Laura Wood, over at The Thinking Housewife, asked my views on Michelle Obama's style. I had stopped writing (and following) this First Lady's sartorial decisions a while ago, but wrote this comment to Laura, which she has posted on her blog:
The last time I wrote about Michelle's fashion was to very indirectly mention her during her interview in Oprah's "Christmas at the White House."I think Laura is being generous when she groups Michelle in with the "beautiful women." I suspect many people are drawn in by the constant photographs and images if Michelle, and some have indeed called her beautiful. I just wouldn't go that far.
I think she has no fashion sense.
There are a few factors which contribute to the public's perception of her fashion sense.
Firstly, what people see in her sense of style is really what most "career" women are wearing these days. There is a myriad of magazines, from Oprah's O Magazine to Instyle, which go into step-by-step directions on how to coordinate dresses/skirts/pants, blouses, shoes, accessories and even hairstyles in order for women to look well-dressed.
The surprising thing about career wear for women these days is how pleasant and feminine they look. I simply think it is the natural tendency for women to want to look attractive and "pretty" (if you can be that at the office). 80s style macho women is out.
So, I think there is that modern career woman's sense of style that Michelle is copying very successfully.
Another factor is I think the traditional black American sense of style, which is colorful and vivacious. She seems to have grown up in a pretty traditional family, and I expect her mother and other women would have instilled in her this formal and attractive style.
Thirdly, she is surrounded by stylists, experts and high-level designers, so it is not easy to go wrong.
Despite all of this, she makes atrocious mistakes, which I think shows her lack of understanding of clothes, her lack of style, and her lack of an eye for beautiful things.
Some examples are: her terrible shrunken sweaters which she clinches with wide, ungainly belts; the short shorts she wore on the public family holiday this summer to the confusion of every fashion and pop culture commentator; her dress for the "Christmas at the White House" interview which was too short, showing her unattractive calves - here I think she was "upgrading" the clearly fifties dress she was wearing, to appear more modern and hip/young. Often the prints on her clothes are odd and abrasive. And, she insisted on wearing unsightly flats for many of her official visits abroad, when even short heels (like Hillary wears) are an attractive alternative to high heels.
My conclusion to all this is that I think she is stubborn. I also think she doesn't respect the people around her, who expect some decorum and style out of her on all occasions. She is not really willing to relinquish her ordinary/career woman role for that of a much more subtle and high-level office which scrutinizes everything down to the bracelet on her wrist.
If she wants to do something, it seems to me that she will do it. I am sure she is advised against these choices by her stylists and designers - any stylist would cringe at them - but she goes ahead anyway to make her point.
But, there is a final and more subtle reason, I think, for her choices. I've noticed this with black celebrities. They seem to want to form their own style, different from the white world around them. I think Michelle, in her own uncultured way, is trying to be The Black Woman in the White House, and refuses to follow the precedence of listening to experienced stylists and designers, who themselves are formed by the white world, and thus will make her dress "white". So, I think she takes matters in her own hands, and not being very talented, ends up with the disasters that keep cropping up.
