Sartorial Affinity

I met Jackie Kennedy once.  Well, she was Jackie Onassis by then.  I was just a kid, and it was at an art museum.  I have no idea why my family was there.  Not that we didn’t appreciate art, but we didn’t exactly move in the same circles.  Anyway, I still remember how she looked: so much prettier than her photos, very chic, very elegant, in very obviously expensive, beautifully tailored navy pants, cream-and-navy stripe blouse, understated gold jewelry, and of course, those big sunglasses, pushed up on her head.

First Ladies have always been singled out for their fashion sense.   Dolly Madison was quite the fashion icon in her era.  Mary Todd Lincoln spent lavishly on clothing, so much so that it caused great concern to her husband.  Edith Wilson was something of what we would now call a trophy wife.  Today, Michelle Obama is the subject of magazine articles, television commentary, and books on her style, which is often compared to Jackie Kennedy’s style.  They are, as a friend of mine would say, just the same but different.

Jackie Kennedy, as everyone knows, grew up privileged, with private schools, trips abroad, and highly cultured surroundings.  She was always very polished, sophisticated, and elegant, and must have seemed even more so as First Lady after the somewhat dowdy Mamie Eisenhower (have you ever seen pictures of her hairstyle, with the little short bangs?)

In her First Lady years, Jackie Kennedy wore custom-made clothes head to toe, largely from American designer Oleg Cassini.  Her wardrobe, and other examples of her sense of style, became the subject of an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art a few years ago, and for good reason.  Jackie Kennedy understood the importance of appearance and impression.  She kept notes on what she wanted to wear for a specific event or occasion, maintained an ongoing collaboration with Cassini, and popularized many of the iconic styles we now associate with that era – boxy little tailored suits, pillbox hats, bouffant hair.  She always looked perfect.

Michelle Obama, like Jackie Kennedy, is always fashion forward and appropriately dressed but seemingly with less studied effort.  She is known for mixing high and low end clothes, emphasizing separates, and wearing things she has worn before, in different ways.

For the inauguration ceremony, Michelle Obama wore a bright citron coat and dress by Isabel Toledo.  It was flattering, a bright color to help pick her out of the crowd, and a good weight for Washington’s changeable weather.  Appropriate, flattering, yet somehow realistic.  For the inaugural ball, she wore the graceful white confection – elegant, with movement, but not that white-wedding-meringue look that unfortunately plagues many formal gowns of that color.  Lovely, but not over-the-top.  To dig in the White House garden with the kids, she wears pants, sneakers, and a knit top.  Neat, attractive, and dare we say – practical?

Unlike Jackie Kennedy’s perceived fashion perfection, Michelle Obama has been criticized by some fashionistas for committing the occasional fashion faux pas.  I remember a flurry of harsh words when she was spotted wearing shorts while getting off the presidential helicopter.  Shorts!  On the First Lady, with all those media cameras about!  Would Jackie Kennedy have done that?  I seriously doubt it.  However, the curtain had been pulled back.  The First Lady had been caught in shorts, a perhaps less-than-perfect choice, and there was no going back.  The First Lady ultimately learned a harsh lesson in dress etiquette and using good judgment.

Without the rigid rules of Mrs. Kennedy’s time, Mrs. Obama is free to make choices.  She can even make choices that fashion pundits and anyone, for that matter, can question.  She doesn’t dictate fashion with a committee of exclusive designers, but opts to approach fashion and style like other stylish people.  She wears clothes that are attractive, appropriate, and that make sense to her.

We followed Jackie Kennedy and her fashion, but from a hushed, respectful distance.  Michelle Obama wears clothes with panache and looks every inch the fashion icon, yet someone we can relate to.  When she wore a J. Crew sweater, it sold out in virtually milliseconds.  Why does Mrs. Obama’s look work so well?  She looks appropriate (important for a First Lady), attractive (also important), but also more approachable, more achievable.

First Lady Obama’s approach to dressing succeeds in part because times have changed.  Haute couture in Jackie Kennedy’s day clearly separated exclusive, custom-made clothing from ready-to-wear, and not only in the quality and price of the clothing itself.  It was a lifestyle.  There was a whole ritual of regular trips to Paris for fittings, something difficult to imagine now for anyone with any kind of occupation (paid or not).  Even my wealthiest clients don’t live like that, and I don’t know anyone who does.

Michelle Obama exemplifies the best of how most people dress today.  She has made women not think twice about having a closet where a J. Mendel original can hang alongside a Macy’s Special Value.  A woman isn’t afraid to don a pair of Steve Maddens by day and Christian Louboutins by night. The First Lady’s iconic presence and approachability has re-introduced fashion commentary to the sometimes drab and staunch White House. Mrs. Obama’s approach to dressing makes the rest of us feel like we could all look that good if we just put some time and thought into it.  And we both like and admire her for that.

Posted Sunday October 21, 2012 | Categories: Fashion, Franco, Susan Boyd | 3 Comments »