Tuesday
Jun072011
A Vision in Naeem Khan
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 6:32 PM 
Photos by Charles Dharapak / AP Images, Jewel Samad / Getty Images
The President and First Lady are hosting German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her husband Joachim Sauer for a State Dinner at the White House this evening.
For the occasion, Mrs. O has chosen a stunning ivory chiffon gown with linear crystal beading by designer Naeem Khan. An armful of Alexis Bittar bangles complete the look.
Naeem Khan has certainly become one of the First Lady's go-to designers for formal events! This is the third Naeem Khan gown that Mrs. O has worn since November 2009.
tagged Alexis Bittar, Naeem Khan
Alexis Bittar, Naeem Khan
Reader Comments (95)
@Naeem Khan, congratulations! Your designs are all so lovely, and look stunning on our First Lady, Michelle Obama. Thanks for stopping by here and commenting. Can't wait to see another of your gorgeous gowns gracing Mrs. O.
Mrs. O is beautiful beyond words. President Obama, Chancellor Merkel and her husband also look fantastic. It must have been a wonderful evening.
Mama Mia! Michelle looks stunning!! Dress, check check!. Hair,check!
i'm so loving this look. Mrs. Obama has now set the fashion bar high enough for the future holders of the FLOTUS post.
What exactly is the problem with Michelle's "lower half"? IMO she is perfectly proportioned for her height and age. Thank heaven she is NOT like the movie stars, TV personalities, models or aging socialites that starve themselves to have hips like 13 year olds and are so bony that they look grotesque.
I love that dress - beautiful!
But what I really love is her hair - she looks fabulous!
W.O.W.
Mrs. O's curves are definitely A PLUS in this dress. I can only imagine what it would look like withouth curves......ugh! It would just be hanging on her like a stick. While most of the models think they are wearing the clothes, when in actuality the clothes are wearing them. We are so accustom in seeing this shapelly look and "filling out the dress", as my grandmother would say. @anar, emphasis is what we want. She is healthy, vibrant and Our President loves her hips. Have you not noticed when we are shown photos as they walk up Air Force One, he adoringly places his hands around her and there is something there. It is a show of affection in our culture. And I speak for myself, just adore it. When the love, affection and respect is behind close doors, it flows and exhibits itself outwardly. How refreshing it is to see a woman with hips and "fililing out the dress". It made me think of my grandmother and I had to smile.
There is nothing wrong with first lady as clearly seen in the dress just below this one. Exactly that is the point. That the dress visually draws the eyes away from the shoulders and to the hip area. and hence emphasizes the lower half and downplays the upper half. Nothing is said about first lady's body. We are talking about the dress.
@ Babs,
There's absolutely no problem with Mrs. Obama's lower half. She is gorgeous.
@Naeem Khan
Mr. Khan, how wonderful it is to hear directly from you. Your work is absolutely stunning and is a wonderful match for Mrs. Obama's style and energy. I can't imagine how exciting it must be for you to see her wearing your gowns so beautifully. Congratulations and I really look forward to following your work each season.
To all the posters who keep commenting on why Mrs O wears sleeveless dresses.... have you noticed that 90 percent of dresses are designed today without sleeves? I have been looking for dresses with sleeves for 3 upcoming events and they are very difficult to find. Mrs O works hard to have the physique that she does. She recently said that often she works out 2 times a day since she now can't get out and just walk like she could in Chicago.
@ Mr. Naeem Kahn - How exciting and cool to see you posting to this site! Your dress (as always) is beautiful! Congratulations, the First Lady looks absolutely lovely.
I love her hair. Kudos to Johnny Wright, her hair stylist.
The Alexis Bittar Bangles add a fun and funky touch to her outfit.
Love the Jimmy Choo’s…can‘t wear them…but love them anyway! Rock on Mrs. O!
@ Chancellor Merkel - Congratulations on being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
@ willet784 - Thanks for the insightful commentary.
@Kels - Amen.
Peace.
Anar, What's your problem with hips? Do you not have them, and if you don't, is that the source of your angst? I realize that some stick people (those with flat behinds and no hips to speak of) on this site are always complaining about the First Lady's hips, well, I say get over it! Mrs. O. is a REAL woman, with a REAL woman's body, not a caricature of one. Haven't you noticed when she wears top designer dresses that we've seen on the runways, who does more justice to the design, Mrs. O. or the stick-like, twiggy-size 2 model who wore it. Hands down, Mrs. Obama wins. You know why, because she's a normal woman. She's a well-fit one at that. Also as Kels mentioned in her comments, Black and Latino women embrace their curves, and yes, until recently many in the media tried to describe these assets in derogatory until the likes Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce, and Janet Jackson chose to proudly embrace their well-toned curves, just like the First Lady! So the paradigm has now shifted to the point where some women (and men) who have a deficit in that area are now resorting to the extreme of plastic surgery. So the First Lady having well-defined curves is a benefit when wearing sheath dresses, which she does magnificently, as well as column dresses such as this beautiful gown she wore last night. Can you imagine how gastly she would look in that same dress had she not had a shapely, toned body as she does? Think about that the next time you try to criticize the fact that she has a woman's body and not some twiggy doll, stick-like physique dressed in designer gowns.
