Material World

Last night Michelle Obama wore white Tom Ford to the Buckingham Palace banquet. Once again, she matched the Queen!

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The dress has created lots of buzz in the blogosphere, though not because of the matchy-matchy thing. Mostly it is because of the Tom Ford thing (this is the first time the First Lady has worn anything by him). And most of the buzz has been positive.

I have to say, though, that I’m not entirely convinced by the choice.

My problem is twofold. First, aesthetics and history; second lost economic opportunity.

Aesthetics and history:

Does this strike anyone else as an old-fashioned dress? Now granted, that referencing is part of the Fordian “bring-back-the-glamour-days-of-yore, silver-screen-nostalgia, style-is-timeless” aesthetic. But the bow at the waist and the Monroe-esque shirring feel laden with references to the past. Also, it seems like a direct nod to the dress Jackie Kennedy wore when attending her state banquet with the Queen in 1961, complete with the same long white gloves, and that strikes me as unnecessary and, in fact, inappropriate.

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When he entered office, President Obama may have been compared to John F. Kennedy, but these administrations and the world they face are  different, and this First Lady is a significantly more mature, stronger, and more independent force than Mrs Kennedy.

The reference to Mrs Kennedy, then, if intended,  weakens rather then strengthens Mrs Obama’s image. And if unconscious, it suggests whomever is working with her on her wardrobe may be losing his or her iron grip on its imagery.

Economic opportunity:

My fellow fashionista Hilary Alexander of the Telegraph has been quite chipper about the choice of Ford, an American who bridges the US-UK gap by having a design studio in London, and a Savile Row obsession, but I’m again less gung-ho. This being the single most dressy event the Obamas have attended since the inauguration, it created another opportunity for Mrs O to transform a young designer’s career in the way she transformed Jason Wu’s in 2009, whether American or English, or open up the UK market, which has been hard to penetrate for even established US names.

Instead, however, she went establishment, and picked a true fashion celebrity, an odd decision that again suggests she may be leaning away from her original unspoken mandate to promote small business.

There have been lots of whispers in the fashion community about who has been helping the First Lady with her wardrobe recently, now that Ikram Goldman, her original and most strategic advisor, has gone back to Chicago to tend to her twin sons and to the opening of a new mega store. The Tom Ford move, along with the controversial Alexander McQueen gown the First Lady wore to the China State Dinner this year in Washington, suggest someone new, with a fresh agenda (or a not so thought-through agenda) is in the East Wing.

Of course, she could just be picking these clothes because she likes them. But I tend to think her understanding of cultural politics and presidential history mitigates against that being the only reason.