lady Mrs. O and former First Lady Laura Bush were in Shanksville, PA today to commemorate 9/11 and honor the victims of United Airlines Flight 93. It is the first time since the inauguration that the two first ladies have shared a stage, marking the day with "somber words on a windswept hillside," as noted by Nia-Malika Henderson for the Washington Post. For further Washington Post coverage on the event, click here.
Mrs. O dressed thoughtfully for the occasion, choosing a slim, clean-lined, blue silk shantung suit by Narciso Rodriguez, adorned only with a small diamond flower pin at the left shoulder -- a look that projected somber strength. Former First Lady Laura Bush wore a natural-hued boucle skirt suit, accented by a strong red lip and pearl earrings.
Narciso Rodriguez
Reader Comments (42)
Yay! I am thrilled Mrs. O went with a power suit this time. I would love to see her in these more often. Obviously, she knows how to keep it modern and youthful. It was most appropriate and sophisticated. Love the sleeveless looks but there is a time and place, plus its a bit played out. And, in anticipation of Mrs. Bush wearing a suit, she has made a sound and practicle choice. Eitherway, she is my SHERO. Love her!
Hugs and Kisses to 911 Survivors and Families! Always in my heart and prayers!
It is good for the country to see these two women together on this day.
Clothes are very unimportant on this day. Both ladies were dressed to honor the fallen heroes and passengers of the flight and their families. Their remarks were wonderful and the presence of
both of them gave a feeling of unity of feelings for the families.
Glad to see Mrs. O wearing something with sleeves. The sleeveless look is too predictable with her now.
I just heard the First Lady's speech and it left me in awed of how passionate this lady is. I don't know how in the world she kept herself together at the memorial in Pennsylvania today. She was very emotional. I left you guys with these pictures.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/9/11/901067/-Presidential-9-11-(Photos,-videos)
LOVE MRS OBAMA BLUE SUIT BUT THEY CAN FIX THE PANTS FOR HER IT IS LONG ON HER AND CANT SEE THE SHOES SHE WEAR WITH THEM. MRS OBAMA CRYED IT WAS TOUCH FUL.
So happy to see former first lady, Laura Bush at the commemoration. I have long admired Mrs. Bush and it was nice to see and hear her today.
I agree with 'groovy' that it was indeed important, on this day, for these two women to stand together. It's a powerful symbol and message that we must remember that we are Americans first and this tragedy happened to all of us.
I really have missed seeing Laura Bush and her very special classic take on fashion.
Wanda
Love former first lady Laura Bush ... always have. She handles herself with such class and grace.
Wonderful it brought tears to my eyes.
I like how the two women's aesthetics are so different... Laura Bush is very country club, whereas Mrs. O. is so modern and chic. Go Shelly O!
Wanda/bmb/gael...
You darling in all your various incarnations are incredibly and rib tickling funny - *chuckle*
Please spare us all -- *chuckle*, *chuckle*
I'm so confused! On Huff Post the pantsuit looks like a light charcoal grey!!!
It really nice to see both of our most recent First Ladies together! They both look elegant and classy.
On another note, why is that recently the Comments on this site are centered and not left-margin justified? IMHO, the centering of text makes it more cumbersome and difficult to read, akin to trying to read posts in all caps. I generally love coming here to see Mrs O and read the comments, but with the comments centered lately, not so much . . .
Could we please go back to having the comments left-justified - Pretty Please??? :)
mspoint1106, I am not a computer expert but I notice on my desk top the comments are left margin justified while on my laptop they are centred.
@canyongal, i also noticed the suit looked charcoal grey in photo released by other news agencies ... but when i received the confirmation from Narciso Rodriguez's publicist, she described it as blue. I think we have to go with that! It seems like it was extremely bright yesterday, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were lighting issues for the photographers that resulted in color variations.
The sincerity of both Mrs. Bush and our First Lady Michelle Obama was most touching. It was good to see Laura Bush and FLOTUS stand and represent unity. The ceremony and speeches left me in awe of their grace and individual inner strength and beauty. Both women are forces to be reckoned with.
@ Audrey,
You are on it, LOL!
Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Bush look lovely.
Laura Bush and Michelle Obama ... class and grace. Audrey ...
