Michelle Obama wore a dress from the Gap yesterday ($29.99), and has previously been spotted in other ware from Gap and also Target. She appeared on the television show, the View, in a dress that cost about $148.
By way of comparison, the RNC spent six figures in three months to clothe Sarah Palin in 2008, a source of some disgust and discomfort for some of the RNC's financial supporters. The Obama's have made a nice chunk of change in recent years, but have yet to run up a tab at Tiffany's.
Personally, I've always thought it was un-democratic for the nation's first ladies to be fussing over their favorite designer. This is the United States of America, a nation dedicated to the freedom and equality of all.
No disrespect to Jackie Kennedy or Nancy Reagan, but nobody in the the Peoples' House needs a favorite designer, and IMHO, shouldn't have one. You live in the White House, not Versailles. You have a job, not a court, and your spouse is president, not king.
Image: White plaid empire tie dress, $34.99 at the Gap.
I had the impression that Michelle's fondness for expensive designer doodads is widely noted. Even some sympathetic observers have wished she would dial it back a notch. The times are not right for a would-be Jackie. Perhaps the unfavorable comparisons with the former Kate Middleton, who wore a simple $340 dress to meet Michelle and the Prez, will make a difference.
I don't have any problem with Presidents' wives consulting designers and wearing their clothes in principle. Women are more closely scrutinized in this area than men are. I thought, for example, that the kerfluffle over Sarah Palin's campaign clothes was absurdly overblown. Women on the campaign trail are constantly on display.
As long as Michelle is paying for her own clothes, there's no issue - except for any PR issues, which are her husband's problem. She should also not be accepting any freebies or deep discounts from designers, as Nancy Reagan did. As far as I know she isn't.
Posted by: Hypatia | June 13, 2011 at 05:07 PM