Mrs. O

by Mary Tomer

  “Whenever a woman accessorizes, she puts her own point of view on a look. If you accessorize with your own creativity, you’re putting your own stamp on an individual look.”

  KAREN ERICKSON, ERICKSON BEAMON

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  Erickson Beamon Peace at Last necklace made of Japanese glass pearls and oxidized silver plated metal.

  TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2008

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  Second Night of the Convention

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  FOR THE SECOND NIGHT OF THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, the night Hillary Clinton addressed the convention in a prime-time speech, Mrs. Obama watched and listened attentively from the audience.

  The previous evening, Michelle Obama had described Hillary Clinton, her husband’s former opponent in the primary campaign, as a woman “who put those 18 million cracks in that glass ceiling so that our daughters and our sons can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher.”

  Seated between vice presidential candidate Joe Biden to her left, and her mother, Marian Robinson, to her right, the future first lady was a vision of poise and youthful grace.

  The sequel to Mrs. Obama’s teal Maria Pinto sheath dress proved to be another sartorial standout: a romantic, feminine cocktail dress by Peter Soronen. The ivory and lime rose-patterned brocade cocktail dress was custom made for Mrs. Obama, using fabric from Soronen’s Pre-Spring 2008 collection, and cut in a dress design from his Fall 2008 collection. The original dress included three-quarter length balloon sleeves and a deep scoop neckline, but was altered for Mrs. Obama—the sleeves shortened to above the elbow and a ruffle added at the bust, presumably for modesty. Lime piping defined the empire waist and original neckline.

  Mrs. Obama complemented the dress with a soft updo, her bangs swept to the side, and drop citrine stone earrings.

  Ivory and lime rose-patterned brocade used in Peter Soronen’s Pre-Spring 2008 collection.

  Peter Soronen dress before alteration.

  Michelle Obama pictured with her brother Craig Robinson and former President Jimmy Carter.

  WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2008

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  Delegate Service Day

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  A LONGTIME CHAMPION OF PUBLIC SERVICE, Michelle Obama was named the co-chair of the Democratic National Convention’s Delegate Service Day, along with Jeannie Ritter, the first lady of Colorado. Mrs. Obama joined volunteers who planted trees in Denver’s Curtis Park and put together care packages for troops overseas, while a broader service effort cascaded across the city.

  In an opinion piece co-written for the Denver Post in advance of the Service Day, Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Ritter encouraged participation:

  “Our nation is built on a history of service, written by generations of soldiers and sailors, suffragists and freedom riders, teachers and doctors, police officers and firefighters. Their lesson to us is simple but profound: In America, each of us is free to seek our own dreams, but we must also serve a common and higher purpose.”

  Standing on a stage in front of an expansive American flag, Mrs. Obama opened Delegate Service Day with a speech to volunteers. Like those serving, she wore a blue “Supporting Our Troops” T-shirt, rolling up her sleeves for the day, literally and figuratively. The look was kept casual with black capri pants and open toe black flats.

  Brooches from Moschino’s Fall 2008 collection.

  WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2008

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  Third Night of the Convention

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  SEATED IN THE AUDIENCE BETWEEN BARACK OBAMA’S GREAT-UNCLE, veteran Charlie Payne, and Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry, Mrs. Obama jumped to her feet in applause at the conclusion of vice presidential candidate Joe Biden’s impassioned speech.

  Mrs. Obama’s face was aglow from the reflected sparkle of four floral brooches, placed at the round neckline of her azure blue silk dress by Narciso Rodriguez. While at first glance the embellishments appeared to be part of the dress design, they were in fact four distinct pins, inventively added to accessorize.

  Resembling Blue Bell dahlias, each pin has layers of finely articulated sequin petals and a shimmering center of tiny metallic beads, which combine to add beautiful movement and dimension to the design. Designed by Rossella Jardini, creative director of Moschino, the pins were featured in the Italian design house’s Fall 2008 collection, where single brooches were placed at the neck of high collar, ruffled white shirts.

