The date: June 6, 2009. The location: Paris. The event: the D-Day commemoration, where Michelle Obama walks down the red carpet with France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. Obama is wearing a fresh white dress down past her knees made by Narciso Rodriguez, a stunning silver belt above her hips and silver heels. Britain's Daily Telegraph said photos of the two, walking side by side, appeared to be "surreally interchangeable with shots from a catwalk show ... they could almost have been modeling some designers' collection named 'First Lady Spring 2009.'"
To some this may mean nothing; however, the world is raving that Obama has one of the most influential fashion tastes concerning the fashion style of any of the first ladies in American history. And while fashion may seem like nonsense when you look is what happening to Israel or with our economy, fashion is huge priority when one thinks about the world's culture.
Fashion conveys our identity to the world. The first thing a person takes in when they meet a person before a word is said is what they are wearing. People immediately pass judgment on who a person is based off of what they wear and how they appear. What you wear conveys many things about who you are.
And while some may think fashion cannot be applied to our everyday lives, I ask you to think rationally. One example: if President Barack Obama wore ripped jeans, a loose band T-shirt and shoes falling apart with de-threading shoelaces, who the hell would take him seriously?
And appearance plays a huge role in politics. Half of the reason many college students I met at Ball State University picked Barack Obama as president wasn't because his ideas appeared any more intelligent than John McCain, but because he is a youthful, energetic, professional, attractive man who has a young personality and looks the part of someone Americans can relate to. If you look back at Nixon versus Kennedy, Kennedy was picked because he made a better appearance on television. He looked the part that Americans wanted.
Perhaps the reason many Americans love Michelle Obama's style is because it is something they can once again relate to. She wears clothes not only from designers but also from J.Crew and Gap. When meeting with former first lady Nancy Reagan, the current first lady wore a Gap T-shirt and Gap cardigan, costing barely $35, yet still appearing presentable. Her fashion taste is highly influential. When Michelle Obama made the comment that she bought a pair of gloves from J.Crew, the next day the gloves in literally every J.Crew store were sold out.
Americans are going crazy over the fact that Michelle Obama wore a sleeveless dress for her first lady picture, like those which she wears regularly. Many people are bashing Michelle Obama, saying she is acting ridiculous and improper by wearing sleeveless dresses during the winter and as the president's wife. Apparently it is improper to expose any part of your body when you are a politician.
It seems like an oxymoron that parts of the country are against the clothing Michelle Obama is wearing because she is exposing her muscular arms, when it seems that as time goes on in our country, the skimpier and skimpier out clothes become.
Michelle Obama's fashion sense has done amazing things for small designers. She has made small designers no one used to care about simply famous. One of her favorite designers is Isabel Toledo. Her ball gown she designed, the famous lemon grass color dress Michelle wore to the president's inauguration, represented optimism. Michelle Obama's fashion sense, with its bright colors and freshness, is metaphorically conveying what her husband is preaching to America.
And while some may argue it is shallow to judge people based on their fashion sense, I argue that it is simply a fact of life in our culture. It says everything about your economic status, your moral status and your personality. Maybe that is pathetic but it can also bring people together. You see someone in a different state with a Ball State University hoodie on, there's instant connection that maybe they went to Ball State University, maybe they had the same major, maybe you once knew each other.
As Barack Obama says about his wife, "she has the right to bare arms." And whether or not you are for or against what Obama is doing, you can't deny that his wife is certainly showing confidence, charisma and elegance by wearing whatever she likes, which is something our country should admire.
Write to Meira at mbienstock@bsu.edu
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