July 28, 2012

"Michelle Obama remained true to her patriotic fashion theme today in a dazzling white top and skirt for this evening's events in London."

So begins the Daily Mail:
The U.S. First Lady, who has stuck to a palette of red, white and blue since she arrived in the city this morning, opted for an ensemble from the resort 2013 collection of American label J Mendel for an early evening reception at Buckingham Palace.
Oh? But what's this, further down:
Mrs Obama performed a further outfit change right before the Opening Ceremony began. She was seen viewing the dazzling spectacle (above) wearing a lime green blazer over the top of a simple white blouse.
Lime green! Lime green, you say? Unpatriotic!

Speaking of fashion colors and the opening ceremony... why was the Queen of England wearing black gloves? (Photo at the link.) She had this brocaded pink/peach-colored dress and a matching feathery hat, but black gloves. In summer! She also looked incredibly grouchy. I found it hard to enjoy the show, myself, because I was constantly distracted by thoughts about how the Queen must feel about it. All those people, all those flashing lights, and loud music, including Queen blasting "just gotta get out... just gotta get out..." And then those black gloves. It's as if she thought the place was going to be grimy — too dirty for her — and the gloves were a precaution against the attachment of any commonness.

63 comments:

Mogget said...

A fashion "competition" between Michelle Obama and Duchess Kate is not going to turn out well for the American side. Not well at all.

Anonymous said...

We, who are part of the super-K street consultants, WH/Hill DNC operatives, and otherwise total fans of our great/current POTUS believe that the US was superbly represented by FLOTUS. We love all things British. Thus, we are confused (as David A. as said already) at the Romney gaffe. He cannot be trusted in the WH/Oval Office. We need British friends with us. He will distance us to them. He is now in Israel, expect him to have another gaffe. We at the WH never have a gaffe. All the GOP does is take things off or out of context. We have always supported businesses. Some of our best friends are in businesses. Everyone is in hollywood or bollywood. They support us. No one supports Romney. Not even a business in Timbuktu.

We are great, because we have a great POTUS/FLOTUS. Thus, we will be here for you dear voters till Jan. 2017.

Show your support by joining us in our rally. Give to our campaign. And, do not take things off-context.

rhhardin said...

Clothes are a warning sign.

Ann Althouse said...

"A fashion "competition" between Michelle Obama and Duchess Kate is not going to turn out well for the American side. Not well at all."

Tastes vary. To my eye, Kate is mannish. She's also inhumanely thin. Not saying Michelle is perfect, but she is a more realistic image for a grown woman. I can't imagine what Kate eats (or does after she eats) to maintain that absence of a body, but Michelle looks like a real person. For all her schooling us about what not to eat, it's clear she eats plenty of real food and doesn't model anorexia.

Ralph L said...

Would someone give that Duchess a bagel before she fades away?

pm317 said...

MO looks nice for a change and looks like it her own hair unlike last time (which looked like a wig -- scroll down for that pic in the article).

pm317 said...

Yeah, Kate's outfit is not all that interesting, it is bland.

edutcher said...

When she thought the camera wasn't on her, Moochelle looked as grumpy as Her Majesty.

pm317 said...

BTW, at Kate's age I was skinny like that too.. My husband used to say 'you eat like a bird'. Wish that was still true.

Tregonsee said...

A very polished female friend is convinced that MO buys her clothes as a trendy Klingon house of fashions.

Ralph L said...

There's an even grumpier photo of the Queen in the "Kate can't hide excitement" spread. Rude of them to do that.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

Judgments about body composition aside, Kate's choices are always--ALWAYS--mature, understated and classic.

That old picture with Kate wearing the tan bandage dress and Michelle wearing something pink and teal and opalescent? Come on now.

Ann Althouse said...

"She's also inhumanely thin."

I mean inhumanly...

I'm tempted to defend "inhumanely" — though it was an error — on the ground that it's inhumane to hold that up as a model for women. It's a look that cannot be achieved through healthful eating, I don't think.

Let's remember that Diana had a big problem with anorexia.

Ann Althouse said...

"That old picture with Kate wearing the tan bandage dress and Michelle wearing something pink and teal and opalescent?"

Kate is all controlled in these nipped in styles. Bandage = bondage. Where's the freedom? Where's the fun? Michelle represents America — with personal style and a measure of ridiculousness.

We declared independence from the British long ago and for good reason.

Palladian said...

