Of Stripes and Service (Update)
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 4:36 PM 
Photo by Yuri Gripas / Reuters
In her ongoing tour of federal agencies, First Lady Mrs. O gave remarks to the Corporation for National and Community Service at the Ronald Regan building in Washington, D.C. this afternoon.
ABC News Blog, Political Punch, has a recap of the event.
Mrs. O told the audience that community service is "the reason that I breathe, " continuing, "It has become my life's work in so many ways."
Mrs. O wore a black camisole and dress full skirt trimmed in bands of white fabric. Mrs. O paired the dress with a cropped cardigan, the same Azzedine Alaia cardigan worn in Prague, and Jimmy Choo kitten heels.
Update: We've confirmed that Mrs. O's striped skirt is indeed the work of Jasmin Shokrian, handmade in her Los Angeles studio for the First Lady (a huge thank you to our tipster). The designer relays: "The fabric is primarily a vintage double silk crepe. The sheer part of the skirt is a band of handmade caught burlap thread encased in silk chiffon and navy silk charmeuse stripes juxtaposed with bands of natural cotton muslin."
In an email message from Ms. Shokrian this evening, she relayed her delight, "We are so excited and honored to have Mrs. Obama wearing one of our pieces."
Jasmin Shokrian was born and raised in Los Angeles. She has ties to the Windy City, where she attended The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, graduating with a BFA in film, painting and sculpture. Ms. Shokrain went on to found a collective with several other Chicago artists, exploring three-dimensional sculpture, often using a fabric as a medium. These projects organically evolved into the production of clothing and other wearable objects. Ms. Shokrian now runs her own label, with a studio in Los Angeles.
Jasmin Shokrian's skirt, in all of its exquisite detail, is featured after the jump:
Image used with kind permission from Jasmin Shokrian
Jasmin Shokrian in Outfits
Reader Comments (74)
Just saw the initial pics on Yahoo and I love it! That is a classy look. I can't wait to see larger and clearer pics. Tyhe cropped cardigan is bringing back memories of Date night in Prague all those weeks ago. Those were exciting times. I loved it then and I love it again. The skirt is something I would wear. The whole look actually.
Mrs. O looks lovely today. I agree Janelle I always search for her full speechs on the internets lol but only find the condensed versions.
But I found her full speech to the corporate voices event last week:
www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=GDYDGNpTv3s
If anyone knows where to find her full speech to the UN last week please post it.
Mrs. O looked great today, and I agree that I could completely see myself in that entire oufit she wore. Classic and elegant. I think she'll wear it tonight, might as well looking that good.
@Joane--thanks for link on the internets of the FL--LOL! I go to several blogs for different reasons, and this is my favorite for fashion. But I always need a boost by hearing an entire speech. The same goes for the President's speeches--I must hear them in their entirety. Cable news/evening network news has just contributed to the dumbing down of America. How can you be on the air for 24 hrs. and rush through the news like a music video and give soundbites all day? I don't need pundits to tell me how to think. Just give me the facts, and I'll figure out how I feel about it.
Very cute outfit! I am still trying to determine if it is a dress or a skirt/top. Reminds me of another outfit she wore recently (i.e. the ribbon banding on the skirt). I bet she changes for tonight though. I cannot wait.
Can someone post a link to the yahoo photo? I can't find it.
Thanks!
Found it!
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Michelle-Obama/ss/events/pl/050108michelleobama#photoViewer=/090512/480/39eb7546ffe7457ea35770d6e6c711f2
@dlev this is the link http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Michelle-Obama/ss/events/pl/050108michelleobama#photoViewer=/090512/480/457ce53c8f1949c29b4609db4184dda6
Hi Mrs T,
Why aren't my posts passing moderation? I have posted a couple of times and yet none have come through. Are my doing something wrong?
I loved the dress Michelle wore to this event it was simple and nice.
