Michelle Obama almost stole the show last night in Grant Park, standing by her husband in let's-rule-this-country-with-gusto red and black. Her dress, from the Narciso Rodriguez Spring 2009 collection, has caused its own share of controversy this morning, with different blogs dueling over whether it was tacky or tasteful. We at SheFinds have always admired soon-to-be First Lady Obama's style, so we think she's still on track. While the real dress hasn't made it into stores just yet, you can get the feel of her look from our picks below:
This Luna Dress from Diane von Furstenberg ($297.50, was $425) plays on the same circular patterns and bold color palette of Michelle's Narciso. If you want to go more fuschia than red, this Abaete Wooster Dress ($200, was $440) is similar in style. And for something more casual, this Belted Sweater Coat from Alice + Olivia ($440) can introduce some color into your office wardrobe.
What do you think? Was Michelle's fashion statement last night fit for the White House? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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I thought she looked so hot in that dress! I am excited to follow her fashion - exciting to have a fashionable first lady!!
OMG - I think her clothing has been horrible. At least this wasn’t as bad as the dress for the last debate. It looked liked a tight curtain wrapped around her. Sorry - but I think a beautiful suit of some kind would have been much better. I guess she didn’t care what anyone thought at this point.
I love Michelle’s style. It’s all her own. She wears deep, rich colors that look great against her skin color, and she doesn’t get too diva-like with details or jewelry. It’s all about color and simplicity.
Also full of “flava” and very anti-preppie.
That dress was completely hideous. It totally distracted me. She was a hot mess. Bad, bad choice Michelle for such an important event.
Biden’s 90 year old mother looked better.
It was hideous. I thought “Wow, what a night.” And all I could look at was that ugly a$$ dress. She will be pictured in that for the rest of history. How sad!
Here’s the beauty of Michelle Obama as the First Lady. Her style is all her own, the multitude will strive for the casual elegance and she will not give a hoot about what others think.
Do you think a girl from the South Side of Chicago made it to Princeton and Harvard Law by listening to the peanut gallery?
Another suit? No thanks…love that she’s stepping out with bold and daring fashion! The dress looked great on her!
OK SO THE DRESS WAS SLIGHTY HIDEOUS BUT MICHELLE HAS NEVER BEEN FIRST LADY OR ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE BEFORE GIVE HER A BREAK I”M SURE HER STYLE WILL BECOME MORE DEVELOPED AND POLISHED AS SHE STEPS INTO HER NEW ROLE
I don’t love the dress on her but I love the fact that she’s dressing out of the box. Different kind of president,different first lady. I love the fact she’ll be wearing not so boring clothes.
It’ll be nice to see how her fashion sense will change, I hope she doesn’t turn predictable. Keep it exciting michelle!!!
Oh, everyone will want to imitate her now!
I think it was tacky and very unbecoming. I’ve heard her compared to Jackie O- She doesn’t even come close. Jackie had style and most importantly class.
It wasn’t the greatest pick but the lady has class no matter what she wears.
I loved the dress on her! She looked fierce! It definitely was not boring and safe choice like many of the other first ladies have chosen to wear on election night
Didn’t she know Halloween was over last week? The whole family in black and red…it looked like a Devil Convention. Get a stylist for her, quick!!!
I forgot to say that Malia is one of the most breathatkingly beautiful children I’ve ever seen. Sasha is extremely beautiful, too!
Malia is like Iman. Unforgettable. Once seen, never forgotten.
Gorgeous family. All of them.
Wrong for her figure, and wrong for the message it sent that maybe Obama really IS the Anti-Christ! Please get a designer that designs a dress for HER personally. She needs some width across the shoulders, with cap sleeves maybe, with an empire waist or no waist, skimming the hip into a flared skirt. Get her out of those sleeveless sheaths. They make her look pear-shaped!
Hideous dress. In fact she looked exactly like the Black Widow spider! Very odd choice…
Horrid is the only way to describe this dress. I kept looking at it, and thinking … “black widow.”
It would of been perfect for Halloween, not for first night as First Lady in waiting.
She may be educated, but she’s not cultured.
Do you really think so? The dress in its own right is gorgeous, but I think she really ruined the whole thing by pairing it up with that black cardigan. Plus I think she should have gone for something much more appropriate and chic for the occasion. It will definitely be interesting to see her fashion choices in the next year, she has the potential to be a trend-setter, or else raise some eyebrows :)
I think she looked amazing and I don’t know why anyone would bash her just because she wasn’t striving to look like a previous first lady. She is a new era of first lady and I commend her and her style.
What did everyone want her to do??? Wear one of Sarah Palin’s $1200 pink dress suits. I’ve seen plenty of fashion critics love when people show individuality and creativity.
Welcome to the new era. I loved it.
The dress was awful. Even my husband commented on what a mess the dress was, and he never says anything about fashion. And to dress one of the daughters in red and the other in black made them all look like they were going to a Halloween party. Nonetheless, the daughters are adorable.
