Tuesday
Sep142010
Delightful Dots
Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 12:50 PM 
Image by Jewel Samad / Getty Images
The first lady is giving a major push to her "Let's Move!" initiative this week. Today Mrs. O delivered remarks during a Hispanic Heritage Month event at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC. For the speech, the first lady wore a bronze and navy dotted tie-front silk taffeta shirt dress, paired with blue pumps for an extra pop of color.
Update: Thanks to reader Ari, who pointed us to this US Weekly post, identifying the designer of Mrs. O's dress as Kevan Hall. An editorial image of the dress can be seen, here.
tagged Kevan Hall
Kevan Hall
Reader Comments (85)
I like this alot....it has sleeves!!! :) jk...she looks nice and its great that she takes this initiative so seriously since she doesn't really have to.
Mrs. O our fashionista is back with a bang on the social circuit. I love this fabulous dress. The shoes enhances the navy dots on the dress. Lovely!! Who is the designer?
Love this dress. It is so flattering and talk about fabulous "transitional" dressing. Any idea who the designer is?
what a nice dress for a day or evening event... but I especially love the pop of colour that the shoes provide...would never have thought of doing that..how brilliant.
I love that dress on the First Lady its so pretty.
I really really LOVE this dress!!! I just think it is so lovely.
I don't think I like the way her hair is styled today. To me it seems a little old ladyish or better yet first ladyish, but not like the cool modern First Lady she is. It kinda looks like Hillary Clinton's old hairstyle. But whatever, it's just hair and she probably will have it styled differently tommorow. LOVE HER!!!
I have not posted here lately but today I couldn't resist. This is the most perfect dress for Mrs O. Everything about it including the color ( the unusual navy/brown combination), the cut (high waist, half wrap tie, and swing skirt) the stand up collar, everything is perfect! She looks gorgeous.
I love this dress on so many levels. The shirtwaist element immediately drew me back to a different era when shirtwaist styles were the norm. I wonder if her somewhat older hairstyle was purposely chosen as a nod to the era as well. It’s a wonderful dress for a wonderful first Lady!!!!
She looks great and the dress is wonderful.
I guess the blue shoes are playful, but black or navy pumps would have really made a statement.
I'm grateful that she makes a special effort to mix it up a little.
LOVE HER
I find the blue shoes distracting, but this is a quibble when the rest of the look is so polished. LOVE the dress, a very fresh take on the shirtwaist. I would have never guessed that these colors could work together. It looks like the sash fabric reverses the colors -- bronze dots on navy? Wish we could see the earrings.
I don't like her shoes with this dress. She should have went with her black patent leather shoes.
VERY chic, and I LOVE the shoes!!! I love her in short little sleeves. Really balances her out. She looks modern and fresh, ready to tackle anything. Lovely color palette.........Fall has arrived...............
I absolutely love this dress, the color, the shoes...very stylish, flattering, elegant and appropriate for the First Lady.
Love this dress! Not usually a fan of polka dots, but these I like. Love how the shoes pick up color of the dots. I agree...stylish, flattering and elegant!! Our FLOTUS is the "business!"
This dress just scream "Pretty!" I event like the blue shoes with it. Just Lovely Flotus! And I am rally digging Rachel Roy's label, too.
Personally, I would have gone with a navy shoe, but this is part of Mrs. Obama's style. Brown or metallic could have worked as well, but I do not think black with bronze and navy... I do like that she's wearing a heel.
MRS OBAMA DRESS IS NICE SHE WEAR THE SAME SHOES LAST WEEK
Interesting fabric appears to be a silk jacquard - bronze with blue dots on one side; blue with bronze dots on the reverse.
A nice shirt dress. The proportion would have been better with the full skirt just a smidge longer. (Just a smidge!) and the shoes are a mistake. This rich-looking fabric deserved better. But not black!
The tie belt is wizard - enhances the waistline by bridging high to natural waist, and softly. No cartridge belt.
Good look.
Here is a photo showing the back of the dress.
Notice that the bias-cut reverse fabric front tie is set into the side seams so that it goes a bit below the waistline as well as above the waistline. Adds a very graceful fit to both the back and the front.
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0dBXgHu66P2it/610x.jpg
Stunning! and she is letting her air grow. This Lady is something else, you just never know what she is going to wear next. I like!
This is a fantastic dress that is a beautiful color and looks wondeful on the FLOTUS! Her bow at the waist is just perfect with the dress. I would have gone for navy shoes or bronze. The shoes are a great style for the dress however. I really love this dress on her! It is very flattering and a great dress for transitioning to fall.
This dress seems to be everything she loves. The style of the bodice, the skirt and that bow. Love the shoes too, which give that extra OOMPH. Love her style, and love that she dresses to please no one but herself. As always, thanks Mrs. T for continuing to bring us Mrs. Obama's great style.
I love the entire look! I have a little story - my sister is a lawyer and I'm in advertising. Last week we met up for drinks after work and both showed up in shirt dresses and heels. The difference was her heels were much like Mrs. O's - bright and not too much of a heel. My heels were high and patent black. My sister wishes she could wear higher heels but it's not totally appropriate for her job. That's how I feel about Mrs. O's heels in this instance. A taller pair might have put the look totally over the edge - but she has to keep it semi-conservative per her role. Don't get me wrong, I love the outfit. Period. But a super high bronze or navy heal in that dress would've been sooo wonderful!