Janelle,
Your right it seems more and more pundits are bought on to these news stations to tell Americans how to think and feel about a certain issue. I have now complete stop watching the evening news. It's sad I use to enjoy watching the news every now and then in my home. But these news reports have become cheerleaders/sports news casters. It's digusting what has happen to the news bunisness in the 21 century.
Now days I get my news from a select number of internet websites. The funny thing is these people still keep wonder why they are going out of business. The only cable news station who numbers stay up is Fox and the simple reason for that is people like to listen to them gossip about the left. Fox is basically the National Enquire of Tv news...lol
Mrs. T, are you sure it's a dress? If you look at the waist area in this photo, doesn't it look like two different fabrics coming together?
news(dot)yahoo(dot)com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//090505/480/3cbc6eee14dd4ca699f8af20efa7b430/#photoViewer=/090512/480/c01c27e8e1f64c7b8ff7cdc5fc4b10a9
Looking cute, Mrs. O! Loving the kitten heels! But stop hunching, and adjust the mike to your height instead. It will work wonders for your glam posture and your pics will look flawless!
Rachel, I'm not sure. I think it's a dress, but hard to say.
It looks like a top and skirt to me as well.
Well, lovely either way!
@Tia,Janelle- I stopped watching the news about a month ago, and its sad because I'm interested in politics esp now with the Obama admin. I think the political hostility between parties can be largely attributed to how news shows are constructed now a days-they pit Dem and Repub "strategists" against each other but rarely do they ask for consensus.And I also got tired of being told how to think. Also Janelle, if you want to have full videos of the president's speeches, you should subscribe to the whitehouse youtube channel. I watch Robert Gibb's press briefing everyday, its interesting plus I find Gibbs to be entertaining.
That's a skirt made by Jasmin Shokrian.
(Mrs T have you confirmed that this outfit is a dress? It looks like a skirt in some of the close-up shots, with a simple cotton blouse under the bolero.)
Mrs. O is actually wearing a bold red lipstick today as you can see in a few of the close-up shots! I don't mind her generally neutral make-up but always wish she would use some bolder shades. It looks amazing on her.
Also, Janelle, re: the news, I agree to an extent. I am a total news junkie and rely more on the internet for information with about 25 blogs on my Google Reader that I enjoy reading throughout the day. BUT I can't live without the Nightly News with Brian Williams. If you are jaded by the sheer stupidity of cable news, I really do recommend you check out Mr. Williams. He is very steady, very fair, very thoughtful and has a high emotional IQ...I don't know if that term makes sense necessarily, but he just seems like a real person in the face of the ubiquitous bad economic news. Um, I am maybe a little in love with him!!
So please don't give up entirely on Network News. And actually, Brian Williams almost always highlights any interesting things that Mrs. O is doing, whether it be volunteer work or working on her garden or talking about military families. So he does his part to project her work as First Lady.
Finally 60 minutes is amazing. They pull of a terrific show, with REAL JOURNALISM, every single week. And Steve Kroft is great.
So it's not a COMPLETE wasteland, though the internet is an infinitely better resource.
What a great look - I have to listen to the speech - the CNS is near and dear to my heart and funded service learning K-12 in my old school district for 15 years.
Never mind, Mrs. T, you had already commented.
One thing is for sure! The dress/skirt is probably a Sophie Theallet design, from her Spring/Summer 2009 line. The whole line is on her website and it's LOVELY. I hope to see Mrs. O in more of the pieces
it's a skirt and tank top IMO
@Joane--I'm glad I'm not the only one that gets disgusted with the news. Fox to me seems more like an entertainment network these days, not a news network. They weren't like that in the beginning. There was a noticeable change a few years after 9/11--they were pretty good leading up to 9/11, go figure. I always like to hear both sides of an issue, but now they seem to have gone bonkers. I watch primarily PBS, C-Span sometimes and Fareed Zakaria, but mostly internet news. The others just seem like shouting ESPN channels and seem pretty toxic. Also, I do get all of the President's speeches from their youtube channel, but I wish they would add all of Mrs. O's speeches. That would be great. Until then, I'll just have to track down what I can find myself and post a link here for anyone interested.
