Digging through our closets: Michelle Obama's fashions

Before heading to the holiday sales, get some fashion inspiration from some of our readers’ favorite features from 2009.

Google won't need to worry about removing these images of the first lady -- a gallery of her signature styles from the past year or so. It includes the now-famous Jason Wu inaugural gown that Times fashion critic Booth Moore described thus: "The one-shouldered style is sexy, and the powdery hue reflects the trends we saw on the Golden Globes red carpet" as well as the impressive metallic strapless number from Indian designer Naeem Khan, pictured above, that she wore to the Obamas' first state dinner. 

What do you think of how Mrs. O's fashion wardrobe is shaping up? Have you tried, or are you going to try, to incorporate any of her looks into your closet staples? Or are you so over it?

-- Whitney Friedlander

Photo credit: Susan Walsh / Associated Press

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Photos: Michelle Obama's fashions

Jason Wu draws a stylish crowd at Neiman Marcus

Jason Wu, the 27-year-old designer whose star has risen considerably since Michelle Obama wore one of his frothy creations during the inaugural ball, drew a very stylish crowd while showing his spring 2010 collection at Neiman Marcus last night.  

His friend and perennial fashion plate Diane Kruger hosted the event dressed in a one-shoulder-black-with-teal-polka-dots cocktail frock, accented with Roger Vivier heels and Eddie Borgo bracelets. "We met at Cannes, and we've been friends ever since," said Kruger, who certainly has carte blanche to her share of designer duds, having been the face of Chanel and Louis Vuitton but has recently favored Wu's creations. A few other starlets donned his designs, looking more grown-up and put together than their late teen years would suggest. Katie Cassidy, Jessica Stroup and Amber Heard all wore short dresses by Wu.  Heard's high blond ponytail, porcelain skin and bright red pout made her look like a dead ringer for Scarlett Johansson.

Star wattage aside, the crowd of fashion industry insiders, stylists and socialites took in the collection worn by models posing around the department store floor. Everything from a simple, solid colored emerald green dress to a pale pink and white feathered cocktail number came out during the event, perpetuating Wu's reputation for making refined and feminine clothes. But unlike his past collections, several pieces in his spring line had a few raw and rough edges -- a touch purposely put there by the designer who played around with the juxtaposition of hard and soft. "I was really inspired by [sculptor] Tara Donovan and Tim Burton," says Wu.  "It's sculptural versus stitches. I like the contrast between romantic and rough around the edges." Judging by the turnout for the Beverly Hills event and his rapidly growing celebrity following, it seems his fans will too.

-- Melissa Magsaysay

Photo (top left): Cameron Silver, left, and Jason Wu. Credit: Melissa Magsaysay

Photo (top right): Diane Kruger and Micah Shifman. Credit: Melissa Magsaysay

Photo (above): A look from Wu's spring collection. Credit: Melissa Magsaysay

New York Fashion Week review: Jason Wu's Spring/Summer 2010 show

Happy days are here again. That was the message at Jason Wu's spring show. And why not? There are few American designers who have skyrocketed to fame as quickly as Wu, a relative unknown until First Lady Michelle Obama chose his one shouldered, frothy, feathery white gown to wear to the inaugural balls this year.

Presented in an elegant ballroom at the St. Regis Hotel today, the collection had the same lightness as that famous gown, starting with a onesie in silk tweed as soft as mohair, in a shade that brought to mind a fuzzy peach.

Fashion Diary: Lunching with Loree Rodkin

Gossip, first impressions, trends in the making, celebrities and style setters. A regular feature by fashion critic Booth Moore.

Having lunch with jewelry designer Loree Rodkin is like devouring a juicy Hollywood novel. First there are her famous affairs to discuss -- with Don Henley, Bernie Taupin and Richard Gere. Then, her lifelong friendships with Cher and Elton John, and her extraordinary once-in-a-lifetime experiences, such asbeing introduced to Paris by Salvador Dali, and propositioned by Jimi Hendrix (she turned him down).

It’s no wonder that she’s had two offers to option her life story.

Not that Rodkin is a party girl. Far from it. Arriving on the L.A. scene in the early 1970s, she’s gone from being a rock n’ roll interior decorator to a talent manager to a fine jeweler. But she’s never been into drinking or drugs. In fact, she’s babysat her fair share of addicts, including Robert Downey Jr., when he was a client.

"They could call my book ’Designated Driver,’ " she jokes.

Her medieval-meets-modern jewelry is worn by just about everyone in Hollywood. But it is First Lady Michelle Obama who has been the biggest booster lately, choosing Rodkin’s designs for election night and the inaugural balls, where she wore 61-karat white gold and rose cut diamond earrings with garland drops, a 13-carat diamond cocktail ring and a wrist full of diamond bangles.

Revenge of the 'dad jeans' -- president joins wife on Vanity Fair best-dressed list

Our compatriots over in the Calendar section have posted the news that President Obama has made the grade -- style-wise anyway -- and has joined his wife (who has made the cut twice before) on Vanity Fair's 2009 International Best-Dressed List.

That should come as a bit of a shock to those who pilloried the POTUS for the so-called "dad jeans" he wore while throwing out the first pitch at the MLB All-Star game (even "Today's" Meredith Viera felt the need to ask the leader of the free world about his jeans).

Michelle Obama's new hairdo or don't?