This is a perfect 10!!!
The dress is gorgeous and has a small train in the back, which is why it appears too long in some
pictures. The bracelets are Mrs. O's choice to wear with this and they look great!
It is a beautiful dress and she always looks lovely; however, I don't think it is the best style for her body. She gets a B+ from me on this one ... and I've become used to A+'s from her.
She looks AMAZING!
This dress has all of the elements that our Michelle seems to be drawn to. It's well structured, has a bit of a train in the back, stunning color and probably has some interesting detail in/on it that you can only see in person when you're up close. She does formal wear like nobody's business, so does that handsome POTUS of ours.
This dress that Chancellor Merkel looks very nice on her. If you look at it, there's an asymmetric neckline with ruching (?) at the hip that flaunts her curves as well. This dress suits her perfectly. You know, I never noticed what beautiful eyes she has until I saw this pic.
Very, very chic.........that goes for both ladies!
Mrs. O looks like a goddess!
Some of you fellow readers really need to take a step back and take a deep breath. My comment had nothing to do with the first lady's body. I never said he hips are too big. I said the DRESS puts emphasize on the hip area too much. It is simply because of the fact that it is the tightest around hip area vs many other state dinner dresses that are corset(same designer the first sate dinner) style or similar (Alexander Mcqueen) or even the blue dress just couple of posts down and she has worn and are tightest around the waist area... hence visually show the balanced hour glass figure she actually has. For the record, I have hips. I said nothing personal about the first lady, black culture or how women should be sticks. It seems to me that some people fire the gun without even reading the comments and have no reservation personally attacking others while preaching that the first lady should not be criticized personally which I did NOT do anyway.
Delicious, Divine, Glamorous....what a gorgeous summer evening look. This FLOTUS and POTUS just SHINE! They are so cute together.
Many of us men are quite happy to see Mrs. O accentuate her gorgeous lower half. Why hide it?
As someone mentioned earlier, voluptuousness is a trait much appreciated in both the black and latino communities. It is hard for us to understand why one would be ashamed of that.
It's a very pretty dress, but it doesn't fit her very well as best seen from the back. The top is too big and the bottom too tight, plus it's so long that she has to hold it up when walking. How does a misfit happen with a $7000 gown?
I am in full agreement concerning the hair. It's chic and free, a curl here, a curl there. I also believe, like others, that this dress is simple, yet summerly grand. To those in attendance, I bet it was darling to see the sunset hit those sequins.
@ Kels, well said!! Our Michelle just keeps toping herself; people get used to updating your fav Mrs. O looks;-))
More photos from the state dinner; showing the dress from several angles
Pictures of state dinner for Chancellor Merkel
http://theobamadiary.com/2011/06/07/heads-up-state-dinner/#comments
This hairdo is flattering to Mrs. O, and perfect for the dress. The squared off V-neckline is gorgeous!
Sorry anar but the dress isn't tight. It flows beautifully around the hip area - if it were tight it would pull the lines of beading off centre which it clearly doesn't. And Mrs O is wider in the hip area than she is across her shoulders - remember Isobel Toledo saying that Mrs O's shape reminded I.T. of an elegant spider? I think that's a spot on summary. Sometimes the cut of her outfits balances her out, sometimes it doesn't. On this particular evening, it doesn't; enjoying the womanly shape myself.
I love the dress and think it is a triumph. It's very hard to cut simple shapes so that they look simple once ON. This is one of the finest of its genre. And I love to see her moving the boundaries of what's appropriate for evening wear. Yes there are people who will have a blue fit because she looks fit, youthful and sexy and doesn't feel the need to cover up her arms, legs, bottom, hips, whatever. I say THANK HEAVEN and long live the individual style of Mrs O.
@anar ... good for you.. glad you stuck up for yourself.... I read your first commnent with the understanding that you were not critizing our First Lady. But I can see how others misunderstood.
Mrs. T has coordinated a terrifc blog with passionate posters who adore and respect Mrs. Obama. As the race for President begins - we are all very protective of our sitting President and his lovely wife.
Aaaah the eloquence of Posh Tater---You rock! ;)
naeem khan is very down to earth, thank God! He once personally responded to a compliment I gave to him on face book! there you have it, he's the boss!
