I know it sounds rather silly and superficial to be writing about fashion trends spotted at the Inauguration Day rather than about the message we got at the end of it, but that’s what I feel like doing today. Most of the fashion blogs and lifestyle pages of the main newspapers have given a lot of space to Michelle Obama between yesterday afternoon and today, but I still want to add my comments.
The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the First Lady of the United States in her yellow outfit was Vanessa Friedman's column published on the Financial Times the weekend before Christmas. Entitled "The future's yellow", the piece moved from Pantone's 2009 colour, mimosa, and explored the concepts of "hope and reassurance" attached to this shade. Friedman wondered in her piece if and how yellow could genuinely represent optimism and also pondered about what colour Michelle Obama would have chosen for her Inauguration Day dress, dismissing yellow as an unlikely option. Yet the much-awaited outfit was in fact yellow, though it was a wonderful shade of yellow, lemongrass.
The shift dress and its matching coat in guipure lace with white satin lining designed by Isabel Toledo looked at times creamy, at times gold with occasional green nuances. The choice of Toledo made me immensely happy: first Michelle Obama did not opt for a mainstream designer produced abroad, but for a Cuban-born American designer known in selected circles for the singularity of her style; second Toledo is a very talented designer who can combine haute couture influences with her Latin roots and traditions and knows how to use quirky patterns and fabrics with a chic sense of style.
Mrs Obama matched the dress with Jimmy Choo’s deep green 'Glacier' pumps and a pair of olive green gloves. Purists and fans of the total look might have been cringing, but I absolutely loved the fact that there was so much colour and such a great contrast at such a formal event. It really felt like this choice truly marked the arrival of a new era and proved Mrs Obama is a First Lady who can take risks but who can also cleverly balance different looks.
At the Inaugural Night celebrations, Michelle turned indeed into a beautifully glamorous and sexy woman wearing an ivory one-shouldered full-length silk chiffon gown by young Taiwanese but US-based designer Jason Wu. The gown featured a cascade of appliquéd silk flowers and crystals and the First Lady matched it with jewellery by Loree Rodkin, well known among Hollywood stars for her unconventional approach to jewellery design.
The First Lady's focus on new designers - introduced to her through the Chicago-based boutique Ikram - makes me hope in some very interesting and exciting fashion moments during Obama's presidency.
I feel compelled to add a few final words on a look that absolutely stole my heart: Aretha Franklin’s. The "godmother of soul" truly proved she is also the queen of the hat revival this year as she was the first celebrity I saw since 2009 started wearing a rather whimsical hat in an extraordinary way. The felt hat featuring an oversized Swarovski-studded bow was designed by Detroit-based Luke Song Millinery. Mixing warm and cool greys, extravagant Aretha also pulled off the all grey look wonderfully.
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