...On Mrs. O's outfit today, I saw a couple of photos where it looks like a two-piece under the bolero. It sure looks to me like a shirt on top of a skirt. Can't wait to find out.
Hey does anyone know what time the WH poetry jam starts and if it will air on c-span?
@Jenna, I missed your comment while I was typing away. I forgot to mention that I do watch 60 minutes and Brian Williams. It's part of my "internet news". I go to the MSNBC site and can view Brian's Nightly News and then 60 minutes on the CBS site. After Tim Russert passed, I started watching Brian more regularly last year and found him to be fair and very informative, and you're right that he will usually cover Mrs. O's activities. (I don't care for David Gregory).
P.S. I just love when Mrs. O wears fake eyelashes. They look really good on her and really has a great softening effect without looking overdone. Not everyone can pull that off.
It starts at 7:45, I'm not sure it will be on c-span but it will stream live on the white house website.
Cute, young looking outfit. Is that Pee Wee Herman behind her?
Has anyone else noticed that Mrs. O seems to GLOW all the time? Seriously. I guess you can't actually see it as much in the above photo, but it's almost always obvious (see the Correspdondents' Dinner photos, the Time event photos, etc). Ha, it's actually the only thing that seems to support the pregnancy rumors! (Just kidding, I definitely don't think she's pregnant.) Anyway, it's unbelievable.
@ rachel - As Obama said during some interview at the very beginning of his presidency in February - Mrs. O is THRIVING in her new role. That's the source of her glow - happiness, purpose and love.
She is very lovely today, but I think she looks a bit tired which is rare for her now. She looked pretty tired during the latter part of the campaign, but seems rested most of the time now.
I like to think that it may be Bo or her husband keeping her from her beauty rest and not worry over the vicious attacks being waged right now by creepy Cheney.
I have CNN or MSNBC on to catch glimpses of the Obamas but I use the mute button liberally. When they have people on, even regular news people, they are never given enough time to really get into a topic. And and then there is the "story of the day" that has to be delved into hourly even though the story is contrived by them, not a real story.
Did you see Morning Joe today? I wish I hadn't. Liz Cheney was on and wouldn't shut up. She was supposed to be having a discussion with Eugene Robinson, but he couldn't get a clear word in without her talking over him. It was disgusting. Joe himself has been hard to take, too. He goes on lengthy screeds way too often.
Looking forward to tonight's event.
Go to whitehouse(dot)gov for the live stream of the poetry jam. Just started
The livestream is up!
I like Desiree's skirt and top.
Awww, Sasha and Malia are there!!!!
It's streaming live @ whitehouse (dot) gov
OO my gob, she just walked in and she's beautiful
It is a Striped Disheveled Skirt, Tech Crepe with Silks, Burlap, Cotton & Voile by Jasmin Shokrian.
she looks like a million bucks!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have to see the bottom
OMG the poetry event just started and she looks gorge! The makeup is so hot. Her earings are very cool and that dress is so fun. I bet its Tracey Feith. So classy and unique.
Her hair and makeup look absolutely fabulous tonight!
OMG! She looks like a movie star! Gorgeous!
And those earings OOO my!!!!!!!
She looks nice...but too much makeup! (dont chop my head off ppl..lol)
Mrs. O looks amazing - SEXY!!!!
One word...FIERCE. First Lady Michelle Obama has set the bar high for First Ladies to come. Her make-up is so youthful, and her attire is gorgeous !! Once again she scores another home-run.
Full on glam! love it.
I am mad both cnn and wh.gov went down. where else can i see poetry jam?
WTH is wrong with this guy's face? What's up with the contortions?
She looks fabulous. I wonder what the bottom of the outfit looks like. The top is very sexy. I'm sure the media and the republicans will give her grief about her "risque" shoulder baring outfit! First naked arms, now naked shoulders! What a hussy!!!!
Picture at
www(dot)michelleostyle(dot)blogspot(dot)com
Toi 22, it's working for me. Try to restart your PC
thanks mimi
i will try that now.<3