@anwar: Maybe you should take a deep breath and step back because you are confusing me with your post. Either way, too big and too much, however you want to phrase it implies that the dress is too tight. And I do not see that at all.
Ask yourself this question since you have hips: Can you wear or would you wear this dress with your hips? Maybe so maybe not, and I know this is not about you, but my sisters, mom and aunts always told me to accentuate the positive when dressing and I received compliments from both men and women because there is emphasis on the hips, "too much" that I am not ashame or try to hide. I thank God for strong women who were proud of their bodies regardless of what the magazines had to say. They could sew very well and everything fit perfectly!
Our First Lady has so many attributes. I just enjoy and expect to see something exciting whenever I visit this post even if she has worn it before. She still looks different. It's the joy and confidence that draws me to style and how her husband lovingly adores her.
>> That the dress visually draws the eyes away from the shoulders and to the hip area. and hence emphasizes the lower half and downplays the upper half. <<
Still don't understand what's wrong with that? Why is it a problem?
If her hips were 65 inches around, I might concur. But they're not. She's beautifully curved and proportionately so. So what's wrong with emphasizing that in the beautiful way that this dress does.
Love the dress on MO and the only downer for me was the bracelet choice. I must say the Chancellor and the Phantom of the opera look fantastic too and she is again doing that cartoonish "Mr Burns hand pose" !!
LDS: English is not my first language. I am an immigrant from middle east so if my comment is confusing you I am sorry about that. Things do get lost in translation.
The problem is that you make it personal. Your aunt or sisters may choose to wear a lot of things that I may not like. Believe me, if you see women from Middle East you will see A LOT of curves. But that doesn't mean I would like every dress that a curvy woman wears. People are entitled to their opinion. It's a specific comment about a specific dress based on my opinion. I didn't ask the first lady to go on diet and lose the hips. I just don't think this dress works with her body type. It takes it visually out of proportion.
This dress is growing on me. I love the color and shimmer, but initially felt it's cut emphasized the wrong parts of her body. The more I look at it, the more grateful I am that Mrs. O feels so comfortable with her body. Likewise the bangles, which I've come to feel helped give the dress the slightly informal touch a garden dinner party calls for.
Wonderful again!!!!!!!!!!
Absolutely LOVE this dressing, positively stunning. She is just one REALLY classy lady. Fantastic!!
I am trying to like this gown and keep looking back up to see the features others are raving about. What I see is a droopy, saggy look created by a lot of unbroken vertical lines and deep V neckline. Bleah!
@anar, yes we should all take a deep breath and exhale with blessings and thanks to Mrs. T for this blog, and to Mrs. O for simply existing. We love Mrs. O the most (I believe) for who she is and how she carries herself. The way she dresses is just yummy, scrumptious, delicious icing on the cake! Please take no offense anar from our critiques of your comments. Since you explained that you are from the Middle East, perhaps you are viewing Mrs. O’s look in this gorgeous gown through the lens of a culture that traditionally expects women to cover up their face and all of their assets very constrictively and conservatively. Or perhaps you are viewing the way Mrs. O looks through the lens of our Western culture that typically holds up a different model of womanliness and First Lady-hood. Thanks be to God for Mrs. Obama-hood! And thanks to Naeem Khan (Indian-born American designer who seems to love womanly curves and knows how to dress them – he rocks)! If you Google Naeem Khan, you will find a pic of Eva Longoria in one of his fabulous white-sequined gowns that gorgeously flaunts her bottom half. Ms. Longoria is not as tall as Mrs. O, but she certainly has the curves and she looks great too in her Naeem Khan gown.
I am impressed by Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge (whom many continue to call Kate Middleton, or more inaccurately, Princess Kate). However, even tho’ she carries all her looks well, HRH Catherine seems to me a bit too thin right now, and she doesn’t have any curves to speak of in the gown she is wearing in this link: http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2011/06/finally_kate_middleton_wore_so.html
I think Posh Tater said it best here, in regard to how groovin’ Mrs. O looks in this WOWSA Naeem Khan gown. Our First Lady knows how to emphasize all of her assets – she simply has unique and amazing style. Above all, both First Lady Obama and President Obama are so inspirational. Same goes for Chancellor Merkel. BTW, over on the Obama Diary, and on youtube, there are videos of the luncheon reception at the State Department, where Secretary Clinton, VP Biden, and Chancellor Merkel spoke.
