Michelle Obama On Tonight Show: I Shop At J. Crew, Buy Online (VIDEO)

BURBANK, Calif. — No $150,000 wardrobe malfunctions for Michelle Obama.

"Actually, this is a J. Crew ensemble," the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama told comedian Jay Leno on Monday on his talk show. She wore a yellow sweater, skirt and blouse ensemble.

"You can get some good stuff online," she added.

WATCH WHOLE APPEARANCE (CLOTHES COMMENT W/4:15 LEFT):

Questioned by Leno, the potential first lady declined to criticize GOP vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin about revelations that the Republican National Committee spent $150,000 at Neiman Marcus and other high-end retailers on clothes and accessories for Palin and her family.

Obama said she and her husband have a policy of spending their own money on their clothes. But she said she wanted to be "empathetic."

"A V.P. pick, it's like being shot out of a cannon. All of a sudden you're at the center of attention, and you want to look good," said Michelle Obama, adding she has never met Palin. "You're living in your home, minding your business, and all of a sudden you're on the national stage and everyone's watching."

Leno asked about Barack Obama's ailing grandmother. Obama recently left the campaign trail to spend time in Hawaii with his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who virtually raised him and is his main remaining family.

"She's doing OK, up and down. But we are just grateful that he took time off and went to see her," Michelle Obama said. She said her husband credited his grandmother, whom he calls "Toot," with teaching him strength.

She quoted him as saying: "'She's tough, she's been through a lot. She's still hanging on. If you wonder where I got my toughness, it's from Toot.'"

She said neither of Obama's two young daughters is overly excited by the campaign.

Ten-year-old Malia's reaction to her father's plans to air a 30-minute paid advertisement on national TV Wednesday night?

"'You're going to be on all the TV? Are you going to interrupt my TV?'" her mother said Malia asked.

She said Barack Obama reassured his daughter that he hadn't bought time on the Disney Channel.

Comments

[Tamoomoo]

09:10 PM on 11/01/2008

Hey Michelle, anytime you want to hit the mall and grab a cup of coffee, let me know!

[mmgbizgirl]

05:50 PM on 11/06/2008

She looked fab all campaign season.

Here is my tribute to the President and his family.

http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=f5QigRkg9­G8

Enjoy!

[Truthmeter]

07:29 PM on 10/29/2008

Well, if you really believe her at $4mil/yr I've got a bridge to nowhere to sell you!!! She's a lyin lawyer!!!

[FdeBear]

07:20 PM on 11/01/2008

they just got the money a$$ hold.

[mmgbizgirl]

05:49 PM on 11/06/2008

BS meter you mean!

[GibsonGirl55]

12:07 PM on 10/29/2008

To Georgia R on "Michelle is playing that," re the Obama's home.

What do you expect them to reside in? A tarpaper shack. She is an attorney and he is a Harvard-ed­ucated United States senator. Of course they are going to have a nice spacious home.

I suppose John McCain with his 7-8 houses and 13 cars demonstrat­es he's just a regular Joe. No one special, right? But somehow the Obamas having ONE nice home makes them somehow suspect.

One house.

How petty.

[FdeBear]

08:08 PM on 11/01/2008

Truthmeter­'s amazing insight on what Michelle should be wearing because Obama's have just started making $4mil a year is cracked. When Miss Cindy can walk around wearing an outfit that's twice the value of my home, the Obama's are small potatoes. And they certainly aren't in the one percent and they're certainly not living off of dividends yet. But what do you expect for someone who must be in the public eye - for her to be shopping at Goodwill? Also Michelle has a lovely but unsual figure. Why shouldn't she have a designer? It's not unusual for women to have their clothing custom made. Big Deal!

[GibsonGirl55]

11:53 AM on 10/29/2008

When Michelle appeared on The View last spring, she wore this lovely black and white dress by Donna Ricco. It flew off the shelves after her appearance­. The dress cost $148 and similar items can be found at White House Black Market.

http://www­.whitehous­eblackmark­et.com/sto­re/home.js­p?sourceid­=EMC-10_27­_08editors­pickspr&li­nk=logo

[crazyfem1980]

03:50 PM on 10/29/2008

wow that website is actually nice stuff..not that expensive if you compare to sleezy outfits at Le chateau where its about almost the same price line over $100 why not go for nicer and intellegen­t look right?

Compare to Palin's outfit i am liking michelle obama's store choices - they are really nice dresses simple but elegant. i am middle class sometime hard to get by but im sure i can afford that kind of a dress

[Avigdor]

07:47 AM on 10/29/2008

Yeah, right. In her appearance on The View, Ms. Obama said that she has "some high end stuff" and works "with a designer in Chicago." Just Google "Michelle Obama" and "Maria Pinto." Or check out this spread in US Magazine:

http://www­.usmagazin­e.com/phot­os/fashion­-face-off-­michelle-o­bama-cindy­-mccain?sl­ideshow_id­=853&o=5

a '50s-inspi­red wool turquoise frock by Chicago designer Maria Pinto with a Erickson Beamon brooch, a silk faille Moschino jacket, a teal silk Narciso Rodriguez dress, a printed cotton poplin Moschino wrap dress, a silk radzimir kimono dress from Thakoon -- not exactly what most of us order online.

[CindyM2008]

08:02 AM on 10/29/2008

She never said she ONLY buys her cothes online. She said she bought THIS PARTICULAR outfit online. Keep up!
And the items she had on were not purchased by the DNC. Unlike the RNC and Socialist Palin...

[Spitfire67]

09:56 AM on 10/29/2008

Democrats are just confused why anyone would pay for their clothes when people are supposed to just give them to them.

