Michelle Obama’s unnecessary Oscar turn

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="Michelle Obama announced the Best Picture Oscar from the White House." height="425" src="http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_960w/Boston/2011-2020/2013/02/25/BostonGlobe.com/EditorialOpinion/Images/517695415.jpg" width="640" /><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #464646; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;">Michelle Obama announced the Best Picture Oscar from the White House.</span><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">THE MOMENT Michelle Obama appeared at the Oscars, the surprise guest at the end of a long and listless night, a collective groan reportedly went through the Dolby Theater media room. On my East Coast couch, I felt the same dismay: Did they really have to go there?</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Because everyone knew what was coming next. By Monday morning, the right-wing punditocracy had declared this a national tragedy: wholly inappropriate, brazenly political, proof that the White House is self-serving and elitist and in Hollywood’s pocket, or vice versa.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">OK, deep breath. First of all, there is no great standard for “appropriate” at the Academy Awards (which, I suppose, is a defense of Seth MacFarlane as host). This is an evening for wealthy people to name-check their agents while modeling plastic surgery techniques. Beyonce could lip-synch here, and no one would care.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Besides, the first lady’s statement was so carefully vetted and depoliticized that it left nothing to actually criticize: Something about the arts being good and movies making us laugh and cry and inspiring our nation’s youth. Singer Shirley Bassey, warning young women about the dangers of rich, cold men, was twice as relevant and 10 times more exciting.</div><div class="ad aside" data-adname-complete="true" data-adname="CENTRAL" style="background-color: white; border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px; clear: both; display: inline; float: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin: 0.5em -79px 1.5em 38.599998474121094px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 311px;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On the other hand, given the lack of an agenda to promote or political points to be won, the FLOTUS appearance seemed like unnecessary bait, proof that the White House has tone-deafness problems of its own.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s easy to see why the White House jumped when Oscar producers came calling. The billion-viewer platform was surely irresistible; Republicans have used it, too, when offered the chance. Ronald Reagan taped a message to the Oscars in 1981. Laura Bush had a cameo in an Oscar-telecast video in 2002.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Obama’s trouble was agreeing to be the highlight of the ceremony, the super-secret guest with the most important role in Hollywood’s Most Important Night.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It was an odd bad call for a woman who has proven surprisingly good at selling herself. Being first lady is a thankless job — you’re supposed to be substantive without projecting <i class="i" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">too much</i> substance, powerful without projecting <i class="i" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">too much </i>power — but Obama has managed, better than most, to harness the celebrity for her own purposes. She champions good causes (and, really, somone’s going to get upset about nutrition?). She champions fashion; US Weekly quickly reported that her Oscar dress was by Naeem Khan. She dishes with Rachael Ray about her midlife-crisis bangs and <a class="a" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq-URl9F17Y" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.1s linear, background-color 0.1s linear; background-color: transparent; color: #666666; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">mom-dances</a> with Jimmy Fallon.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Usually, she manages a nifty trick: Looking glamorous, but not distant. This is, in fact, the same trick the Oscar ceremony tries to pull off every year, but usually fails, because too many participants get caught up in their own hype. Someone is always going to wear an inappropriate dress or blather on too long about his greatness. Someone is going to coo, “It came true,” while cradling her Oscar at the podium, triggering the gag reflex across America.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And something predictably pious is going to happen in the end — as when Obama announced that this year’s top prize went to the movie about how Hollywood, teamed up with a hyper-competent US government, managed to save the world. (If Republicans ran Hollywood, the winner would have been the one about the miserable people in France.)</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This would all be fine — “Argo” is good, art is art — but the Oscars always has to rub it in, patting Hollywood on the back for the goodness it projects into the world. On ABC’s red carpet show, a hostess asked Daniel Day Lewis if he still carried Lincoln in his heart.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Here’s what people don’t tend to ask on Oscar night: Why are so many movies filled with gratuitous gun violence? Why is the Hollywood elite still overwhelmingly white? Why do so many stars need Botox to sustain their careers?</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Michelle Obama didn’t need to be a buzzkill at the Oscars. But the woman with a health-filled public policy agenda could stand to project a little distance. Instead, she had to parrot the self-congratulatory hype: that somehow the Best Picture nominees “prove that love can endure against all odds and transform our lives in the most surprising ways.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Right. With her platform as first lady, Obama can do better. To impress the lingering skeptics in the public, she’d get more mileage doing “Ellen.” Or, better yet, “Family Guy.”</div><br /><br /></div>