  When asked about the use of brooches in her recent collections, Rossella Jardini replied, “Brooches? Yes, I love them. I perceive them as the accents on specific words in the fashion language: they are the guidelines for the proper reading of the full sentence. A particular style changes depending upon the type of brooch, where they are placed, and how evident or camouflaged they are on the dress or jacket.”

  THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2008

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  Final Day of the Convention

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  TO BEGIN THE FINAL DAY OF THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, Michelle Obama chose an understated navy blue V-neck dress for a speaking engagement at the Women’s Caucus and a television interview with CBS’s Katie Couric.

  At first glance, the dress may have appeared to be a simple shift dress, but a closer look revealed hidden detail and fine craftsmanship—the work of Isabel Toledo. The fitted bodice was created by two bands of fabric that encircle the waist, while exposed seams run the length of the A-line skirt, adding nuanced detail. An amaryllis-inspired brooch pinned at the center the neckline brought a feminine embellishment.

  Describing her design process, Isabel Toledo explains, “All types of cuts create emotion in a garment. Where is the knee showing? Where do you feel it tight on you? You’re aware of the garment according to how it fits you. Your body language becomes important. You use your body in a way according to the dress. I think of all of these things before I design. I think of the lines according to that.”

  In the final minutes of Mrs. Obama’s interview with Katie Couric, conversation shifted to the role of first ladies. “Somebody asked me, ‘Is there a standard notion of what a first lady should be?’” said Mrs. Obama. “If you look at Eleanor Roosevelt, Jacqueline Kennedy, Barbara Bush, Laura Bush—they have all been in some way uniquely non-traditional…. And the country received each and every one of those women with a level of openness and possibility. I hope to learn from each of them if I have the honor of being the next first lady of the United States.”

  THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2008

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  Final Night of the Convention

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  FOR THE FINAL NIGHT OF THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, the evening Barack Obama would accept his party’s nomination for president, Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado, was packed with thousands of enthusiastic delegates and campaign supporters.

  Making her boldest style statement of the week, Mrs. Obama wore an abstract floral print cocktail dress that would at once send the inner circles of the fashion community abuzz, while enchanting style-conscious women across the country. In a single ensemble, Mrs. Obama set herself on an almost certain, though likely unintended, path toward becoming a style icon.

  The dress was the work of Thakoon Panichgul, a young, talented New York designer whose eponymous line, Thakoon, had launched to critical acclaim just four years prior. The dress, a reverse kimono-style design in a graphic cabbage rose print, hailed from the designer’s yet-to-be-released Resort 2009 collection. Mrs. Obama had purchased the dress in late July from the Chicago boutique Ikram, after Ikram Goldman had requested an early shipment of cocktail dresses from Thakoon for a “special client.”

  Mrs. Obama was widely applauded in the media for demonstrating an astute, modern fashion sensibility with her choice of dress and designer. In fact, it was at least the second time Mrs. Obama had worn the reverse kimono dress design from Thakoon. Named such for its crossover V-back with tie waist belt, the dress originally appeared in Thakoon’s Spring 2007 collection in a black silk cotton c
rinkled fabric, selling out when it debuted at Bergdorf Goodman in 2007. Mrs. Obama previously wore the dress in black for a campaign fundraiser in September 2007.

  Mr. Panichgul described his reaction to learning the future first lady had chosen his design in the February 2009 issue of Harper’s Bazaar: “I had no idea,” Panichgul said. “I was so shocked and honored to have been part of that moment for her, for her family, for the country.”

  The dress was not the only style star of the night. In lieu of a necklace, Mrs. Obama chose a trio of brooches by Erickson Beamon, pinned at the neckline of her dress. In scarlet, lilac, and gray, each brooch featured a rose center surrounded by clusters of small pearls and stones, mirroring the print and colors of her dress’s fabric.

  Following Barack Obama’s speech, Mrs. Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha, joined the nominee on stage. The girls pink and white summer dresses—Malia’s a lace empire waist sundress and Sasha’s an ombré-effect bubble dress—were a perfect complement to their mother’s. As the family walked to the front of the stage, waving to the vast audience, fashion observers also took note of Mrs. Obama’s shoes. Instead of heels, Mrs. Obama chose sensible black flats, signaling as she would so many times in the future, that she would make her own style rules.

