Michelle Obama in Europe - fashion hits and misses

The ever-fabulous First Lady of the US, Michelle Obama is in Europe with her husband right now on his first major foreign tour.

Thus far there has been a G-20 summit, a meeting with the Queen and there is still a NATO summit and a US-EU summit to go before the whirlwind trip is over.

There is the matter of a global economic crisis to solve (G-20 leaders decided to give a trilli to the IMF as part of the solution), the Afghan war and Gitmo detainees to discuss and North Korea is huffing and puffing and threatening to shoot off a missile in the midst of all of this.

But the prospect that has really captured the attention of fashionistas the world over and had them slavering is... what will Michelle wear?

This question has quickly been followed by fevered speculation over what will be worn when Michelle meets the other glamazon First Lady - supermodel Carla Bruni-Sarkozy of France.

The thought of it has had fashionistas dizzy with excitement for the last few days and the moment finally arrived today when the two met in France. Both ladies stuck to their favourites - Mrs. O to a patterned, black and raspberry Thakoon coat and dress and Mrs. B to cool grey Dior.






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I was a bit relieved when I saw Michelle in the dress and saw how lovely it was because I really did not care much for the coat.

 While this outfit was both a bit of a miss and a definite hit, some of the First Lady's other choices on her Euro trip have been more straightforward. There have been some unequivocal hits - like the black, bell-skirted Azzedine Alaia she wore to the NATO concert.



The outfit she wore to meet the Queen of England was an unfortunate miss - and all because of one item of the outfit - the schlumpy cardigan she wore over a perfectly lovely sleeveless black and white silk crepe dress from inauguration designer Isabel Toledo.







Photo credit: John Stillwell/AFP/Getty Images


Very disappointing. You just don't toss a sweater over an outfit when you are meeting any head of state, whether titular or elected.


A smart, structured bolero like the one she wore over the previously mentioned NATO concert Azzedine Alaia outfit would have suited it better, in my opinion.

 

 

 





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Another unfortunate miss - and another instance of a cardigan getting in the way of a good outfit was the asymetrical Junya Watanbe cardigan she wore over a teal Jason Wu dress to visit a school in London yesterday.




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 I get (I guess) that Junya Watanabe is a bit more edgy but it was ugly. If she wasn't the First Lady and was not pairing it with a prissy dress and heels but was a club hipster pairing it with skinny jeans and high tops, it could have been hot. But, circumstances make the style sometimes and in these circumstances it just looked like a loud, ill-fitting cardi.


However, her hits have outweighed her misses on this trip and they generally do.




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For instance, this J.Crew combination she wore on her visit to Downing Street and then to a cancer treatment facility, was gorgeous. I especially love the mint-green colour of the skirt. It may seem silly, as an islandista to mention the spring-like hopefulness of the colour, but any islandista who has lived in 'foreign' and experienced the dreariness of her first or umpteenth winter, knows what I am talking about. A bit of a colour does give you a lift.




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The chartreuse (that is the colour description I see over on Obama fashion blog Mrs-O.org, boh... I woulda just said yellow...) Jason Wu dress she wore as she arrived in the UK was great. Again, a very hopeful, vibrant colour that sent political signals as well as nodded to fashion trends.


And she paired it with her fabulous studded Alaia belt that we first drooled over last year when Obama cinched the Democratic nomination.


For all those sniffing at her missteps, I know not one of them can name one thing White House mouse Laura Bush wore


in eight years. Not a fella din care.


The fact that we are paying attention to Mrs. O's clothes, when frankly she is so formidably smart there is a whole lot more we could focus on, shows what a seminal impact she's having.

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Michelle Obama in Europe - fashion hits and misses

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Leg of mutton dressed up as...

I well tired now and I ent even get to blog about Trinidad Carnival which is reaching its peak this weekend but I promise all you islandistas that I will get to it! Just now! Soon come! And all of that...

But I just got a quick ting to drop pun yuh from the Brit Awards night before last in London.

Our girl Estelle is doing what she does and well...

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I... do not know what to make of this dress. I have been trying to work with Estelle and her crazy-angled dresses but ...

