Update: Mrs.O's Blue Coat is J.Crew

Though we previously reported that the blue tweed (possibly herringbone) coat that Mrs. O wore for her lunch date with Washington D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty was from Maria Pinto, we now have confirmation that it's in fact from J.Crew! We're told the coat is one of J.Crew's fall styles.

Mrs. O Dines in Style

Mrs. O lunched with Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, his wife Michelle, and Jill Biden this afternoon at Georgia Brown's, a D.C. restaurant known for its traditional Southern classics. Our ever stylish First Lady was dressed in a medley of blues, including a stunning portrait collar overcoat in light blue herringbone tweed. Underneath she wore a cornflower blue dress with an asymmetrical draped neckline, paired with a blue green cardigan and royal blue patent leather belt to cinch her waist. The Huffington Post has a great slideshow of photos here. As "doreen" has observed in the comments, this look is another stand-out example of Mrs. O's masterful wardrobe remixing. We saw the same belt and cardigan as part of a more dressed down look as Mrs. O volunteered for the National Day of Service. Her shoes, we believe, are the same Jimmy Choo "Glacier" pumps she wore on Inauguration Day. Jimmy Choo pumps aside, this remains quite the mystery look. An afternoon of research did not reveal the designer. Any tips (anonymous or otherwise) would be most appreciated. UPDATE: A source reveals that this ensemble was the work of Mrs. O's hometown designer, Maria Pinto. In fact, we've confirmed that the coat is J. Crew! Further, we've now confirmed that Mrs. O wore Maria Pinto's Ella Dress, hand-made from Prussian cashmere. The dress is part of Maria Pinto's Fall 2009 collection.

A Hidden Layer of Nina Ricci

Image via Flickr user oceandesetoiles / Creative Commons While we thought every last detail of Mrs. O's Inaugural wardrobe had been catalogued and commented on, it seems at least one additional designer name has surfaced. InStyle informs us that underneath her Isabel Toledo coat, Mrs. O wore a yellow mohair cardigan from French design house Nina Ricci on Inauguration Day. Above we get just a peek of the cardigan, pinned closed at the neckline by Mrs. O's vintage brooch from Carole Tanenbaum (plus an adorable shot of the ever playful Sasha Obama). For a better view of the cardigan, check out this beautiful behind-the-scenes photo essay from Callie Shell for Time magazine. Of note, Mrs. O wore at least two pieces from French designers through the course of the Inauguration (the cardigan above, as well as her black wool swing coat from Sonia Rykiel). If anything, this serves as yet another testament to Mrs. O's incredibly fine-tuned style acumen.

Creating a Sustainable Style

Photo via The White House We know change has already started at the White House just by checking out Mrs. O's recent activities. Her schedule has been busy and her approach has been refreshingly open. On January 22, just two days after the inauguration, Mrs. O threw her premiere First Lady party: the entire White House staff - 90 people including plumbers, florists, and cleaning staff - was invited to the East Room for a get-together. The guests were encouraged to mingle and get to know one another as well as the new First Lady, who wore a casual black short-sleeved sweater with a gray tweed skirt and oversized pearl earrings. Her hair was sleek and pulled back in a low bun. (This New York Times article details how President Obama, evidently following suit, is unbuttoning the formal dress code in the West Wing.) And there was a surprise for Mrs. O at this party: another birthday cake, this time presented to her by the staff. (On the train ride to Washington, D.C., on January 17, there had been two large sheet cakes-one vanilla with chocolate icing, one chocolate with vanilla icing-on board for everyone to celebrate Mrs. O's big day.) Of course, there is much to celebrate recently but we know, in general, that the O family doesn't indulge in a let-us-eat-cake snacking habit. Mrs. O has long stated that she is very interested in promoting healthy eating for her family. This lifestyle was just reinforced yesterday when it was announced that Sam Kass, a 28-year-old private chef from Chicago, has now joined the White House staff.  Filling a vacancy, he will be a White House employee, paid by the government; he will be working as assistant chef along side executive chef Cristeta Comerford, who assumed that job in 2005. Kass has an intense interest in local, healthy, and sustainable food. He grew up in Chicago, graduated from the University of Chicago (located in the same Hyde Park neighborhood where the Os lived), and trained in Europe. He worked as a line chef at Chicago restaurants Avec and Blackbird, favorites of Mrs. O. His former boss there has said that Kass "wants to improve the world from a food standpoint." Kass then founded The Inevitable Table, a private chef and home cooking service that also showed clients how to shop and eat locally. (Mrs. O and her family were clients.) Until December 2008, he also headed up "Rethinking Soup," a lecture and free soup series that ran every Tuesday out of the Jane Addams Hull House Museum at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Lectures there focused on socio-political food choices and sustainable food. When Kass resigned, some there speculated that he might be joining the White House staff. Fashion, of course, is wonderful and exciting. But style goes beyond clothes, as captivating as they may be. Real style is part of how we live as well as how we look, how we view others as well as how they view us. In that regard, we feel Mrs. O - in so many ways - is well on her way to creating her own truly sustainable White House style.

The Inaugural Jewels

Image via Flickr user dbking / Creative Commons From her beaming smile, to her crystal embellished Jason Wu gown, to her diamond jewelry, Mrs. O sparkled through and through at the Inaugural Ball. But despite a lifetime's worth of photography and video from the evening, the details of Mrs. O's inaugural jewelry have eluded us. We could never quite get a clear view of Mrs. O's diamond earrings, bracelets and cocktail ring. Thanks to the gracious people at Loree Rodkin, we can now take in every last stone. We first saw Mrs. O wear Loree Rodkin earrings on Election Night in November. Subsequently, Mrs. O turned to the designer for most of the jewelry she wore throughout the inauguration, including pieces she wore at the Lincoln Memorial Celebration, the Kids Inaugural Concert and finally the Inaugural Ball. In an interview with Firstwater News, Ms. Rodkin revealed the design instruction for the Inaugural Ball jewelry had been "pieces be all white with no color". She continued, "I wanted sparkle but no too glitzy. I wanted the jewelry to pop but not overwhelm." With that direction, Ms. Rodkin designed an exclusive, one-of-a-kind suite of jewelry for Mrs. O to wear for the Inaugural Ball, including the 61-carat white gold and triple rose cut diamond "Inaugural Earrings", 13-carat "Michelle Signet ring" crafted from white gold and black rhodium, and a set of white-gold bangles featuring 13 carats of diamonds. As Ms. Rodkin told Heard on the Runway, the jewelry was loaned to Mrs. O by the designer, arranged through Ikram Goldman, owner of Ikram in Chicago. Rodkin will donate the jewelry Mrs. O wore to the Inaugural Ball to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American history. Along with Mrs. O's inaugural fashions, they will join the museum's "First Ladies" collection. When Rodkin was asked about the cost of creating the jewelry, which the designer herself absorbed, she said, "What greater honor could I have? My jewelry for all eternity is going to be part of history,” she said. “For me, it’s worth it.” She continues in her official press release: "It's a privilege to be a part of history. Today the country has new hope. The First Lady is a symbol of hope, courage and great style. I am honored that she has chosen my jewelry. Words cannot describe the emotions I feel that Michelle Obama has allowed me to be a part of this glorious moment." The Michelle Signet Ring: Image used with kind permission from Loree Rodkin More glorious diamond jewels after the jump: The Inaugural Earrings: The Inaugural Bangle Bracelets: Images used with kind permission from Loree Rodkin