2013 Oscar Michelle Obama Michelle Obama’s unnecessary Oscar turn

Michelle Obama announced the Best Picture Oscar from the White House.THE MOMENT Michelle Obama appeared at the Oscars, the surprise guest at the end of a long and listless night, a collective groan reportedly went through the Dolby Theater media room…

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Michelle Obama Stuns in Jason Wu -- Twice

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><iframe height="360" id="kaltura_player_1358911212" src="http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/1_5lld54di/uiconf_id/3775332/st_cache/85410?referer=http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/politically-dressed-inauguration-daughters-18243560&autoPlay=false&addThis.playerSize=392x221&freeWheel.siteSectionId=nws_offsite&closedCaptionActive=true&addThis.playerSize=640x360&closedCaptionsOverPlayer.fontsize=18" style="border: 0px solid #ffffff;" width="640">Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.</iframe> <div style="font-size: x-small; margin-top: 0; text-align: left;"><br /><div id="date_partner" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; height: 32px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 150px; min-height: 30px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 490px;"></div><div class="byline_date" style="float: left; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 490px;"><div class="byline_date_inner" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 485px;"><div class="byline" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">By <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/author/shushannah_walshe" rel="author" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">SHUSHANNAH WALSHE</a> (<a href="http://twitter.com/shushwalshe" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@shushwalshe</a>) From: <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/" style="font-size: 11px;">http://abcnews.go.com</a></div><div class="date" style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px;">Jan. 22. 2013</div></div></div><br /><div id="sponsoredByAd" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; left: 430px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 0px; text-align: right; top: 404px;"><span id="sponsoredbylogo1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span id="_fw_container_sponsoredbylogo1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Michelle Obama, wearing a <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/01/live-updates-inauguration-day-2013/#MichellesDress" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">custom Jason Wu</a> ruby-colored chiffon and velvet gown, with a halter-top neckline and deep back, stunned again Monday night at the inaugural balls.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">The first lady <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/ladies-inaugural-ball-gowns-past/story?id=18287165" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">also wore a Wu</a> gown -- a floor length, one-shouldered white number -- to the inaugural balls four years ago, taking the 26-year-old designer to instant celebrity.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">She chose Wu again for this year's inaugural, much to his shock, Wu said, embellishing his creation with a handmade diamond ring by jewelry designer Kimberly McDonald and Jimmy Choo shoes.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Wu wasn't the only one surprised. Obama's choice also astonished a number of fashion critics, who thought she'd choose another little-known designer.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/slideshow/celebrities-wearing-jason-wu-18287680" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Check Out Other Celebrities Wearing Jason Wu</a></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Wu was born in Taiwan, grew up in Canada and was educated in the United States, Tokyo and Paris. Now based in New York City, more than 85 percent of the Jason Wu Collection is made in New York's Garment District, according to Jason Wu Studios. Made-in-New York might have been a selling point, as the first lady tends to favor American designers.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Wu said he hadn't known that Obama had chosen his design again, although he did create it specifically for her and submitted the sketches and finished gown to the White House. It was quite a shock to him when she walked onto the stage at the Commander-in-Chief's Ball Monday evening.</div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_image_feature" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rel_thumb" style="line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Image]&lid=view[Image]" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="PHOTO: U.S. first lady Michelle Obama waves at the Southern Regional Inaugural Ball at the DC Armory in Washington, DC, early January 21, 2009; U.S. first lady Michelle Obama arrives for The Inaugural Ball at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Ja" border="0" height="112" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/gty_michelle_obama_jason_wu_lpl_130122_wg.jpg" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5px; padding: 0px;" title="" width="199" /><span class="image_icon" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://a.abcnews.com/assets/images/icons/image_icon_35x35.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 35px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 5px; top: 73px; width: 35px;"></span></a></div><div class="rel_headline" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="photo_credit" style="color: #aaaaaa; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: right;">Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images; Michael Kovac/WireImage</div><div class="photo_caption" style="margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">U.S. first lady Michelle Obama waves at the... <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Image]&lid=view[Image]" style="color: #336699; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">View Full Size</a></div></div></div></div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rel_thumb" style="line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Video_1]&lid=view[Video]" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="112" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/121010_pol_poldressed_wl.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="200" /><span class="image_icon" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://a.abcnews.com/assets/images/icons/play_icon_35x35.