Inaugural Gowns: A Look Back (SLIDESHOW)

As the world wonders what Michelle Obama will wear to the inaugural balls, we're taking a look back at what past political women went with. Did they make the right decision? Let us know below.

See other inauguration style news including what first ladies wore during inauguration day.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Helen Taft's 1909 inaugural ball gown is part of the 'First Ladies at the Smithsonian' exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington on Dec. 19, 2008.

All images courtesy of AP and AFP/Getty, and Getty

Comments

[Bashley]

04:10 PM on 01/16/2009

I think Laura Bush's inauguration eve gown (2005) was very cute, I had never seen her in that picture. I wish she would have grown her hair out, it's so thick!!! To me, it would have been much prettier long.

And I can't wait to see my girl Michelle next Tuesday! She's got the fashion industry height, so let's see what her designer can do for that GORGEOUS shape.

[Verified]

12:31 AM on 01/16/2009

Wish these were still white tie affairs instead of black tie. Good looking men always look great in a well made cutaway. Look at JFK...Jackie looked great, but he really showed her off well in his cutaway.

[fem56]

12:38 PM on 01/15/2009

Jackie looked wonderful but she was only 30 or so and from a weathy family. Laura Bush looked very lovely too as a mature woman. She knows how to dress and is a beautiful woman/ She admitted that Obama's criticism of her husband bothered me. She's his spouse and that is a natural reaction and I appreciate her honesty. Can't see Rosalyn Carter but she was very lovely too. Michelle looked amazing in the saphire green dress at the nominating convention. I thought the red dress looked a bit odd.

[myjs]

07:49 PM on 01/15/2009

The red dress did not show well under the TV lights. Photographs translated much better.

[Deparis]

10:20 AM on 01/15/2009

Do we always have to stick it to the Reagans? Good gawd! Last month we had a shirtless Ronny and a swimsuit clad Nancy, then now... Please don't put me through this ever again. Let's make an exception of not showing anything about the Reagans, especially Nancy.

[Damaven]

10:16 AM on 01/15/2009

Then, Jackie. Now, Laura. Michelle, show us something!

[newdreams]

09:17 AM on 01/15/2009

What is with the look Lynn Cheney has on both those photos while she is dancing with Dick?

[notthistime]

08:57 AM on 01/19/2009

she was having fun.

[Pegi]

07:55 PM on 01/14/2009

Jackie Kennedy - hands down and without even trying!!

[unfettered]

12:32 PM on 01/21/2009

It's not like you are going to do any better than Perfection.

[Nia1999]

06:54 PM on 01/14/2009

Jacqueline Kennedy without question looked the best, Hillary's first dress looked as if she thought she going to the Grand Ole' Opry, but the 1985 dress looked great. And no matter what anyone says about Laura Bush, she always dresses classy with an understatement of elegance. Her and George always look good together.

[skeptique]

11:53 AM on 01/15/2009

I think that 'understatement' is called a girdle, likely made of steel mesh.

[berrycooda]

06:31 PM on 01/14/2009

Hopefully Michelle Obama won't wear anything like that strange looking
black dress with the big red circle in front.

Looked like a red apron or something.

Not hard to dress appropriately... There are all kind of stylists but some are
so far over the top trying to make a name for themself that they only invite
criticism.

She will look good in any gown she wears....if it is in good taste and is appropriate for the new first lady.

[lynnn]

06:29 PM on 01/18/2009

What is taste that is appropriate for a first lady? Doesn't that CHANGE from time to time.

[notthistime]

08:58 AM on 01/19/2009

I say - Michelle should chose what she likes. To heck with what anyone else thinks.

[Scalie]

02:04 PM on 01/23/2009

No, it's not to heck with what her admirers thinks. She is a first lady now, and should dress like one. She's young and we want her to compliment the position she holds.

[barriosbabe]

05:57 PM on 01/14/2009

"Try not to be too sad that we can take our minds off more serious things for a few minutes and enjoy the celebration of a new administration taking office." - bogues

I think you misunderstood my comment despite all my disclaimers. Who said anything about not enjoying the celebration? I still think it is ludicrous for that guy to __borrow__ thousands of dollars for clothes and expenses just to get a glimpse. Especially the clothes part.

[2008FedUP]

04:19 PM on 01/14/2009

Michelle is gonna be the bell of the ball for sure. The Cheney's look goofy as usual.

[berrycooda]

06:32 PM on 01/14/2009

you really didn't have to follow a compliment with an insult about
somebody else.....