  Front of Thakoon’s reverse kimono dress in cabbage rose print.

  Back of Thakoon’s reverse kimono dress in cabbage rose print.

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  Q&A KAREN ERICKSON, JEWELRY DESIGNER

  Karen Erickson, of New York City, is one half of the jewelry design duo Erickson Beamon; her creative partner, Vicki Beamon, resides in London. Together, they run the highly successful “baubles-and-bangles empire” with more than 25 years in business together. Through the years they’ve collaborated with an impressive range of design houses from Dior to Chanel to Anna Sui, and attracted a long of list high-profile clientele—including one that is a great source of pride: Michelle Obama.

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  Q: How did you get into jewelry design?

  A: I actually first started by making crazy, whacked-out snakeskin platform shoes in the ’70s—and selling them to all of the fabulous rock and rollers who lived in Detroit at the time. That’s how I got into the fashion business, and I’ve sort of been in it ever since.

  Q: So how did the jewelry eventually come about?

  A: It was 1983. Vicki Beamon and I were making clothing, and we needed jewelry for a runway show, so we started making jewelry. We strung crystals on suede.

  At the fashion show—everyone was more interested in the jewelry than the clothes. We sold to Barneys and Bergdorf the next day. Joan Weinstein [former owner of Ultimo in Chicago] bought our first jewelry collection in ’83 as well.

  Q: What’s the core essence of your collection?

  A: I’m interested in the beauty of the piece, or the story I’m telling with it. I’m not limited or directed by any fine jewelry mystique. I don’t think diamonds or rubies are better. I would certainly mix a ruby with a crystal.

  I want all the raw materials to have integrity, but it’s the craftsmanship that goes into the pieces that’s important. And for me, a lot of it is people who make it. I work very closely in the design room, and in our production room, with each piece.

  Q: Do you have a most treasured piece of jewelry?

  A: I don’t own anything. In fact, look, I have nothing on. For me, when I design, it’s theoretical. It’s for this person, or this composition, or this idea, or this statement that I want to make. It’s never about what I want to wear to a party on Thursday night.

  Q: What’s the appeal of brooches?

  A: I think maybe a brooch is the easiest thing you can wear. I mean you feel earrings, and your necklace is there. And a brooch, you sort of put it on, and you no longer deal with it. It becomes a part of the dress.

  Monique Erickson (Karen’s daughter, and Erickson Beamon brand director): As Michelle Obama wore them, clipping brooches onto a pearl necklace [for one of the presidential debates], it dressed up a more conservative look.

  It brought an edge—it was a creative input that made everything look more creative.

  Q: What do you think Michelle Obama’s jewelry adds to her style?

  A: Well I think whenever a woman accessorizes she puts her own point of view on a look. If you just buy things without accessories, you’re usually just taking the designer’s point of view. If you accessorize with your own creativity, you’re putting your own stamp on an individual look. Americans don’t want to look so cookie cutter. I think that’s why people respond so much to Michelle Obama—she has a personality, she’s a strong woman. And I think right now, we want a strong woman.

  Q: The brooches from the Democratic National Convention, for example, were they designed to be worn together?

  A: In my mind I always wanted them clustered—to have a beautiful garden feeling. They’re part of a collection called Victory Garden.

  Q: The First Lady has worn Erickson Beamon glass pearls that were part of a collection called Peace at Last.

  A: We wanted the Obamas to win. It was Peace at Last, because we wanted to put our energy into them winning, so that we could have some peace, at last.

  Q: I thought perhaps I was reading too much into the names.

  A: You were not.

  Erickson Beamon Victory Garden brooches featuring vintage Bakelite flowers.

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  Q&A THAKOON, FASHION DESIGNER

  Thakoon Panichgul is a Thai-born, Omaha-raised American fashion designer. He started his career as a merchandiser for J.Crew, before he took a job as a features assistant at Harper’s Bazaar. From there, he attended Parsons, starting his own critically-acclaimed line upon graduation. Michelle Obama is a fan of his work, wearing his designs long before the world began following her fashion.

