Mrs. O in Puma Sneakers

The sneaker obsessed among us probably took note when the first lady debuted a new pair of shoes this week to harvest the White House vegetable garden. Mrs. O wore PUMA 917 Lo Poparts, priced at a very economical $55.00. They're still available at Puma's online store, here.

Mr. Bo's Official Portrait

Photo by Chuck Kennedy

What a handsome pup!

Fashion from the Inside Out

The highly anticipated mid-career retrospective of Isabel Toledo's work opens tomorrow at The Museum at FIT in New York. Included in the exhibit is the famed lemongrass ensemble, on loan from Mrs. O for the next few months. Of the dress and coat, Mrs. O said, "I absolutely adored my Inauguration Day ensemble designed by Isabel Toledo, and I am happy it will be part of the exhibit so that others can appreciate the creativity and craftsmanship of one of America's great female designers."

We went for a sneak peek of the exhibit this morning, and must tell you, it was magical. The garments are organized by theme: Origami, Suspension, Liquid Architecture, Shadow, Shape, Organic Geometry and Manipulated Surfaces. Many of the pieces are accompanied by their pattern, which makes one pause to contemplate the remarkable transformation from 2-D to 3-D.

The lemongrass dress and coat are in their own room, accompanied by a series of photos taken inside Isabel Toledo's studio. We learned more about the garment as well. Though the fabric often appears yellow in photographs, it is truly a sage green in person. The coat also appeared to feature two, small front pocket flaps when first created.

The exhibit, Isabel Toledo: Fashion from the Inside Out, opens tomorrow and runs through mid September. We would love to get a group from Mrs-O.org together to attend the exhibit, which is free to the public. Tentatively we propose the early afternoon of Saturday, July 11 if anyone is interested!

Check out this fabulous video from NYMag:

Hot Pink for Volunteerism

Photo by Jonathan Ernst

Tuesday was a full day for the First Lady. Before her gardening duties, Mrs. O spoke at an awards ceremony for Greater DC Cares, the largest coordinator of volunteerism in the Washington, DC area.

For the event Mrs. O wore a black and white textured jacket over a hot pink shell. The jacket and top were paired with a Sonia Rykiel belt, which featured a coordinating hot pink buckle. (We have an idea about the jacket but want to confirm details first...) Update: Mrs. O wears the Bowtie Tweed cardigan jacket from the Thakoon Resort 2009 collection.

CFDA Honors Mrs. O

On Monday night, First Lady Mrs. O received the Board of Directors' Special Tribute award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in New York. Mrs. O accepted her award via a pre-taped video speech (thank you MJ Strong for the link):

Beyond her words in the March 2009 issues of Vogue, when Mrs. O said, "If I can have any impact, I want women to feel good about themselves and have fun with fashion," this is the first we've heard the First Lady more formally articulate her appreciation for fashion. The qualities she calls out -- art form, ingenuity and craftsmanship -- are all hallmarks of the otherwise quite diverse range of designers she has embraced in recent months, from Isabel Toledo to Maria Cornejo to Jasmin Shokrian.

In honor of the award, Mr. Andre Leon Talley of Vogue wrote a piece for Style.com in which he highlighted a few of his favorite Mrs. O looks. His picks? The recent Michael Kors, Narciso Rodriguez and Givenchy ensemble worn for D-Day; the Alaia belt and blue VBH clutch worn for date night in New York; and one of our personal favorites, the argyle Junya Watanabe cardigan with teal Jason Wu dress worn in London.