When I saw photographs of the queen at that bloated spectacle, I was reminded that it was once common to stage elaborate "entertainments" for the pleasure of the monarch of England. Queen Elizabeth the first greatly admired complex, expensive, and outrageously over-the-top thematic pageants, replete with fireworks, elaborate costumes, dancers, mine, and complicated special effects, all generally staged to represent the sort of fashionable allegorical themes so beloved of the Renaissance aristocracy.

I'm not sure why Betty Windsor wasn't enjoying herself. Perhaps after the Jubilee she was all pageanted-out.

David said...

All this for a parade of flags?

Palladian said...

As a peasant I do not find succor in the finery and pleasures of the unaccountable nobility and their courtiers.

Brian Brown said...

The idea that Michelle Obama is "patriotic" is silly & ridiculous.

So is the idea that she is so pretty!!!1111~~~~~~

pm317 said...

with personal style and a measure of ridiculousness.

haha, good one!

David said...

A little flesh on the bones is good for a lady, especially as she gracefully ages. Michelle is 48 years old and looking terrific for her age. Not perfect but terrific.

Barack, he needs a few more milkshakes and cheeseburgers.

Feed your man Michelle.

Megaera said...

Black gloves, in now long-vanished polite social practice, were a sign of mourning and not normal daytime wear: perhaps some obscure member of the House of Windsor has passed away, unremarked by any save Her Majesty.

madAsHell said...

All I see is the Grinch...

edutcher said...

Palladian said...

I'm not sure why Betty Windsor wasn't enjoying herself. Perhaps after the Jubilee she was all pageanted-out.

She remembers Britain's greatness, perhaps, and was disgusted that the best Old Blighty could do for this occasion was an ode to the new Einsatzgruppen.

As a peasant I do not find succor in the finery and pleasures of the unaccountable nobility and their courtiers.

Citizen, not peasant.

Although you get the feeling Choomie and Moochelle and Bloomie would change that in a flash if they could.

Hagar said...

The present royals are a good-natured bunch and will go along with most anything, but there surely should be some limits to what an 86 year old lady should have to put up with!

john said...

The queen was wearing black gloves in the off-chance she had to shake hands with her son. Did you notice she walked right in front of him without so much as a glance in his direction?

By her own amazing willpower, Elizabeth will refuse to die before Charles.

rhhardin said...

Imus on the Royals after the death of Princess Di

"I mean they haven't they haven't performed, but they they're they they they don't perform well in in virtually almost anything they do, other than wearing hideously stupid hats and looking as though they're all related through obviously more than marriage, just just an inbred bunch of goobers.."

Christopher in MA said...

Edutcher, I concur. Having your country's history reduced to bite-sized spectacles culminating in Harry Potter puppets, a phalanx of Mary Poppinses raining from the sky and the bloated caterwauling of the insufferable Sir Paul must infuriate the Queen no end. "For this we won the war?" I'm sure she thinks.

Although I doubt she'll outlive Charles. I think she'll take perverse pleasure on her deathbed at the Musloid, tatty, ball-less landmass he and his kind have done so much to turn England into. "It's all yours now, you worthless tosspot. . ."

chickelit said...

Stop the presses!!!

Doesn't this sort of praise heaped on women's fashion compliment the sort of lament often read here that too much attention is paid to women's looks "on the job."?

ricpic said...

The Wookie was wearing a lime green jacket a white blouse and nothing else? Cool. Well, cool for her.

ricpic said...

Duchess Kate doesn't have female hips. Disturbing.

Geoff Matthews said...

She's the queen. She's 86. She can dress how she likes.

garage mahal said...

The First Lady is gorgeous! Wowee. So nice to have a stunningly beautiful PATRIOT representing us.

Paco Wové said...

"There's an even grumpier photo of the Queen"

Yes, that is one grim face she's got on there.

Not really on topic, but my favs QE II photo still has to be this one.

Anonymous said...

Michelle is beautiful and always stylish, even flashy, love seeing her there, so American. How rude to call her Moochelle, I bet some here would be happy if their own wives were as shapley and pretty.

jungatheart said...

Ann Althouse said...


Kate is all controlled in these nipped in styles. Bandage = bondage. Where's the freedom? Where's the fun? Michelle represents America — with personal style and a measure of ridiculousness.

We declared independence from the British long ago and for good reason.
----

Excellent observation. Michelle looks great in that picture...fun, adorable, daring. Love. It.

leslyn said...

How Crunchy.

Parachutes and Daniel Craig were fun for me. WTF about black gloves??
@chickelit: right on.

FLOTUS was gorgeous. Thank goodness we have her representing us instead of the Unhappy R, who fell at the first hurdle. "Worse than Sarah Palin"--diplomatic fate worse than death.