  Q: Where does a new collection begin for you?

  A: I fixate on a single detail, or an idea. And then I work around that. The idea could be from an art show, or a movie, or a person. For me it’s more tactile. I go to a lot of galleries; I look at a lot of photography; and I certainly look to the street. In Tokyo, there’s always inspiration. And then I fixate on an idea and go from there—maybe I’ll focus on the shoulder, or the waist, or the bodice. Then I start to drape on a [mannequin] form.

  Q: Your collections consistently include rose prints.

  A: I like prints in general, but I have a special relationship with the rose. It’s kind of a love-hate relationship. It’s such a clichéd symbol of romance, but then it’s such a wonderful flower. When you look at it a certain way, it can even become erotic. The rose can take on so many different forms and mean so many different things to different people. But when Valentine’s Day comes around, everyone—chic women and tacky women alike—wants a rose. I like the multi-faceted dimensions of that flower.

  Q: Last fall you told the New York Times that you like to create silhouettes that have a “built-in gesture.” What did you mean by that?

  A: I like the idea that an article of clothing can make a woman act a certain way, or feel a certain way, all because of the way that the clothes fall off the body. Maybe it makes you stand a certain way. A good example is the dress that Mrs. Obama wore to the closing night of the Democratic National Convention. The back of that dress is a low open back which, when you cinch tight at the waist, allows the shoulders to fall off. Then there are pockets. So between the shoulders and the pockets, the wearer forms this gesture, and your body takes on this cool posture.

  Q: You seem to like to do things the other way around: the reverse kimono from the DNC, the inside-out dress that Mrs. Obama wore for the first debate. Is there a reason behind that?

  A: I grew up loving more avant garde designers, minimalism and Helmut Lang. I like examining ideas of a garment, looking at its deconstruction—but not in a fussy way. I like to take patterns apart and examine them, and see why they’ve been created that way, highlight the seams and twist them. What happens when you wear it backwards? Or upside down? At
the end of the day, they’re built-in ideas about clothes, and they’re secondary to the actual garment. They’re never screaming. You don’t recognize them right off the bat.

  Q: What was your reaction upon learning Michelle Obama had worn your dress on the final night of the DNC? How did you find out?

  A: I got home from work and turned the convention on the television. I had been watching the speeches all week. I had known that she had bought the dress from Ikram, but I didn’t know when she was going to wear it, or if she would. I saw the first few nights that she was in solid colors, so I thought she didn’t want a print for this convention.

  The first image I saw was of her with her daughter on her lap, and I could see the top part of what she was wearing. And I could see my print. That’s when I kind of freaked out. I thought, “That can’t be! That can’t be!”

  Q: Do you think that she is now America’s style icon?

  A: I think what she is doing is great for fashion, and I love that she’s shifting gears from celebrity culture. It’s great that the person whose fashion we’re celebrating is a working mother. I look up to her for who she is. But yes, if she’s not already considered one, Michelle Obama will be an icon.

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  Medley of roses by Miho Kosuda, Ltd., Thakoon’s favorite New York City florist. “What I love about roses is the process of blooming and wilting,” Panichgul told W magazine in November 2008, “and Miho’s roses die so beautifully.”

  CHAPTER IV PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

  Declaration of Fashion Independence

  After stepping gracefully into the spotlight during the Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama continued to move onto a national stage during the presidential race. While she was often seen accompanying her husband at events, or providing moral support from the audience during the presidential debates, Mrs. Obama also continued her many solo campaign speaking roles.

  It was during this time that she began to show more fashion confidence, even at times, daring in her sartorial choices. While she continued to wear clothes by her hometown favorite designer, Maria Pinto, she increasingly began to move toward other designers: Narciso Rodriguez, Maria Cornejo, and Jason Wu, for example. Mrs. Obama came to these designers by building a fashion partnership that can be summed up in one word: Ikram.