Don't call it the Rachel, the Farrah or even the Kate (Gosselin). First Lady and fashion plate Michelle Obama showed off a new bob hairstyle that's all her own at a country music celebration at the White House last night. The shorter look is no doubt cooler for summer, but it reads a bit matronly to me. What do you think? Modern or matronly?

-- Booth Moore

Pictures: Michelle Obama, fashion icon

Farrah Fawcett, more famous celebrity hairstyles 

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Photo: President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama arrive at a celebration of country music in the East Room of the White House. Photo credit: Matthew Cavanaugh-Pool/Getty Images

Fashion Diary: L.A. wins at the CFDA

Gossip, first impressions, trends in the making, celebrities and style setters. A regular feature by fashion critic Booth Moore.

 

NEW YORK -- It was a big night for Los Angeles at the Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards, the apparel industry equivalent to the Oscars held at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall on Monday. Rodarte designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy, who started making dresses in their parents' guest house in Pasadena just four years ago, took the womenswear designer of the year award.

 

Not since James Galanos won the lifetime achievement award in 1984 has a Left Coast label made such an impact on the Seventh Avenue-centric CFDA, a non-profit trade organization that supports American designers. Unlike Galanos, whose beaded confections were all Nancy Reagan perfection, the Mulleavys' horror-film-meets-haute-couture aesthetic reflects the dichotomy of the California dream with blood red-streaked and graffitied chiffon gowns, shredded leather leggings and bike jackets and spike-covered stilettos.

 

The self-taught sisters have earned a loyal following in Hollywood with celebs such as Kirsten Dunst, who led the designers' cheering section Monday night. Also in the visiting-from-California contingent: Decades' Cameron Silver, Toms Shoes' Blake Mycoskie and Trovata's John Whitledge.

 

Fun summer accessories: The Jelly watch from Toy Watch

 

Need more neon in your summer wardrobe? You can add that little extra splash with Toy Watch’s Jelly watch.

On its website, you can choose from 72 possible face and strap color combinations.

All watches are $175, except for the diamond pave face that is $275. Additional straps are $65, if you want more than one color option.

I like that they’re sporty and not too serious.  Summer is the perfect time to put away those precious accessories and wear something that stands apart from the norm.

During her visit to the Eiffel Tower last week, First Lady Michelle Obama wore her bright purple Toy Watch to pick up the purple design in her scarf.

--Melissa Magsaysay

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Photo: Toy Watch Jelly Watches/Toy Watch

Politics of style: Obama cocktail dress

As you may have heard, many women want a piece of First Lady Michelle Obama's wardrobe. Now Pitzer College alum Nancy Judd has found a way to create feminine looks from the street style of the Obamas' pre-White House days --  territory that was largely unmined until now.

"[The Obama cocktail dress is] a slinky, body-hugging number crafted from the president's campaign posters," reports Suzanne Muchnic in The Times' Culture Monster blog. "As the 'fabric' winds around the body, from above the knee to below the armpits, white letters form a crisp graphic pattern on a black background and the name 'Obama' pops up over and over."

So does a built-in "recycle and reuse" theme that would resonate with our 44th commander in chief.  Muchnic says "the eye-popping dress" is a product of Judd's Recycle Runway company "that aims to transform waste into a valuable resource."

This ensemble, as well as other trash-to-treasure looks, is part of a one-day exhibition Saturday at Pitzer's Nichols Gallery in Claremont. Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

-- Whitney Friedlander

Obama cocktail dress, from dumpster to fashion runway 

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Designers with a 'green' vision

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Photo: Nancy Judd modeling the "Obama cocktail dress." Credit: Pitzer College

Susan Boyle and the era of ordinary chic

There's been lots of Internet chatter about "Britain's Got Talent" breakout star Susan Boyle's new, darker, more relaxed 'do and plucked eyebrows. (Boyle's performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" during the show, when her hair was more frizzy and her appearance more frumpy, has gotten more than 13 million hits on YouTube.) But she's not going from ugly duckling to swan just yet.

"Maybe I'll consider a makeover later on," Boyle, 47, told the London Times on Saturday. "For now I'm happy the way I am -- short and plump. I would not go in for Botox or anything like that. I'm content with the way I look."

And why not? Isn't it funny that now, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute is getting ready to launch its annual fashion exhibition "The Model as Muse" on May 4, it's not models but mortals who are the focus of our attention? Welcome to the era of ordinary chic. After all, first mom Michelle Obama is the style icon of the moment, despite her toothy smile and sometimes awkward gait, not Kate Moss or Katie Holmes.  

Over the weekend, I watched a screener of the upcoming Fox show "Glee," about a group of high school outcasts who bond over show choir. There's something telling about the fact that this is Ryan Murphy's follow-up project to the plastic surgery show "Nip/Tuck," and that the most memorable line of the pilot is when the singing jock says to his football teammates, "We are all losers." 

The flip side of that is that we can all be stars, so long as we find our own voice. Maybe the collective embrace of Boyle is a sign that we are at last tiring of faux-reality and unattainable perfection, of the "happy couple" Heidi and Spencer, the airbrushed Kim Kardashian and the rest of Hollywood's incredibly shrinking celebrities. In this age of engineered attractiveness anyone can be beautiful, but oh, to be ordinary!

What do you think? Is Susan Boyle a style hero?

-- Booth Moore

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Photos: At top, Susan Boyle on April 21. Credit: Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images. At bottom, Boyle on April 24. Credit: AP Photo / Andrew Milligan, PA