Maybe I should just refer to him as the Big Grin, since he'd probably publicly criticize the queen for wearing black gloves too. :P

wyo sis said...

Garage makes it sound like all we've had for first ladies are unpatriotic stunted trolls. Where does this come from?

leslyn said...

Sorry. That was supposed to be "How GRINCHY" and "the Big Grinch." Autospeller insists on changing back my corrections. sigh.

Paco Wové said...

"Where does this come from?"

Partisan trolls gotta partisan troll.

leslyn said...

wyo sis, from your imagination, making up trollish where there are none.

jungatheart said...

Snaps for Megaera for knowing about black gloves.

wyo sis said...

Oh, from my imagination, like the calls of racist dog whistles that go out whenever a conservative speaks. Well, I get it now. See how that works?

Phil 314 said...

Michelle is beautiful and always stylish, even flashy,

If only she had had braces as a child.

Phil 314 said...

Michelle does have a caboose though.

ed said...

What I find amusing is the endless tripe of "Michelle Obama is one of us because she shops at Target!". When has she ever worn anything from Target?

I looked up "J Mendel". Nice website. Says a lot when they don't bother listing prices.

So who remembers Sarah Palin being hammered repeatedly for wearing an expensive dress?

ed said...

""Worse than Sarah Palin"--diplomatic fate worse than death."

Really? Who cares?

The upper echelons of the UK government are little different from the liberal Democrats that infest Washington. Like calls to like. And I can't say I really give a damn what some stupid Brit has to say about pretty much anything.

Titus said...

The Queen was pissed because when all those countries passed by she was mourning the loss of not owning them anymore.

rcocean said...
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rcocean said...
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rcocean said...

The opening ceremonies were a Superbowl half-time show with an English accent.

Christy said...

Michelle Obama looked lovely. She looks a bit more toned and thinner to me than 4 years ago.

The jacket she wore to the reception was a hit. That sleeve rarely works for a mature woman and she wore it well. Not a fan of the red jacket with what looked to be mudcloth blocking, but that is just a matter of my personal taste. Nothing wrong with it and it has a certain resonance on an African-American woman.

My question is this - is Kate too thin to conceive? She is getting a little long in the tooth to wait too long.

jungatheart said...

If she's too thin to conceive they'll pump her full of hormones.

heyboom said...

My 19 year old daughter is 5'6" and weighs barely above 100 pounds. She eats like a freaking horse! Sometimes, it's simply a genetic thing, you know?

AllenS said...

“People in this country are ready for change and hungry for a different kind of politics and … for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback.” -- Michelle Obama

Yeah, that's some kind of patriot right there.

jungatheart said...

Agreed, heyboom, but a minimal amount of body fat is necessary for menstruation to occur. I have no reason to beleive your daugher is amenstrual.

Ralph L said...

Let's remember that Diana had a big problem with anorexia
Her eating problem was bulimia--binging, then barfing. Her younger brother married at least one anorexic (a model), so it isn't surprising if her sons marry women with eating disorders. Diana also had narrow hips. For his sake (and their future children's), I hope Kate isn't an emotional nutcase like his mother.

leslyn said...

If only she had had braces as a child.

Not everyone has had your advantages.

You should get a new handle, Phil 3:14. That one shows hubris.

Or, on the other hand, don't.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

I would cease and desist criticizing Michelle Obama's look if she'd quit doing whatever unnatural thing does does to her eyebrows. They're incredibly distracting.

leslyn said...

For gawd's sake, black gloves. Greenness. Eyebrows.

Women truly are the catty sex.

jungatheart said...

Leslyn, might I suggest Midol?

htom said...

Black gloves are proper if you're in mourning; who, you'll have to ask her. My guess is either the '72 Olympics massacre or a British soldier killed in Afghanistan.

We're so used to seeing marshmallow people here in the USA that we have a distorted view of what "normal" is. Minimum total bodyfat for menstruation is 10% - 20%, it varies greatly by genetics, composition of bodyfat, and method of measurement. Her mother's thin.

There's a part of me that wonders if the black gloves were tactical gloves, a silent rebuke to the staff who refused to let her make her own parachute jump.

jungatheart said...

htom, my first thought was solidarity with the workers of the world :)

Victor Erimita said...

The theme of the opening ceremonies: the glorious march to socialism, climaxing in an entire stadium filled with sick beds and patients, the perfect symbolism for the tragically fallen Great Britain.

Kate doesn't look mannish, and she doesn't look anorexic. She looks fit in a contemporary way and somehow manages to be elegant dignified and smoking hot, simultaneously. Ann, you sound like you're grumping at her youth (I'm the same age as you.)