I've been posting on this blog for a long time, and you've even commented nicely on my past posts (check out May 10, 2009 A Vision in Magenta.). A complimentary statement regarding one of the first ladies does not equal negativity toward the other first lady, although that is how you chose to interpret it.
*chuckle*, *chuckle* ? Not funny at all.
Both ladies dressed in a manner that "suited" the event. Mrs. Bush looks wonderful. She has a lot of grace and traditional style. It is good to see her again. The FLOTUS looks nice as well. Both spoke from the heart. 911 was such a horrible day. I still think of the victims and their families. May the families heal a little more each day.
I thought both First Ladies represented The United States of America very well yesterday. Lovely in their own unique style.
This type of thread always seems to happen whenever Mrs. Obama is standing with another prominent woman.
I was so moved by the compassionate and the words from the book of Psalm by both First Lady Michele Obama and former First Lady Laura Bush. It was a time of unity regardelss of what your belief is, both women exemfied grace and honor to all the falling heroes of 911.
FLOTUS is looking sophisticated as always!!!
First, thanks for your site. It's always fun to scroll through the beautiful photos of our First Lady. As a Capitol Hill staffer, I have an unspeakable gratitude for the passengers of Flight 93. While some remember them as "victims" of that horrible day, I can remember them as nothing less than Heroes.
Again, thank you for your site. :)
I was watching 9/11 programmes over the weekend. I will never ever forget that tragic day. When you hear stories ( nine years on) of survivors, widows, work colleagues, hero's, service men who died, pizzerias who provided Ground Zero staff with food for weeks on end and didn't ask for a penny, pet shops who freely gave away food to all the sniffer dogs............it really touches my heart. I mean really, really , really makes me realise that there is more to life than scrutinising our First Ladies clothes and shoes. I know this is a fashion blog and at any time I'd make a comment as I often do but out of respect to the three thousand souls that perished nine years ago, I'll reserve my comments for another time.
There si something good to be said about Mrs. Bush's style. Simple, appropriate and classic.
She chooses clothing that is hard to dislike and always age appropriate.
I really like the color of Mrs. O's pant suit, I do wish the hem was done differenly on her pants.
I'm definitely not a fan of anything Bush, yet I agree with others who've noted it was a good symbolic gesture to have these two women side by side on this day. Mrs. Obama looks lovely. And wow, is there any color she cannot wear?
I think that Mrs. Bush is always well dressed. She is very traditional, but what the heck, she looks well put togehter and she is pretty. I was impressed at how welcoming she was when Mr.s O came to tour the White House before the O's moved in. Class.
@Jestina and Debra, I agree with both of you.
If only these laura Bush fans who've always managed to find their way to a blog about Mrs Obama and remain the biggest and most unyielding critics of Mrs Obama would actually borrow a leaf from Mrs Obama's supporters who have been extremely generous, respectful and gracious in their comments about Laura Bush. (And it's certainly not for a lack of stuff to criticize!!)
Eleroy, so true! I have to bite my tongue not to reply to the comment about the welcoming of the Obamas to the White House. I remember them being told they could not stay at the Blair House prior to their big move. Class is not the word I would use to describe that slight. Small and petty come to mind. Okay, so I stopped biting my tongue. It hurt!
I thought it was wonderful that the two ladies appeared together. There ought to be some events that transcent politics. I wish they would do more of it to help change the venom and discourse being printed/read/said by the Ann Coulters, Sara Palins, Michelle Milken's of today. One can disagree without personal attacks, lies, and smears. That being said I thought Mrs. Obama should have worn a dress or suit. Nice pants suit but the ocassion ( in my opinion) warranted different attire. Mrs. Bush was most appropriate.
I am so very proud of these two women! Both of these women spoke from the heart and through their speeches, showed the world the beauty that is America. While looking at and listening to these two women, it never came to mind that one was a Democrat and one was a Republican. Through pictures and words, they showed the world - AMERICANS!
Both Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Bush looked beautiful. Their individual outfits were befitting the occasion.
shyril, I guess we all have our different opinions. I thought Mrs. Obama looked radiant and Mrs. Bush looked washed-out and dull.
Is Mrs. O wearing the diamond pin that President Obama gave her? She wears it quite often, and I love to see her wear something with such meaning--I believe it was an anniversary gift.
