A Gown for the Ages

Design used with kind permission from The Daily Beast

All eyes now focus on the Inaugural Ball and what Mrs. O will wear for what will surely be a historic occasion. For all intents and purposes, the Inaugural Ball will set the tone for Mrs. O’s White House style. Everything up until now, the Thakoon frocks, the Maria Pinto sheathes, although compelling, have been just an amuse bouche for the main course.

As designers clamor for the opportunity to dress Mrs. O, The Daily Beast posed this challenge to former Project Runway favorites: design a gown, fabulous enough to befit the lady wearing it, using an American flag, a burlap sack, first lady Laura Bush's inaugural gown (think pale blue and sparkly) plus ten dollars for trimming.  

A challenge for any designer, but one worth the taking for these burgeoning couturiers. Here we’ll profile our favorite 4 of the 8 designs. To see the full range of gowns, click over to The Daily Beast.

Mychael Knight, Season 3 Semifinalist

Oh Mychael, the man who brought us glamour from the dumpster (one of his first challenge wins) and then took us on an urban safari for the finale – you are broad in your aesthetic grasp.  There is something very chic about the dress.  The flag used for body of the dress, along with the large bow, have a very McQueen quality. Taken individually each aspect of the dress is good, but together there might be too many bells and whistles. 

Alison Dahl Kelly, Season 3

Alison Dahl Kelly was the tragedy of Season 3, and a designer we are happy to see again.  Dahl's design uses the burlap sack dyed a chic black, and embellished with a sash and appliqués made from the lining of Laura’s dress.  The wide belt would be fantastic for Mrs.O and extremely figure flattering.  However, the cocktail length may be breaking too much with convention for the Inaugural Ball.  We fully endorse this dress for another occasion – perhaps a photo op on the lawn with the girls and Puppy O?

Rami Kashou, Season 4 Finalist

Rami, Rami – nothing like neoclassical draping to spell the triumph of democracy (think Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People).  The exterior of the dress is draped from Laura Bush’s dress with the interior flag stripe peaking through the folds.  The waist is clinched with a burlap belt.  We like the mix of classical drape and of the moment trend – belting everything.  This would be a good but safe pick for the ball.

Leanne Marshall, Season 5 Winner

We love Leanne and we love this dress.  In keeping with her sculptural dresses from her final collection (very Balenciaga Spring 2007), Leanne builds texture and volume by layering the neckline of the dress.  The deep, but not too deep, V of the neck is universally flattering, while the faux wrap adds an unexpected twist.  The clinched waist is clearly a winner.  We love the pockets, which adds a modern casualness to the dress, without diminishing the elegance.  The most fabulous part of this dress is in the hidden detail.  Although it looks like a vision of beige or more accurately, burlap, the entire dress is lined in the flag stripe.  Polished on the outside, with humor on the inside – we love.

So there you have it – our thoughts on some fabulous potential designs for Mrs. O's big night. Chances are Mrs. O's more likely to wear boucle than burlap, but regardless, it’s fun to see designer imagination at work. Have a peek over at The Daily Beast and let us know what you think.

The Designers Speak

Photo credit: Flickr user coutorture // Creative Commons

We were just catching up on a bit of weekend reading, and have come across what is hands down the best Mrs. O style read yet. "Next White House: Relaxed, Low-Key" from the November 6 print edition of WWDThursday interviews a handful of the biggest names in fashion for their thoughts on Mrs. O's style and what influence she'll have as First Lady. We haven't been able to find the full article online, but will share a few of the choice quotes below.

Maria Pinto: "[The Obamas] are modern. It's a refreshing, youthful, modern point of view that we've been desperate for." Pinto described Mrs. O's style as "very approachable. That's what people love about Michelle - she's comfortable in her own skin. She can go from J. Crew to designer."

Oscar de la Renta said this is the moment for "an American woman to mark her time." "Hopefully she will do that," he said. "It's not only about the way she dresses, but also the way she will conduct her life. She has an extraordinary opportunity to be an icon to a lot of different people. The eyes of the world will be on her. She will have a big impact."   

