Michelle Obama Reflects Back On Her Iconic White House Looks
‘I Had To Be Very Intentional’ — Michelle Obama Reflects On The Meaning Behind Her Most Iconic White House Looks
Not only is Michelle Obama our Forever First Lady, but during her time in the White House, she also proved herself a fashion icon.
To celebrate the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on June 19, the former first lady, 66, appears in a new social media series in which she gives insight into the intentional thought process behind her wardrobe choices during her husband Barack Obama’s presidency from 2009 to 2017. While living at the White House and serving as First Lady of America, Obama explained that she used the opportunity to spotlight designers who would likely never get the opportunity to work with someone as visible and influential as her.
“I wore designers from across the country and around the world. The kinds of people who never had a chance to dress a First Lady. I thought they deserved a little light shined on them too,” she says in the first video, titled Beauty Belongs to Everyone.
She goes on to emphasize the importance of relatability and representing the average American woman, who is more likely to shop at Target or Macy’s than in designer stores on Rodeo Drive. “I thought about accessibility. I wore things from stores where most women actually shop,” she says, solidifying her realness with these wise words: “Because everyone knows you don’t need to spend a lot of money to look your best.”
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Unlike traditional presidential libraries, the Obama Presidential Center includes a campus and cultural institution located in historic Jackson Park on the South Side of Chicago, the FLOTUS’ original stomping grounds, as well as the city where her husband built his personal and political foundation.
Established by the Obama Foundation, it serves as a public epicenter for civic engagement, community events, and historical exhibits, which include displaying some of the In My Opinion podcaster’s most showstopping ensembles, such as the rose gold chain-mail Atelier Versace gown she wore to the state dinner in October 2016. Yes, that dress. The one that left her man and anyone with working eyes drooling and speechless.
“I learned early on that the clothes I wore in the White House would never be seen as just clothes,” she says in the first video.
“I had to be very intentional. With the help of my talented team, I considered every choice — the designer, the color, the silhouette, the style — before I set foot in public,” she recalls, touching on the importance of the message behind her fashion choices. “I thought about who I wanted to lift up, who I wanted to see reflected in what I wore, and what story I wanted to tell about who I am and who we are.”
The second video in the series, titled The Work That Matters Most, focuses on the initiatives the mother of two spearheaded during her back-to-back terms in the White House, including Let’s Move!, Joining Forces, Reach Higher, and Girls Opportunity Alliance.
“There is so much hope, so much potential, inside every single one of us and I just hoped to use my platform to help more people reach theirs,” says the Harvard grad in the second video, which you can check out below.
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