Michelle Obama arrives on stage before addressing the first session of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. Sept. 4, 2012.
Campaigns are often about optics, and this is true for candidates as well as their spouses. But when it comes to first ladies (and prospective first ladies), the fashion discussion can get a little out of control. Michelle Obama has had four years on the national stage and fashion critics have often praised her sense of style. Ann Romney more than held her own in that glaring light, but the discussion often devolved into needless controversy. On the night of the second Presidential debate, when Ann Romney and Michelle Obama both showed up at the Hofstra University auditorium wearing pink, US Weekly turned the discussion to sticker shock at Ms. Romney’s nearly $1,700 Oscar de la Renta dress. At a certain point, even style writers began to suffer from First Lady clothing fatigue. “Mrs. Obama is as stylish as ever. Indeed, she has elevated the role that fashion can play in the public image of the first lady,” style writer Robin Givhan wrote in the Daily Beast. “It’s the conversation about her clothes that hasn’t lived up to its potential.”