Michelle Obama Steps Out in Style — Wearing a $34.95 H&M Dress

  • Share
  • Read Later

Michelle Obama just took her off-the-rack style to a whole new level — a much cheaper one.

The First Lady appeared on the Today show Wednesday for a highly hyped interview with host Matt Lauer. Between discussing her husband’s smoking habits (he quit) and her hope that her daughters won’t join Facebook (they’re too young, anyway), the First Lady also touched on her status as a style icon.

“I take it as a compliment, but it’s not something that I focus on,” she told Lauer during the interview. “Everyone has to get dressed in the morning and put on something.”

(More on TIME.com: See why Michelle Obama is considered a fashion icon)

The only difference is that when you’re the stylish FLOTUS, everything you put on in the morning is subject to the overly critical eye of the fashion-obsessed media. And while the world waited to see what type of a statement Mrs. O would make on Today, she showed up wearing a navy and white polka-dot dress from Swedish retailer H&M, stylized with a red belt and funky yellow heels.

Known for its affordable, trendy and (sometimes) cheaply made clothes, H&M is currently selling the First Lady’s dress for a whopping $34.95. If that’s not accessible, we don’t know what is. However, this move surely isn’t going to appease critics who claim the First Lady should be supporting more American designers than overseas stores.

NewsFeed thinks that Mrs. O looks fabulous in anything she wears. However, we also think that we saw a 16-year-old girl on the streets of New York City wearing the same H&M dress with torn tights and grungy Doc Martens. If the clothing you wear is an expression of who you are, what’s the First Lady trying to say?

(More on TIME.com: See how Mrs. O’s style has evolved)