The dress was fabulous! I love all of her clothes! It compliments her figure, her complexion, as well as the style itself! And the Jackie O comparison is on the money!
The black cardigan was discussed in class today (fashion design majors). We loved the dress, we just didn’t like the cardigan she paired with it. I’ll give her props for wearing something different from a suit.
As a Celebrity Stylist, I found the dress to be completely wrong for such an Historical event. In five years she will regret making such a bold statement. Fashion is supposed to compliment, not steal the show!!! What was she thinking? A couture suit would have been my choice.Giirl you need a new Stylist!
She’ll do the country proud with her style and with how she uses it to garner attention to important issues. She’ll draw comparisons to Jackie O, but will far exceed expectations with her abilities, intelligence, strength and humanity. The genuine love shared in this family will go a long way towards winning the hearts and minds of all who have not yet been touched. They can help restore our nation’s self esteem.
Michelle’s dress was nothing short of horrible and made her look like she was wearing a maid outfit. Unbelievably enough, it even sounded like the serious PBS commentators were whispering to each other about the outfit as soon as she appeared. Perhaps the dress would have looked better without the cardigan and with some heels. It is surprising that she would select such a garment, given that she has shown great taste and class in her choice of apparel in the past.
Is there anyone out there who isn’t missing the point? It’s RED (as was Barack’s tie and Malia’s dress), as in “republican red”. Duh. They were saying, ‘Bi-partisan teamwork matters to us and for all of you (republicans) who may not have voted for us and still think we’re evil, well you still matter to us and we’ll be your first-family too’ Maybe that’s the best she could do in RED. (She’s been slightly busy.)
LOVEEEEDDDDD IT!! I hope she never gets seduced in to being a ‘cookie cutter’ high profile woman.
Be yourself Michelle.
Michelle is a beautiful smart women that we will be proud to have as a first lady. That said not one person I talked to had kind words to say about the dress. The comments went something like “It made her look (insert word) fat, pregnant, hippy,” and so on.
The mark of a good designer should be to accentuate the best characteristics of the wearer and account for how the garmet will look on the broadcast medium. This dress met neither standard.
I thought the dress was awful and made her look like a target! I am appalled at the comparisons to Jackie O - as well as her “fashion sense” and terrific fashions of the past. She always looks as though her dresses don’t fit properly to her proportions. Very classless and drew a tremendous amout of attention to her specifically!!!
Do we really have to pick the poor woman apart?? Come on. This woman is highly accomplished, intelligent and lovely to look at. Let her style be her own. Jan
OMG she is no Jackie Kennedy. Her attire looks like something that has been bought from a thrift shop.
It’s trues she didn’t look perfect. So she’s not best dressed worthy yet. She might be, if she makes it a priority and she’ll continue to be focused on the aspects that count towards supporting her children, her husband, and her country. Besides Jacqueline Kennedy, she’ll continue to draw comparisons to other notable First Ladies like Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosalynn Carter, Hilary Clinton, women who cared about, and wished to make a difference, in others’ lives.
Michelle has presence, period. She could wear anything she wants. She looked great!
Michelle Obama’s dress looked great on her.
First of all she was not at a state dinner or a formal event.So get over it,Secondly do any of you Fashion Cops think Michelle Obama cares what you think??
Frankly I thought her dress looked like it was selected by Rush Limbaugh. My kids thought she looked like a giant black widow spider. I think her taste is all in her mouth. Michelle, get a trustworthy fashion advisor!!
The dress doesn’t look as good in stills. When MO walked out with the girls, they looked stunning.
The cardigan was chosen to make the look more conservative.
I love that she wears daring things although she’s not a toothpick anorexic like Narcisco’s models.
You do know that Carolyn Bessette Kennedy was instrumental in boosting Narcisco’s career when he was a nobody? She lost 20 pounds and was borderline anorexic while dating JFK Jr. and working for Calvin Klein. May she rest in peace.
I thought the dress was very bold. As soon as she walked out and not in a good way. This boils down to basic body type. Black and red are great colors, but red definitely emphasizes when used in patterns. This dressed over emphasized her hips and it fails to narrow her waist. The dress just doesn’t work.
THIS ELECTION HAS MADE HISTORY. LETS FOCUS ON THE ISSUES NOT FASHION. AT LEAST SHE DIDNT SPEND $150,000 ON CAMPAIGN CLOTHES LIKE SARAH PALIN. THOUGHT HER CLOTHES WERE GOING TO BE GIVEN TO CHARITY; MANY OF THE CLOTHES ARE NOW MISSING. FAR AS BIDENS’ NINETY YEAR OLD MOM THAT IS WHY SHE WORE WHAT SHE DID BECAUSE SHE IS NINETY. MICHELLE’S PEAR SHAPE IS OFTEN EMPHASIZED BECAUSE SHE IS PEAR SHAPED WHICH BY THE WAY MEDICINE HAS SHOWN TO PROTECT AGAINST HEART DISEASE AS OPPOSED TO AN APPLE SHAPE.
Sorry but we have a first lady that is a pig