[LittleRedHenSez]

09:41 PM on 01/14/2009

True but they were bad pics. In the first one she must have been bending at the knee or something because she looks like a munchkin.

[ccairnes]

04:08 PM on 01/14/2009

Hillary 1993 is the best. She's having the best time and looks the most beautiful.

[LetsGetDumbAmerica]

10:05 PM on 01/14/2009

It's nice to see her that relaxed and unguarded.

[BadgerinNJ]

12:26 AM on 01/16/2009

She actually looks just like Bill in that picture. Look at the nose. They say you are attracted to someone who looks like you to begin with and that's why people think spouses grow to look like each other. The truth is, they actually saw themselves in the other person at the start.

[loyldem]

10:38 AM on 01/21/2009

I agree. I loved Hillary's dress. Michelle's just did not look appropriate for the weather in DC. It was a winter ball. Also, Michelle looks better in bright colors. The dress definitely did not have that wow factor.

[marylandtravelinman]

03:22 PM on 01/14/2009

Point 1: Hard to belive that Laura Bush's stylist is a gay man. Every dress was wrong, too many beads, too fitting in the wrong places. And since when is a shirt dress formal.

Point 2: Laura has had work done. Compare the 2001 and 2005 pictures. Good for her, but she has had work done.

Point 3: Beside Jackie's gowns, Tippers is the best, no doubt. Simple, understated!

"Dress shabbily, they notice the dress. Dress impeccabley, they notice the women" Coco Chanel.

[wendy82551]

09:55 AM on 01/15/2009

Laura could definitely use a better stylist. She's a very beautiful woman (and, I think, a pretty classy person), but her clothing makes her look frumpy and a lot older than she needs to look.

[pupbayer]

03:17 PM on 01/14/2009

All I ask is that whoever picked out that ugly red and black thing Michelle wore the night of the election, is never, never allowed to pick out clothing for anyone again.

[CarolinaSkeptic]

10:22 AM on 01/18/2009

I know nothing about fashion. But to me, Michelle's black and red dress must be taken in context, in that it ties in the colors of her two girls' dresses. Sort of unifying them.

[antaeus]

12:03 PM on 01/14/2009

Good gawd! The uncritical fawning over Jacqueline Kennedy's "timeless" style in 1961 is a little depressing. How fair is it to compare a 31-year-old wife of a millionaire to these other women? Youth and money hide most faults, and seeing "timeless perfection" in a human being without acknowledging the accidents of fortune and timing involved in their presentation is another example of the cultural crack that American fantasy addicts can't get enough of.

Mrs. Kennedy was young, rich, and attractive, but I hate to break it to you--there's nothing "timeless" about a helmet hairdo shellacked with coats of Aqua Net. In fact, if ever there was a style anchored in time and place, it was that one.

[PLUMPLUM]

12:46 PM on 01/14/2009

My mouth is frozen in a big "O" after reading this, even after falling off my chair. Did Mr. Blackwell send you?

[antaeus]

02:33 PM on 01/14/2009

No snark intended on my part. Mrs. Kennedy's White House look was thrilling--but thrilling in a way that 28-year-olds on magazine covers who are airbrushed to look 21 is thrilling. The ageism and fantasy-yearnings of many of the posts on this thread just makes me sad.

[Pulitic-Gu2]

10:31 PM on 01/14/2009

"Mrs. Kennedy was young, rich, and attractive, but I hate to break it to you--there's nothing "timeless" about a helmet hairdo shellacked with coats of Aqua Net."

Why don't you chill out, antaeus? Jackie Kennedy was elegant and classy. If you don't like her, that's fine. But don't insult her style. That's your opinion of her style. Its not like some of these first ladies are poor to start with (i.e. Laura Bush).

On another note, I can't wait to see what Michelle Obama wears to the inauguration.

[antaeus]

01:30 AM on 01/15/2009

Why don't you read all of my comment on this thread? Mrs. Kennedy's look was terrific in 1961, but a lot of the comparisons on this thread are infantile and shockingly ageist. Politically I never cared for Mrs. Reagan or either Mrs. Bush, even more so after the elder's Katrina remarks, but I have to wonder about some of the posters here who think Jackie was great, while the others are crones. My point was that rhapsodizing about "timeless" style is a load of it. What these people are responding to is youth and money.

For chrissakes, am I the only one left who's sick of American fantasy thinking? The American Idolization of our culture is sick, and soap opera dreams of living beyond our means has put us in our current mess. Worship at the Camelot altar all you want, but then consider that when a man happens to be the wealthiest president ever elected, then his wife's gonna look good.