[amistad]

10:08 AM on 10/29/2008

Republican­s are just confused why anyone BUT them should pay for their clothes. They expect the taxpayers to foot the bill.

[lizwrites2008]

01:47 AM on 10/29/2008

Michelle Obama rocks!

http://liz­writes.wor­dpress.com
http://lot­uswritingc­ommunicati­ons.wordpr­ess.com
www.lotusw­ritingcomm­unications­.net

[jackie3072]

01:12 AM on 10/29/2008

The more that I see of Michelle, the more I am liking her.

[DeloresT]

12:14 AM on 10/29/2008

We have had a dummy in the White House for 8 years. I have no problem with Laura....i­n fact I feel sorry for her. I read somewhere that she actually moved out on Dubya, out of the White House for a few days( the press was afraid to report on it). I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't divorce Bush when they exit the White House.
Michelle is intelligen­t and a real class act. Please pray for her husband! Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have been inciting their listeners to riot with their lies about the Obamas.

[RomeoinFl]

12:11 AM on 10/29/2008

It is sad that when you are running for office you have to be soooo careful about every word you say. You can tell she is sooo cool to have a conversati­on with but you can tell she was extremely careful to not give the McCain campaign, nothing to use in these last days.

[barrycourage]

12:27 AM on 10/29/2008

By all reports she is extremely bright. She certainly she knows how to handle the media and what to say in front of an audience.

Perhaps we are seeing the Democratic nominee for 2016.

[eden4barack08]

08:25 AM on 10/29/2008

As a lawyer, the fact that "anything you say, can, and will be used against you", surely can't be lost on her.

[georgiaR]

12:06 AM on 10/29/2008

Have you seen the pictures of their house - especially the back. It's huge. They are not ordinary people- Michelle is playing that.

[realistnotsocialist]

12:19 AM on 10/29/2008

They are two highly educated profession­als with high paying salaries which means they can afford to have ONE huge house. They worked hard for what they've got and did not inherit any of it. Seems ordinary enough to me.

[mrskorn]

01:15 AM on 10/29/2008

What's wrong with inheriting money? You would turn it down if your family were so lucky. Her family created a very successful company and they reaped the rewards Isn't that the American dream? Who cares how people choose to spend it. I should impose my standards on you?

The implicatio­n is that having more than one home is bad....may­be some of McCains homes are for his family....­do we know? Maybe some of them are rentals or investment­s. Again, this is the American way. They obviously are good business people. That disqualifi­es him from being president?

[CShawR3434]

01:08 AM on 10/29/2008

Agreed!

[lynjs]

11:33 PM on 10/28/2008

She's just a regular person, very down to earth. I can relate to her very much. Any person with brains can. She's real. Very real.

[Adrienne Williams]

10:46 PM on 10/28/2008

I just love Michelle! What a great first lady she will be!

[IDianna2]

11:08 PM on 10/28/2008

I agree! She will bring class back to the White House.

[thatonehurt]

12:51 PM on 10/29/2008

She is the Hillary of the future...w­ow, that is scary.

[RuffNReddy]

10:36 PM on 10/28/2008

She's the Jackie-O for the new century!

[pupbayer]

11:10 PM on 10/28/2008

Oh, please! You make Jackie roll over in her grave! Jackie had elegance and class!

Let MO be MO. She ISN'T Jackie and couldn't be if she wanted to be. Why isn't her being herself enough for you?

[AProudRepublican]

01:06 AM on 10/29/2008

Michelle has elegance and class too! Look at the way she handled Jay's questions concerning Palin's wardrobe..­. she was kind, gentle, and non-judgem­ental. You can't get much classier than that. I was very happy with the way she presented herself on The Tonight Show. I'm a McCain supporter, but I think Michelle would make a great first lady and would be a wonderful role-model­.

[Mariposa27]

11:33 AM on 10/29/2008

I agree with you; don't compare Jackie O to Michelle O. Unlike you, though, I believe Michelle O is in a class by herself. Michelle has brains, body, and beauty. Jackie O had celebrity and good taste in clothes. By all accounts her and JFK's marriage was a sham (what with all his cheating--­not her fault though) and Jackie O was a gold digger (watch any bio of her).

Michelle on the other hand makes twice as much as Barack (not for long though), and she went to the two best institutio­ns in this country!!! She can be president on her own terms.

I still like Jackie O though, but don't feign resentment at the comparison of her and Jackie O.

Peace '08

[LeBeau59741]

10:15 PM on 10/28/2008

The woman is a "lady", in the best and truest sense of the word- I'll be so very proud to have her representi­ng Americans as our First Lady.

[ck one]

10:04 PM on 10/28/2008

She is a class act. I love her style, so classic. Very approachab­le, not plastic.

[momforbetterworld]

10:19 PM on 10/28/2008

She's the kind of working mother I admire, not that moose-kill­er Sarah that I think it's a walking joke to us mothers. Michelle went to Princeton, she dresses appropriat­e and she answers her questions with grace.

[dajay]

10:38 PM on 10/28/2008

momforbett­erworld: What are you talking about? Just because you don't agree with Sarah Palin's politics, doesn't mean she has to be a bad mother and MO is a good one.

How stupid is that and just childish.

[pupbayer]

11:13 PM on 10/28/2008

She dresses appropriat­ely? I have no problem with the styles she wears but she needs to go a size or 2 bigger. She wouldn't looked so "stuffed" into her clothes and wouldn't have to keep pulling at her skirts if her clothes actually fit her. Hopefully, when the get into the White House there will be someone who can help her select appropriat­e clothing.