Donna Karan: "She is powerful, elegant and sophisticated. You see the woman first, she is not overpowered by the clothes. We expect a role model. She is a mother, a wife. She has all the attributes that matter."

Diane von Furstenberg said the future First Lady is "smart, engaged, beautiful and confident." "Her style is who she is ... and people will discover it little by little. Fashion is a reflection of our time and this is truly an exciting time."

Jenna Lyons Mazeau, creative director at J. Crew: "I love that she wears color and I love that she wears dresses. She looks feminine and dresses beautifully, but never overtly sexy. This is such an amazing time and they are such an inspiring couple that it would be a great honor [to dress Mrs. O for the inauguration], not just because she has great style, but also because she is probably one of the most important and inspiring women of our time. This is not just about getting our clothes on somebody, it's really about being a part of history. It's exciting to have somebody [in the White House] who seems to really care about clothes. She has a real personality and it comes through in the way she dresses."

And contrary to what InStyle magazine's Karina Szish suggested in the CNN segment on Mrs. O's style [see post below], Mrs. O may be an Oscar de la Renta kind of gal after all. The WWDThursday article also reports that "Obama has bought some of de la Renta's clothes at the Chicago boutique Ikram and he hopes to dress her during her White House days." Certainly though, Szish is right in suggesting that we'll see less of an Oscar de la Renta uniform than we have in the past. Speaking of which, we'd love to see a little DVF in the Mrs. O wardrobe mix.

The Style of Mrs. O

Above is a fantastic CNN style segment on Mrs. O featuring commentary from InStyle Magazine's Katrina Szish. The piece touches on Mrs. O's knack for mixing high and low designs, and predicts how her style may differ from former first ladies. Szish comments: "Oscar de la Renta is a classic first lady go-to [designer]. You can do no wrong with Oscar de la Renta. But I don't think Michelle Obama is going to be an Oscar de la Renta kind of gal. We're going to see her bring new designer names into the spotlight." And if you're feeling starved for post-election Mrs. O coverage, you can catch a glimpse of our future first lady in the segment below, en route to a 7:30AM parent teacher conference on Friday morning. Wearing a sweatsuit and baseball cap, Mrs. O is decidedly dressed down. But as CNN points out, that somehow feels "reassuringly normal".

Behind the Scenes of Election Night

Photos from Flickr user Barack Obama via David Katz for Obama for America // Creative Commons 

The Obama Campaign has released exclusive behind-the-scenes photos from election night. From the backstage waiting room to their grand stage at Grant Park, the images are charged with emotion. You can just feel the nervous anticipation transform to joy and excitement. If you have a few minutes, we recommend a look at the full Flickr set here.

We have to say, the more we study Mrs. O's Narciso Rodriguez dress, the more we grow to like it, particularly in the images above. Certainly it was unexpected, but perhaps we just needed a few days to settle into it, much like a new haircut. And we have to wonder if such vehement negative reactions are only a sign that it's fashion forward. Will we look back in a few months and find ourselves wearing ombre effect red and black frocks, the joke on us?

Of note, the first image above provides a good view of Mrs. O's Loree Rodkin earrings. We know Mrs. O is a devoted patron of Chicago's Ikram boutique, which conveniently carries the designer's jewelry collection.

First Puppy O

Photo credit: Flickr user George's Photos // Creative Commons

Admittedly this post is not Mrs. O centric, but for a family that likes to be well coordinated, the choice of first puppy is critical. What stylish breed should the Obama first puppy be? Vote for Puppy O here: UPDATE: In a press conference today, President-elect Mr. O discussed the subject of the First Puppy. Because oldest daughter Malia is allergic, the family is looking for a hypoallergenic breed, but does want to adopt a shelter dog. This news should make everyone quite pleased! We had no idea, but there's quite a range of hypoallergenic breeds; unfortunately none of our recommendations make the cut.