I must agree with some that I do not like the shoes with this dress. They strike a discordant note and not a harmonious one. I would prefer a plain navy pump or perhaps a strappy bronze heel. The dress, however, is marvelous and does not need that blue blast of color with it.
This dress is beautiful! I would have preferred her bronze metallic pumps or navy pumps as well, but the dress is a real knock out.
I like this a lot. traditional 50's with a updated flair.
THAT is perfection!
This is adorable! Very "Mad Men." Shirtwaist dresses are flattering on a lot of body sahpes, I think (so are wrap dresses.) And I love how the sash is the reverse of the dress fabric. Can't wait to hear who designed this! Any guesses?
Her hair is tucked behind her right ear - no big deal, it's the same style we've seen recently.
Am I the only one that LOVES these fly blue shoes with this dress? I think the shoes are her "wow" factor. Notice she kept her jewelry extremely minimal. The shoes are her jewels.
I love the dress, luv luv luv the dress, but I don't know about the shoes with the dress. I know the trend is to mix and match but Im not sure. Other than the shoes, I think she looks fab, as always. Mrs. O has such grace and poise without looking stuffy.
To follow up on my previous post, I do see that the dress is bronze and navy but the shoes are very bright. Its just something not working there for me, but again She does look fab. I love that she is not afraid to play with fashion, different prints and colors. You go Mrs. O!
Tasteful. A gem of a look.
THis chick hardly ever disappoints! I love this silhouette-fitted bodice and full skirt- on her. It works well with her height and figure. I am sure my president loves it as well.
Love the dress lots. Like the shoes. Her hair looks a bit flat or something. Remember, in Washington D.C. it gets brutally humid and hot.. Would this affect her hair?
Awesome dress! Awesome fit! Awesome color! I love Mrs. O!
Oh this is adorable! So cute! It looks fantastic on her!
I usually love what she wears but for some reason this one I really really love. Wonderful. So classic with a rich looking fabric. She looks really polished and interesting and has such style. I guess that is why I keep coming back to this website despite have so much to do when I get home from work! Shelly
I love the shoes with the dress. I think the flash of color works well with the dress.
The shoes work perfectly with the dress. I love how they just pop. I think people who are complaining that she should have worn black shoes or that they don't like the shoe color think the dots are black. They're not. http://theobamadiary.com/2010/09/14/movin-on-up/
I haven't posted in a long time but I am completely in love with Mrs O's dress and overall style. She is such a lady and role model for young (and not so young) women. I just turned 29 and I admit that I look up to her as a role model for what a lady in the workplace/wife/mother should be. I don't deify her by any means but I like how she doesn't hide her intelligence and makes it cool to be the smart girl in class. All while enjoying fashion!! I wish she was around when I was 8. :)
The shoes are the best part! The stiletto heels look like a contrasting color. The world's watching so you might as well give them something to see, no? Mrs O is worlds away from the sorry stuffed suits of yesteryear's first ladies.
I was there and the dress has a shimmer that matched her shoes. They were perfect together.
I think it's a 10. I love her individuality. Anyone could have worn black, bronze or navy shoes - not a lot of imagination to match or riff on a color in the dress. We have not seen her (maybe ever?) in this shade of brown. I think that because it's in the color family of her complexion, the pop of blue is terrific. Anything else would have been monochromatic and not nearly as interesting.
She likes to make us look, and then think about what we're seeing. And it works every time!
This dress is beautiful and the shoes 2!
Amazing! I love the blue pumps!!
@ canyongirl - "Am I the only one that LOVES these fly blue shoes with this dress?"
No you are not alone. I must admit that I would not have thought of it. I would have gone matchy, matchy with bronze or similar but now that I have seen it, I am wowed. Even going with navy would be too mundane and matchy, matchy. This definitely pops and harmonises.
This is a simple example of thinking outside of the box. FLOTUS never ceases to amaze me.
I wish I could get some of her hand-me-downs.
Her hair would have looked great with a side wave and some bounce. The dress is very smart with its fun oversized polka dots and luxe fabric, but the contrast color would have been better at her neck than on her feet. Pearls would have brightened the effect and chocolate or dark blue patent pumps would have been just right.
I'm with the others. I love the shoes. They absolutely make the outfit. Black or bronze shoes would have been safe and boring but the bright blue really shows the dress off nicely.
I really realy like the look. I agree...matchy matchy is definitely out. And this has often been Mrs.O's style.
Mrs.O rocks!!!
HAVE MERCY.......GIVE ME THOSE SHOES!!! (Yes, I'm shouting) This whole outfit hits it clear out of the park. Very worthy cause, check. Fabulous First Lady, check. Smokin' hot dress, check. Killer Jimmy Choo Glilberts, check. When our Michelle puts her finger prints on something, she really makes it her own. Wow, and we get to come along for the ride. FLOTUS extraordinaire, check!