I see what she trying to do and ting ... be cutting edge and fashion forward (though since leg of mutton sleeves are actually circa the late 1800s - so can you be fashion forward if you going back over a century?) but... oh gosh man, she just looking fuh attention now.

And I think Nora here (compliments Wikipedia's nice little entry on 1890s fashion) rocked the look much better back in 1896.

[caption id="attachment_643" align="aligncenter" width="304" caption="Photo credit: Wikimedia commons"][/caption]

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Leg of mutton dressed up as...

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Just because we love it

Looking through some of the previous posts here on Islandista, you may have picked up that one of our favourite current trends is origami folds in clothing.

So with that said, there is no further point to this post than to show you the fabulous black and white dress worn by Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson at the Producer's Guild Awards.

Even though Taraji isn't an islandista, we heart her and this dress.



Gorgeous. Love the little splash of red she introduces with the clutch bag too. Black, white and red is one of the hottest colour combinations.

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Just because we love it

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Bits & Pieces: Riri stage sickness, Estelle's EMA dress

We're only just (barely!) coming down off of our Obama high and turning our attention to other pressing issues... like some good, old fashioned suss!

We were so consumed that we actually missed a few things in the last few days - like Rihanna's nearly collapsing at a show in Sydney, Australia and MTV's European Music Awards where islandista by descent Estelle wore a 'love it or hate it' but definitely bold dress for her performance with Kanye West.

Rihanna fell ill at a show in Sydney while performing Umbrella with her boyfriend Chris Brown as the finale of the show.

Apparently, the heat at the venue, a too-tight corset that left her breathless and whizzing around in the air in a harness before she landed to perform, left her in a state. She can be seen leaning over and holding her stomach before scurrying off stage. Chris finished performing the song without her (like a professional) and then ran off to check up on her.

The youtube video is below.



Thankfully, all's well that ends well. Spokesperson Amanda Silverman told media:

"It was very hot at the venue, so after Rihanna's set was over, she went off stage and needed to sit down, catch her breath and have some water. She is perfectly healthy and will be at her show tomorrow."

Next thing... the MTV's European Music Awards. Grenadian-descended islandista Estelle wore a dress that you may well either love or hate.




[caption id="attachment_351" align="aligncenter" width="414" caption="Estelle performing at MTV"][/caption]

 



(photo credit: theybf.com)


At first glance I HATED it, thought it looked ridiculous but on second glance, it is kind of futuristic chic. Still... triangular hips?! Look how Kanye had to struggle to get his arms around this ... structure.



So what do you think islandistas? Hot or flop? Here's one more shot of it to help you make up your minds.



And speaking of dresses that have people torn, not everyone has had my enthusiastic response to Michelle Obama's victory night dress. Again, it seems to be a love it or hate it. A lot of islandistas I've talked to haa-aa-aa-ted it, a feeling that has been repeated ad nauseum in the blogosphere. Folks have been hollering about it all week.

 I wasn't wild about it but I rather liked it, particularly the ombre design, which is already making its mark as the print (?) for next season. I also kind of liked the wrap around section on the waist, though I thought it could have been cut a little closer to emphasise Michelle's great shape, cos de woman got real form, no lie.

Perhaps I like it because I've seen the original on which it is based and it's hot. I see what Michelle was trying to do...



(photo credit: Associated Press via the New York Times)

See? Doesn't that make you kind of go 'ohhhh... I see where she was going?' Thing is, she had some adjustments made to the dress that kind of detracted from the hotness in an effort to be more demure. She took up the neckline for one and got the sheer hemline made opaque and then added the cardigan, which then threw off the criss-cross under the ribs. I think she could have risked at leaving the neckline as a v-neck - Michelle isn't terribly busty anyway so it would not have looked indecent. And instead of a cardigan, maybe she could have had it made with sheer sleeves instead that would have been part of the dress, instead of fighting against the dress.

Still, the fact that we are talking about this at all is an encouraging sign for fashion in the White House. I know no-one can remember a damn thing Laura Bush has worn, whereas Michelle has already inspired  women to run out to to buy the black and white Donna Ricco dress she wore on The View.

And at the end of the day, shoot, Pres. elect Obama looked pretty damn enamoured of her in the dress.

... And ladies, we know that is the second-most important opinion that counts doesn't it? The first being our own.

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