An Encore Perhaps?

By request, we thought we'd revisit two popular ensembles that Mrs-O.org readers would like to see the First Lady wear again. The first, a Maria Pinto coral-red silk crepe sheath dress worn by Mrs. O to the White House a few days following the election. The dress features three-quarter sleeves, an empire waist and a high neckline with a burst of sunray pleats emanating from the collar. Photo courtesy of the White House/ Chris Greenberg The second ensemble is a striking black and camel skirt and coat combination designed by Narciso Rodriguez, which Mrs. O wore for the "We Are One" celebration at the Lincoln Memorial during the Inauguration. At the time Booth Moore, Fashion Critic for the L.A. Times, described the look as "strong, elegant, and above all, modern." Image via Flickr user Presidential Inaugural Committee / Creative Commons Let's discuss. What other looks or accessories would you like to see make a second appearance? (Personally, we would love to see one of those fanastic feathery pins by Carolyn Rosenberg resurface soon.)

While We Wait for Mrs. O's Return

Image via Flickr user Lawyer Mom [Steph] / Creative Commons ...we thought we'd go back in time once more. Above is a photograph taken in August 2008, as Mrs. O hosted a roundtable event with military families in Norfolk, VA. The photo caught our eye, lovely in its own right, but also because of the trio of beaded brooches Mrs. O wears at the collar of her crochet knit cardigan. We've recently learned and wanted to share the origin of said brooches: once again, Moschino! Onto a few "must-reads": Jason Wu was in London this week for a dinner hosted by Net-a-Porter's Natalie Massenet.  Bot Grazia and Vogue U.K. were on the case and have subsequently run short interviews worth a read. In Grazia, Jason Wu speaks of his design ethos:

"I've never been trendy and I don't design trendy things. I design for real women, older women with feminine bodies. And I want my pieces to be relevant in 30 years' time."

And in Vogue U.K., he weighs in on the now infamous Sleeve-gate:

"I was amazed by that - was it really an issue? I mean, we're not living in the past - and it wasn't as if there was a high split in her skirt or she was showing cleavage."

Finally, we'll leave you with a short video of highlights from Charlie Rose's recent interview with Valentino, Giancarlo Giammetti and Matt Tyrnauer, Director of the newly released film "Valentino: The Last Emperor". The full interview, well worth viewing, can be seen here.

The Dress Before the Dress

Image used with kind permission from warmtofu

Several months ago we came across this photo of Mrs. O, posing with a young supporter at a 2007 campaign fundraiser in California. Initially it was the floral brooch that caught our eye, but the more time we spent with the photo, the more the dress took on a familiar quality - the shape of the neckline and slight volume through the sleeve. And then stirring in the back of our mental Mrs. O fashion library was this passage from the WSJ's (sadly, no longer) Heard on the Runway blog, written in November 2008 about the floral Thakoon dress Mrs. O wore on the final night of the DNC:

"The reverse kimono dress is what the garment industry calls a hot body, meaning it sells so well that a designer makes it for more than one season, often tweaking it by using a new fabric. The silhouette is now the four-year-old Thakoon label’s best-selling style, having sold out in 2007 when it debuted at Bergdorf Goodman."

It made us wonder, could the black crinkled silk cotton dress above, worn a year prior to the DNC, be Thakoon as well?  Once we found this, the final look from Thakoon's Spring 2007 collection, we were almost certain. Besides being a fun Mrs. O fashion fact, it speaks to the First Lady's strong sense of her own style. Clearly Mrs. O was quite fond of the cut, so much so, that she purchased a second dress of the same design in a new, bold print a year later. It also reflects her longstanding patronage of select designers, Thakoon certainly among them. A Thakoon dress similar to that worn by Mrs. O at the DNC is now carried at Kirna Zabete. A back view reveals the crossover v-back detail and tie belt -- the inspiration for the  dress's "reverse kimono" name. Image used with kind permission from Bill Burke / Page One Photography

Quote of the Day

The New York Times has published a new interview with First Lady Mrs. O  in which she discusses various aspects of her new household, including her enviable wardrobe. Mrs. O has quite the sense of humor!

“[President Mr. O]’s always asking: ‘Is that new? I haven’t seen that before.’ It’s like, Why don’t you mind your own business? Solve world hunger. Get out of my closet.”

She teasingly imitated him: “You didn’t need any more shoes. The shoes you had on yesterday were fine. Why can’t you just wear that for the rest of the presidency?”

Click here to read the full article.

White House Fruits and Veggies

Photo credit: Jason Reed / Reuters Today Mrs. O will be joined by a group of 5th grade students from Bancroft Elementary School in Washington, D.C. to dig and plant the White House vegetable garden, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt's victory garden. The garden will include a medley of vegetables, berries and herbs that the students will help to plant, harvest and cook. To see the full plan, click here. The garden is part of the First Lady's cause for healthier eating. As she described to the New York Times:

“A real delicious heirloom tomato is one of the sweetest things that you’ll ever eat,” she said. “And my children know the difference, and that’s how I’ve been able to get them to try different things.

“I wanted to be able to bring what I learned to a broader base of people. And what better way to do it than to plant a vegetable garden in the South Lawn of the White House?”

We wonder if Ms. Alice Waters had a hand in this? In last Sunday's edition of "60 Minutes", the slow-food movement leader made a timely case for a White House vegetable garden.

"I have been talking nonstop about the symbolism of an edible landscape at the White House. I think it says everything about stewardship of the land and about the nourishment of a nation," Waters said.

Asked if she thinks she'll achieve such a garden at the White House, Waters told Lesley Stahl, "Well, I'm very hopeful. I've always liked the idea of doing press conferences at the compost heap."

All very exciting, with a promise of Spring no less. Of course, we can't wait to see Mrs. O's take on gardening gear. Update: It proves to be quite a chic take indeed: a long black wrap sweater, paired with one of Mrs. O's signature belts, leggings and black patent leather boots. The official word from Mrs. O and the White House blog:

"This is a big day. We've been talking it since the day we moved in," said the First Lady as she and two dozen local students broke ground on the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn of the White House.  Those students will be involved in the garden as it develops and grows, producing delicious, healthy vegetables to be cooked in the White House Kitchen and given to Miriam's Kitchen, which serves the homeless in Washington, DC.

Photo credit: Joyce N. Boghasian / White House