The End of ‘Wife Wear’

“Wives wear pink” was once a mantra for all those dutiful spouses standing by their men, whether as an appendix to a new role for the husband or as a unwilling partner to a confession of marital infidelity.

Political wives in particular have had their parameters drawn around a smart suit and a tailored coat, a hat as an optional extra and nylons de rigeur (meaning rigorously applied).

Although Nancy Reagan famously wore red and Barbara Bush chose royal blue, the spirit has been the same since Jacqueline Kennedy set the gold standard of tailored coat and pillbox hat in 1961. That first lady may have looked her most glamorous in a silk headscarf, a pair of Capri pants, bare legs and ballerinas — but in public she was obliged to look “appropriate.”

The ideological gulf between Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin in last year’s presidential election was reflected in their clothes: the trouser suit for the feminist Democrat; the suit, but mismatched for modernity, for the Republican vice-presidential hopeful.




At that point, no one looked much at Michelle Obama’s choice of clothes or read into it any message. Right up to that crowning moment of delirious joy on election night, when Mrs. Obama took to the stage with her family in a bright dress, half-covered with a cardigan, there were no expectations of her as a fashion icon.

But with that woman-friendly “cardy,” turning her broad back on the mannish jacket, the future first lady was re-defining what was appropriate for the White House, for Buckingham Palace and for the daunting task of being photographed beside the former model and French presidential wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

Whereas Mrs. Obama implied that the knit she pulled on over a scarlet and black Narciso Rodriguez dress in Chicago was merely to dispel the chill, her London appearances suggest otherwise. From a black cardigan with the British prime minister at 10 Downing Street to a sparkly knit from the sportswear brand J. Crew with his wife, the message was clear: not just that a White House wardrobe need not be expensive, but that it does not have to be formal. Only a string of pearls links Mrs. Obama with any kind of historic dressing up.

The cardigan — whether it was in black from the niche designer Azzedine Alaïa or in a bold plaid pattern from the Japanese Junya Watanabe — is a signal that powerful women no longer need to prove their strength by dressing shoulder to padded shoulder with men. The only jacket that the first lady wore in Europe was taut, short and again from Alaïa.

For Mrs. Obama has broken with another cherished rule: that her wardrobe has to wave the national flag. Unlike Jacqueline Kennedy, who asked her sister Lee Radziwill to smuggle Givenchy gowns to New York and who had her milliner copy European styles, the New First Lady has embraced diversity. Her wardrobe has focused on Asian designers — often first-generation Americans — rather than the well-known names.

Thakoon Panichgul’s scarlet and black dress hit the headlines at the Democratic convention and the Thailand-born designer scored again in Strasbourg with the colorful coat and bow-necked dress that stood up defiantly against Mrs. Bruni-Sarkozy’s prim Dior outfit.

Jason Wu, 26, born in Taiwan, was catapulted to fame when his one-shoulder white gown, embellished with organza flowers, was worn by the first lady at the inaugural balls.
Where in the mix are Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein — those pillars of American fashion, or Donna Karan, its female flag-waver? Only Michael Kors scored for the official first lady photograph, which caused controversy over Mrs. Obama’s bared arms (although Jacqueline Kennedy wore a similar dress).

Unlike Mrs. Sarkozy, whose natural style is streamlined and sporty but whose public wardrobe is built on France’s iconic fashion names, Mrs. Obama has eschewed the famous worldwide brands. Mr. Alaïa, who created the black dress with frothy frills that Mrs. Obama wore on Friday in Baden-Baden, is the ultimate insider’s designer. Etro and Moschino, the Italian labels that provided tops to go with pants, are also outside fashion’s “magic circle” of Armani, Gucci, Prada and Versace.

It is no secret where Mrs. Obama finds her wardrobe: via the Chicago boutique Ikram. But although she exudes pride both in being the wife of the first African-American president and as a mother of two girls, the only fashion message she seems eager to convey is that she is her own woman.

Hats off (especially pill boxes and “My Fair Lady” millinery) to women who fought for equality by grabbing pantsuits from their male equals. But the first lady is making her own contribution to fashion history by dressing as a woman of strong character — rather than as a presidential wife.

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