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 35px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 5px; top: 73px; width: 35px;"></span></a></div><div class="rel_headline" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">Politically Dressed: Beauty Edition<a class="open" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" style="color: #336699; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Watch Video</a></div></div></div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_2" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rel_thumb" style="line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Video_2]&lid=view[Video]" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="112" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/abc_pd_inaug_130110_wl.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="200" /><span class="image_icon" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://a.abcnews.com/assets/images/icons/play_icon_35x35.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 35px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 5px; top: 73px; width: 35px;"></span></a></div><div class="rel_headline" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">Politically Dressed: Inauguration Edition <a class="open" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" style="color: #336699; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Watch Video</a></div></div></div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_3" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rel_thumb" style="line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Video_3]&lid=view[Video]" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="112" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/ann_biden_130121_wl.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="200" /><span class="image_icon" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://a.abcnews.com/assets/images/icons/play_icon_35x35.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 35px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 5px; top: 73px; width: 35px;"></span></a></div><div class="rel_headline" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">Vice President Joe Biden Sworn In to Second Term <a class="open" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" style="color: #336699; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Watch Video</a></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"Mrs. Obama likes to keep her secrets. She surprised me again. She's really good at it," Wu told <a href="http://www.wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/michelle-obama-picks-jason-wu-again-6644989?module=Fashion-Fashion%20Features-main" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Women's Wear Daily</a> after she took the stage. "I was so nervous. You'd think I wouldn't be, since I'd experienced it before, but I really was."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Women's Wear Daily reported that four years ago, when Michelle Obama entered the ball wearing his gown, Wu had only three employees and was at home eating pizza with a friend. This time he was watching with a team of 30 in his downtown New York City studio.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"I was just elated. It's hard to describe," he told WWD.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">And of dressing Obama in the bold red?</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"Like last time, I had to go with my gut. I instinctively had to think of the woman in the dress. After four years in office, I thought the country was ready to see a confident first lady in red. It just felt right," he said.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">On Monday evening, Wu also spoke with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/us/first-lady-and-fashion-are-no-longer-so-combustible.html?_r=0" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="external">The New York Times</a>, and said he was "still floating."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"You have to think about the client, and I felt like red was such a perfect color for her. It's such a confident color for her. and it really was my first instinct," Wu told the Times.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">After the first lady took the stage Monday night with the president, they danced to Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," performed by Jennifer Hudson. Obama's gown and the accompanying accessories will go to the National Archives.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;"><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/politically-dressed-inauguration-daughters-18243560" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Political fashion stylist Lauren Rothman</a> told ABC News she wasn't surprised that Obama chose Wu instead of putting the spotlight on another little-known designer.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"There was a lot of pressure on who was going to design that ball gown, but deciding on Jason Wu took some of that pressure away," Rothman said, noting that Obama wore Reed Krakoff to the official ceremony and Thom Browne at other inaugural events, which will undoubtedly boost their careers as well.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"I am not at all surprised that she was loyal to Jason Wu, because she is loyal to the people she wears," Rothman said. "I don't know if anyone could have imagined that she would have worn him again, but at the same time, it's not surprising because her fashion personality is very loyal."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Rothman also believes the choice signaled assurance, saying, "In the second term she is sending a message that she's got a more relaxed, quiet confidence in what she has to prove fashion-wise."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Obama does wear Wu quite often; the young designer is one of her favorite choices. She wore a magenta sleeveless dress of Wu's for the cover of Vogue in March 2009, and she wore a black-and-white sheath dress by Wu in a 2008 interview with ABC's Barbara Walters. Wu and Obama were originally introduced by Vogue's Andre Leon Talley.</div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rel_thumb" style="line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><br /></div></div></div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_3" style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rel_headline" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Wu has won several awards for design, including the Swarovski Award for Womenswear at the CFDA Fashion Awards in 2010. In 2011 he was nominated for the CFDA/Swarovski Award for Accessory Design and in 2008 was named one of the finalists in the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. He launched his first ready-to-wear line in 2006, at the age of 23.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Last year Wu designed a line for Target, which sold out almost instantly.</div><br /></div></div>