I just love the way Mrs. O is so considerate. Of all of the outfits at her disposal, she chose one that more in line with what Mrs. Bush would wear. As much as I love the cut and the color, I am more enamoured of of sense of respect and kindness. I really hold this lady in very high esteem, not just as ouf First Lady, but more so as a human being.
Laura Bush is SO pretty, it almost did my head in watching her trot out boring suit after boring suit during her tenure. Much as I like her (and that is enormously) I did find myself wondering how MANY boucle suits one can wear and not snore. So today I was disappointed to say the least to see that she is still wearing clothes that do nothing for her. Such a shame. Lovely figure, lovely face, terrible dull aging clothes.
Mrs O's suit however, is breathtaking. What an extraordinary colour. So simple and yet so impressive. Love it.
(Yes I'm still not happy about that Blair House slight. I think the class in that situation was the Obamas taking it in stride and being very gracious about it. That was nasty.)
Sorry, but I wouldn't really go as far as describing Laura Bush as pretty. But, if we are going to critique fashion, let's do it honestly with regard to Laura Bush.
The look on Mrs Bush is so mother of the bride, especially with the heavy looking boucle suit in summer no less. The cut and color of the suit also emphasizes a rather non-existent behind resulting in what I can best describe as a "flattened" profile.
The hair cut is so severe and accentuates an already stern and frigid look.
The shock of red lipstick which might work on any other day is actually in my opinion, extremely inappropriate for this very solemn occasion.
Shocking red lipstick for a memorial??
Hmmm, wonder what would have been said and written had Mrs Obama turned up wearing scarlet red lipstick??
Or a short beige skirt suit for that matter.
Suddenly the bright color would not have been solemn enough and she would have been accused of showing skin (her legs) "inappropriately".
The out of this world cost of what would probably be an Oscar de la renta suit would have been bandied around with the usual questions of who's paying for it and what message she is sending by wearing this expensive De la Renta suit. (Let them eat cake.)
It would all be followed up with the now familiar mantra of how out of touch she is with the suffering of the American people and how dare she try to turn a 9-11 memorial into a red carpet fashion statement event.
But let's not let the blatant double standards get in the way of our enjoying the non-stop nitpicking and pillorying of Mrs Obama. And why should we? It's all done in good fun after all and Michelle Obama asked for it when she without her permission, was put on a pedestal by those commie know it all fashionistas at Vogue etc.
Sorry, but I wouldn't really go as far as describing Laura Bush as pretty. But, if we are going to critique fashion, let's do it honestly with regard to Laura Bush.
The look on Mrs Bush is so mother of the bride, especially with the heavy looking boucle suit in summer no less. The cut and color of the suit also emphasizes a rather non-existent behind -resulting in what I can best describe as a "flattened" profile.
The hair cut is so severe and accentuates an already stern and frigid look.
The shock of red lipstick which might work on any other day is actually in my opinion, extremely inappropriate for this very solemn occasion.
Shocking red lipstick for a memorial??
Hmmm, wonder what would have been said and written had Mrs Obama turned up wearing scarlet red lipstick??
Or a short beige skirt suit for that matter.
Suddenly the bright color would not have been solemn enough and she would have been accused of showing skin (her legs) "inappropriately" and wearing beige to stand out and hog the limelight - you know in that look at me, it's all about me sort of way - in a sea of darker memorial attire wearing folk?
The out of this world cost of what would probably be an Oscar de la renta suit would have been bandied around with the usual questions of who's paying for it and what message she is sending by wearing this expensive De la Renta suit. (Let them eat cake anyone??)
It would all be followed up with the now familiar mantra of how out of touch she is with the suffering of the American people and how dare she try to turn a 9-11 memorial into a red carpet fashion statement event.
But hey, let's not let the blatant double standards get in the way of our enjoying the non-stop nitpicking and pillorying of Mrs Obama. And why should we? It's all done in good fun after all, and Michelle Obama asked for it when she without her permission, was put on a pedestal by those commie, know it all fashionistas at Vogue etc.
Mrs. Bush looks so classy, as usual. But she oozes class, was probably born with it.
Mrs. Obama's outfit looks too much like an off-the-rack mens' suit except for having no lapels.
@ Spunkysmum:
"Class" - a rather loose, relative and very subjective term - LOL!!!
I come to this website to look at Michelle.Obama's clothing because I think she is (usually) a splendid dresser. However, I much prefer Laura Bush's outfit to Michelle's in the above photo.