American Maggie

Michelle Obama’s Keen Fashion Sense Keeps Her In the Public Eye – and Her Opinions Out of It

In January, as the Obamas prepared to enter the White House, speculation about Mrs. Obama’s role marked her as a force for change, a Harvard-educated powerhouse reluctant to be hammered into the typical first hostess mold.  Former Nancy Reagan speechwriter Carl Sferrazza summed up public expectation:  “this is not going to be a first lady focused on sleeveless designer dresses and puppy names but on serious and complex issues.”  Nine months later, Mrs. Obama’s public presence has reached full term, and anyone would be hard pressed to make the same case.  Her style is now legendary, galvanizing online fan blogs, a wardrobe “look book” at NYMag.com, a fashion biography, comparisons to Jackie Kennedy, and entire news cycles dedicated to fashion “face-offs” between Obama and French first lady Carla Bruni.  In recent memory, Mrs. Obama has graced the covers of Vogue, Essence, New York Magazine, Ebony, Plum, O Magazine, Life & Style, More, People, Hello!, US Weekly, Ladies’ Home Journal, Washingtonian, The New Yorker, and Newsweek.  J. Crew partially credits her style with their rising fortunes in a falling economy, and Talbots, White House Black Market, Jason Wu, Maria Pinto, and anyone else lucky enough to have clad an Obama back are seeing their stars rise.  In the media swirl surrounding the First Lady, it is easy to get her views on sleeves (nay) but not on real issues.  From education to social concerns, Mrs. Obama seems silent.  Are the media overlooking her serious work to focus on brooches and belts, or is the First Lady endorsing purses over policy?

Of course, Mrs. Obama did not achieve a one-woman style channel alone.  A news cycle beleaguered by Americans’ wandering attention spans and increasing gloom has in Mrs. Obama a sparkling distraction.  Websites for NBC, The Washington Post, and The New York Times host Michelle Obama style guides of one type or another.  Network television is not above dropping actual news stories in order to discuss the First Lady’s shorts (or “Shorts-Gate”).  It is difficult to make one’s voice heard above this newscaster-turned-fashionista din.  But is Mrs. Obama even trying?  She visits soup kitchens and homeless shelters, and plants organic gardens – all laudable, and all no less than most of us have done.  The public persona she has constructed is shockingly conventional, a traditionalist straight out of Mayberry central casting.  She dresses beautifully, squires her daughters about town, rolls up her sleeves in the kitchen garden, and faithfully appears at Mr. Obama’s side at formal events, a perfectly coiffed consort.  The unfortunate truth is that this strong-shouldered woman of Chicago is not using her considerable political muscle.  Currently, Mrs. Obama’s rather blank White House Web site posts only three press stories, the most recent a month old.  All are stump speeches for Mr. Obama’s policies or the routine meet, greet, and kiss the babies.  Aside from the moldering press list, the latest engagements include a garden tour and ribbon cutting.  An empty “Related Videos” section and some news links not updated since May finish out her page (and not well.  One quote from the New York Times reads:  “To Inspire Young People, First Lady Shares Working-Class Background” [sic]).  Even if news networks were eager to report on her causes, she has given them nothing to say.  Yet, there is no shortage of important issues in need of an eloquent, influential champion.  The modern world abounds with challenges for women:  heart disease is the leading killer of women in America (and African American women are 35 percent more likely to die of it than white women), human trafficking victims number in the hundreds of thousands, honor killings in extremist Muslim households continue even in Europe, and women are arguably the greatest untapped resource in the global war on poverty.  A First Lady fashion icon is a waste of media coverage and an odd choice for an Administration helped into victory by the feminist lobby.

The well-clad toast of daytime talk shows and US Weekly, Michelle Obama is doing the twenty-first century woman no favors as a style savant.  Compare her record thus far with that of “traditional” Laura Bush, a highly vocal opponent to political oppression in Burma, advocate of Afghan women, and spokeswoman for heart disease prevention and breast cancer awareness.  Mrs. Bush managed to be wife, mother, and a modern, engaged advocate.  She looked past the conventional definition of a First Lady and used her position as a platform, based on her assertion that “the role of First Lady is whatever the First Lady wants it to be.”  Mrs. Bush realized very quickly that being a woman in power, even if it is power generated by your spouse, is a privilege.  During her husband’s two terms in office, Laura Bush appeared on fewer magazine covers than Michelle Obama has in the past 12 months, and despite her groundbreaking approach to the role of First Lady, her efforts received relatively little coverage.  But when she got attention, she used it for special causes.  She spoke out for oppressed women around the world who wondered if they could be heard, if their voices could make a difference.  After Laura Bush’s eight years in the White House, the unequivocal answer was yes.  Though she effortlessly holds the limelight, the next generation has yet to see such an inspiring example from Michelle Obama.  As Mrs. Obama herself said:   “the world as it is just won’t do… we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be.”  It is time for the First Lady to take her own advice and put her popularity to good use.  What a shame it will be if Mrs. Obama is the next Jackie Kennedy:  remembered for her style, poise, and little else.

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Skyla Freeman is a former writer for President George W. Bush.  She blogs about style and culture at Sanity Fair online (sfair.blogspot.com).

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