Thursday
Mar242011
Anna and Mrs. O
Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 8:11 AM A great new piece on Vogue's Anna Wintour will run in this weekend's WSJ. magazine. It's been clear that Vogue admires the first lady, but now it's official: "Michelle Obama is one of the first names Wintour mentions when asked whom she most looks up to," writes author Joshua Levine.
"Brand Anna" [WSJ]
Reader Comments (13)
Needless to say, I love Ms. Wintour and Mrs. Obama. There is something great about women who stand on a foundation of confidence and exude class without being insufferable.
"Michelle Obama is one of the first names Wintour mentions when asked whom she most looks up to."
There is nothing more to be said, then. Anna Wintour IS fashion and for her to give her rubber stamp of approval to the First Lady's wardrobe is truly admirable.
Thanks for posting this, Mrs T
ABSOLUTELY most admired woman in my book. I feel very lucky to witness this in my lifetime.
Thank you, Mrs. T, for all the coverage of the Latin American trip. Extraordinary ensembles!
From most of the things that I've read Anna Wintour is not easliy impressed. She has developed and nurtured more talent than almost anyone in fashion. I know that our Michelle is one of the women that has been an inspiration to me, regardless that I'm older than her.
Anna Wintour? "Ugh." The idolatry of this fashion "god(dess)" is a bit much for me. I prefer fashion icons who appear less imperious and more balanced in their approach--and in wielding their power. Mrs. Obama is fine example of such an icon.
(And of course Anna Wintour would admire the first lady. As well as having a keen understanding of fashion, she also, it seems, understands the dynamics of "power.")
Well said, Marcus!
After being WOWED by our first lady's fashions on her trip to Latin America, I have come to a conclusion regarding "appropriateness". There have been, and still are, many long ingrained guidelines about what is appropriate and inappropriate women's attire for certain events or situations, also for various times of day or night. People on this blog (myself included) sometimes are bewildered why Michelle has chosen a certain outfit for an ocassion that we feel calls for something either more casual or more dressy, etc. etc.etc.
My conclusion is that Mrs. Obama is SINGLE HANDEDLY TRANSFORMING all those past perceptions of fashion "appropriateness" and throwing most of them out the window, not just for her personally, but for our society as a whole. More power to her!
Ms. Wintour now considers the First Lady of Syria to be the most chic and fashionable of all:
http://www.vogue.com/vogue-daily/article/asma-al-assad-a-rose-in-the-desert/
Right on babs!
Babs: Sometimes dressing inapproprately is just, well, inappropriate.
Manners isn't just about knowing what fork to use, or when to send a thank you note. Manners, at its heart, is about putting other people at ease and making them feel comfortable. Wearing clothing that is too tight and showing too much skin can make others uncomfortable. And overdressng / underdressing for an occasion, is also offputting to others.
She can choose to dress as she likes. But, as First Lady she is representing all of us, and I am sometimes a little disturbed at her choices. So, I don't hope she's changing the 'rules'. I don't like her rule of wear what you like - others be damned. It seems rather self-focused.
I agree with you, Babs. We live in a free country, jump on a plane and go half way across the world and you will see a whole raft of women who are forced to wear very 'disturbing' items of clothing. So, to say that Mrs Obama, a grown woman does not dress appropriately for her role...........well I find that very disturbing indeed.
Admittedly, I haven't always loved what the First Lady wears but I make my feelings known in a respectful fashion. However, the majority of the time, I truly adore what she wears.
The First Lady represents America remarkably well. She gets mad love in England where I live and regardless of what the tabloids say, she gets on well with the Queen. There is more hype about their forthcoming state visit than there is about the Royal Wedding.
Similarly, no first family has been scrutinised more than the Obama's. That said, she has travelled the world and I have NEVER come across an article from London, Paris, Rome, Prague, Moscow, Ghana, Marbella, Indonesia, India, Strasbourg or Haiti, where the people of those countries are disturbed by her dress sense. The disturbance only appears to be in the USA. I wonder why ?
Unfortunately Anna Wintour has had the entire fashion industry in a choke-hold for over 25 years. Ocassionally she shares the spotlight with a few other little dictators which is a real loss for the rest of us who might actually like to see more freedom within the industry. Mrs. Obama took a step toward fashion democracy when she said, "Wear what you love," as opposed to the "Wear what I tell you to wear," attitude of Vogue and all ot its slavish satellites. There is a great article in the NY Times about how people in the fashion industry seem to love obeying rather than thinking for themselves, which in turn has created such a pyramid of power. All of this is a long-winded way of saying that "appropriateness" is often dictated to us from the top down. Mrs. O is redefining what's appropriate by choosing for herself rather than having things chosen for her and it seems to be making some people very uptight. I like it. I applaud it. As I mentioned in a previous post, when I was a child a woman was arrested in my town for wearing capri pants in public. There's an element of law and order type mentality in this, "she's not appropriate" argument that I find very scary.
I find Mrs. Obama's choce of clothing refreshing! Not only is she VERY aware of who she is and of whom she represents, she has a GRAND and confident flair that is neither self-serving or condesending. To say that she dresses inappropriate for her station is, in my opinion, "SOUR GRAPES" because not everyone can dress and look as elegant and as regal as our First Lady.