No disrespect to you, anar – you prefer a different look, and I’ve seen some critiques of the state dinner gown similar to yours, voiced on another site (@New York Magazine), but again overwhelming praise is in the majority re the way Mrs. O looks in this Naeem Khan gown. Please understand where everyone’s comments in response to yours are coming from: Mrs. O has a beautiful body and rockin’ taste – she knows how to dress herself. There is absolutely nothing wrong with her body – she cherishes and celebrates her body, every single curve, angle, upper, lower, and all-over! Most of us say 'Yaaay!' and give thanks for Mrs. O expressing herself and for being such an astoundingly eloquent role model who melds action and passion, along with her excellent voice and beautiful, graceful way of carrying herself. You view how Mrs. O looks in the gown differently and that’s your view, butt I think the majority view holds sway: Rock on with your baaad self, Mrs. O!
I absolutely love that dress on Michelle. It would be perfect for my wedding next year. She always looks so beautiful. Her image is getting better and better. This is refreshing from all the other stuff you see about her. Not much credit is given to Michelle. I actually read something about her BY A MAN and it was surprising. idk if I'm allowed to share, http://thefreshxpress.com/2011/06/michelle-the-other-obama%e2%80%a6/
Fellow readers, is there a box that I have not been put in? I am not against curves. I am not a hip-hater. I am not against black or Latino culture and no-believe it or not- I don't walk around covered up head to toe . I honestly found most of the comments on this thread either attacking me or trying to be polite but yet condescending. I HIGHLY doubt that the first lady would have reacted the way some of you reacted and still be the great person that she seems to be. I didn't insult anyone but everything about me was personally attacked or questioned including my culture. As if it is IMPOSSIBLE for someone to have an opinion against *you* unless there is some fundamental flaw in them. I say against *you* and not FLOTUS because it was clear from some of the comments that the matter was taken very personally and people started defending things I had never talked about to begin with. Not cool.
I think I have said all I could say on this subject so I will leave it as is.
I'm going to weigh in and say while I usually just view the comments and pictures here, that I think Anar has been beat up a bit. The poster is entitled to their opinion and we don't have to find a "box" for it to fit in. I think MO looks fabulous and love the wear the dress does accentuate her body, hips and all. I especially love her hair and the heels are a fabulous touch, since we seldom see her with any real heel over 2" on.
We can certainly agree to disagree, that's what make us all unique human beings. I now expect to be flamed.
WOW! Mrs Obama looks absolutely amazing in this dress! Her hair, skin , bod all look fantastic! This is a very sexy and at the same time classy! I think this outfit may be my favorite!!! I give this a 10 plus!!!
My comments are not meant to "beat up" on or condescend to anar, or anyone here, as everyone will not always agree. Also by mentioning a culture where women are expected to cover up in a more conservative way, I am in no way trashing that culture, simply expressing that we all view things through varying perceptions often based on our cultural backgrounds. As I indicated, anar is not the only one who has expressed their feeling that the dress is "tight" on Mrs. O. I don't see that at all, and I wonder what it is some others are seeing that gives them such an impression. Mrs. O's dress is not even as hip-hugging and revealing (in the back) as the dress worn by the Hollywood actress, Eva Longoria, that I previously referred to. They both look wonderful in their Naeem Khan creations.
You are right anar, Michelle does not lash out at critics of her clothes. She is not focused on worrying about what anyone thinks of her, much less of what she wears. She is too smart and caring of a person to engage with critics. I'm not saying you are a critic of her, and obviously no one has to like everything she wears, or everything about her. As a high profile person, Mrs. O has obviously undergone a great deal of scrutiny and has experienced a lot of criticism, much of it dissipated a bit as people got to know exactly who she is, and to see the great heart that she has.
No disrespect itoward you is meant from me, anar, just the desire to understand why you see the dress as "tight". Of course, you should not be looked down upon for your views and impressions, but also please understand where others are coming from. I think most comments are not an attack on you, but more of a wondering why you think the dress is too tight. Sure, I agree you may feel "piled upon" and I'm sorry for that. I think many have reacted to explain that womanly body shapes in different cultures are celebrated, and that women today in general feel pride in and take inspiration from Mrs. Obama, not only in the way she dresses, but in the substance of who she is as a person, her purpose, her passions, what she says and how she carries herself. No intention to look down on you or your culture, as I'm sure there is much I could learn from you about your culture. Often in Internet conversations, miscommunication happens because the tone and intent of people's comments can be misconstrued. Again, I say let's all take a deep breath and give praise and thanks to Mrs. T for this blog, and to Mrs. O for simply existing.
@flotusrocks: Thank you for your comment. I understand that internet conversations can lead to miscommunication.
The First Lady looks totally and completely stunning! Her hair is outrageously beautiful, and she just oozes total awesomeness!! You can't say enough about her choices, she always knows how to knock our socks off! We are the luckiest country on earth- look who our President and First Lady are!
Looking stunning all the time love the dress wow wow