First Ladies Judged by Sense of Style

The first lady must stand by silently while her husband does all the talking. I have NEVER done that and see no reason to start now. And she must be a snappy dresser. No matter what her many accomplishments, a first lady is often reduced to her sense of style. This would be especially hard for me, because I have no sense of style.

Clearly, the fashion industry depends on first ladies. A black-and-white sundress worn by Obama (Michelle, not Barack) on ABC’s The View, sold out across the country. And she was only RUNNING for first lady at the time.

In 2001, news outlets reported that Laura Bush would wear a hat for her husband’s swearing in. Big department stores stocked up on the hat, sure that well-dressed woman everywhere would follow suit . . . uh . . . hat. When Mrs. Bush went hatless, the stores were left holding the hat–hats.

When Jimmy Carter was inaugurated in 1977, his wife wore the same inaugural gown she’d worn when he was elected governor of Georgia. It was SCANDALOUS! Not the gown; it was rather modest. The problem was that Rosalynn had the gall to wear it twice. While I can find no record of what Jimmy Carter wore to his inauguration, I did find stinging criticism from disgruntled fashionistas upset at Mrs. Carter for not buying a new gown. For the record, if I spent good money on a gown, I’d wear it more than once too–unless it had a nasty stain on it.

In an article about Laura Bush still floating around the internet, writer Cynthia Nellis points out that, “Most Americans can’t debate the fine points of Social Security’s future. But they know an ugly dress when they see it.” Yes, but do we know shallow when we see it?

If I were first lady, I’d give Ms. Nellis something to talk about. “The first lady, who is on record as saying she is morally opposed to wearing dresses during the winter, wore a $20 jacket to a state dinner. Sources close to the White House say there was a button missing.”

Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin may have shown that women care about more than fashion, but Clinton’s suits and Palin’s glasses still made headlines during the campaign, and not just in fashion magazines. (To be fair, there was that little issue of Palin’s wardrobe, which I suppose really did qualify as news, especially to those of us who think you should never spend more on your clothes than you spend on your house.)

The question is, when a woman finally does become president, will we be more concerned about her policies or her clothing? “And this just in, President Whosit wore a blue Oscar de la Renta suit and Stuart Weitzman shoes as she signed some bill or other into law. No word on Whosit’s handbag.”

But back to today’s top news: A new president has taken the reigns; the United States is waging two wars; the climate is changing; the economy is failing; and Michelle Obama looked stunning in a white Grecian-style inaugural gown designed by Jason Wu. I know that makes me feel better.