Jason Wu Michelle Obama Michelle Obama Stuns in Jason Wu -- Twice

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames. By SHUSHANNAH WALSHE (@shushwalshe) From: http://abcnews.go.comJan. 22. 2013Michelle Obama, wearing a custom Jason Wu ruby-colored chiffon and velvet gown, with a halter-top neckline and deep back,…

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First lady Michelle Obama serves as fashion icon

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2013/01/21/Production/Daily/Style/Images/2013-01-21T165012Z_01_WAS222_RTRIDSP_3_USA-INAUGURATION.jpg" /><br /><span class="photo-credit credit" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.78333282470703px; margin-right: 9px; text-align: right;">Kevin Lamarque/Reuters -</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.78333282470703px;"> First lady Michelle Obama and her daughters, Sasha and Malia, arrive for inauguration ceremonies in Washington Jan. 21. The first lady’s fashion sense has been credited with pushing the American fashion industry into the international spotlight.</span><br /><br /><div class="module byline" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-style: none; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 10px; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><h3 property="dc.creator" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: normal; margin: 17px 0px; padding: 0px;">By <span class="author vcard" style="color: #666666;"><span class="fn"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/robin-givhan/2011/03/09/ABjWOnP_page.html" rel="author" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">Robin Givhan</a></span></span>, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/first-lady-michelle-obama-serves-as-fashion-icon/2013/01/21/655215dc-6413-11e2-85f5-a8a9228e55e7_story.html#license-655215dc-6413-11e2-85f5-a8a9228e55e7" id="license-655215dc-6413-11e2-85f5-a8a9228e55e7" rel="item-license" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"></a><span class="timestamp updated processed" contenttype="article" datetitle="published" epochtime="1358817277000" pagetype="leaf" style="color: #6e6e6e;">Monday, January 21, <span class="time special" style="color: #cc131e;">5:14 PM</span></span></h3></div><div class="relative" id="article" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; line-height: 10px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><div id="article_body" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="article_body entry-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="font-size: 12px;"></div><article><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;"><span class="dateline"></span>First lady Michelle Obama stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol during President Obama’s second-term swearing-in, holding the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s black leather Bible in her magenta-gloved hands. The smaller Lincoln Bible rested atop it. Michelle Obama said nothing during the hour-long inaugural ceremony. But in the sea of black topcoats and C-SPAN stodginess, she stood out — statuesque bearing, new bangs accentuating her cheekbones and grooming attuned to both the history books and high-definition TV.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">After rallying the country to fight childhood obesity, speaking to the value of mentoring and championing the contributions of military families, she was once again in the spot where she had stood four years ago: A silent symbol of an administration’s mood and manner, a template of patriotism, a standard-bearer for femininity.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.5em;"><img src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_296w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2013/01/21/Others/Images/2013-01-21/_SM41489cropped1358788753.jpg" /></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Wearing a navy Thom Browne coat cut from custom-made jacquard and a coordinating dress, she was a more subdued, more reserved presence than in 2009. She had traded in the bright, idealistic sheen of the lemongrass Isabel Toledo ensemble for one that was structured, relatively spare and unadorned except for the black, bejeweled J. Crew belt she added after the morning’s prayer service.</span><br /><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">In four years, her style had shifted from fizzy hope to glimmering pragmatism.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Her clothes, in fact, mimicked her husband’s. The Thom Browne coat was created from tie silk and echoed his discreet blue neckwear. As expected, the president wore a sober black overcoat, dark suit and black gloves, with a tiny American flag pin dotting his lapel. Their daughters, Sasha and Malia, finished the family portrait wearing coats in shades of lilac and violet. The elegant silhouettes underscored their new maturity.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Still, the first lady’s clothes stand apart. Observers obsess about Michelle Obama’s wardrobe because it offers clues to the personality of a public woman — a historic woman — who remains a resolutely private person. In an era of televised confessionals, she has never laid herself bare. But thankfully, her clothes, with their quirks and eccentric embellishments, do not adhere to unwritten protocol or dowdy traditions that have so often left first ladies little more than beige cyphers.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">For four years, Obama’s clothes have connected with the public in contemporary terms, in the language of Hollywood’s progressive glamour, Seventh Avenue’s bold entrepreneurship and the democracy of the mass market.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">In the constant tug of war between style and substance, Obama has proven they can be one and the same.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">More than any other first lady in history, Michelle Obama has pushed the American fashion industry into the international spotlight. With a global reach unlike any actor or musician — and an authenticity untouched by endorsement deals or fealty to a single brand — she carried the creative skills, the technical wizardry and the earnest ambitions of Seventh Avenue stalwarts and upstarts into Buckingham Palace, the center of the Holy See, the neighborhoods of Ghana and into fashion’s very heart of darkness . . . Paris.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">From: <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/" style="line-height: 1.5em;">http://www.washingtonpost.com</a></div></div></article><div style="font-size: 12px;"></div></div></div></div></div>

Fashion First lady Michelle Obama First lady Michelle Obama serves as fashion icon

Kevin Lamarque/Reuters - First lady Michelle Obama and her daughters, Sasha and Malia, arrive for inauguration ceremonies in Washington Jan. 21. The first lady’s fashion sense has been credited with pushing the American fashion industry into the inte…

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