Michelle Obama Wears $540 Sneakers To Food Bank (UPDATE, PHOTOS)

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden spent their 100th day in Washington bagging food for hungry children at the Capital Area Food Bank. Read more about their visit here.

For the occasion both women went super casual. The first lady wore cropped gray capri pants and a yellow argyle cardigan with silver and metallic pink sneakers. Dr. Biden did preppy chic in a blue and white striped shirt paired with cropped white pants and silver flats.

UPDATE: The first lady's kicks are Lanvin cap toe sneakers, as ID'd by websites TalkingShopping.com and First Lady Of Style and the NY Daily News, and range between $540 and $565 at Barneys.com. The argyle sweater is from J. Crew, of course.

See photos below.

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Guess whose shoes...

Comments

[michaleenflynn]

What is UP with the 2-sizes-too-small-sweater and the painted-on pants??

Arrgghh!

[StJames]

Why all the fuss? The sneakers are cute and Michelle Obama can afford them.

[sushi27]

No one ever said she wore cheap shoes (I believe her favorite pumps are Jimmy Chou). When it comes to your feet, you wear whatever FITS, period. Just finding shoes that are comfortable is hard enough!

These shoes are sooo cute and NOW. Go Michelle!

[notthistime]

it is her money. she can spend it however she likes. Even though I don't like the shoes it is her perogative.

[CitizenFarmer]

Somebody jacked her after the speech to get her kicks.

[babyhugger]

it is pitiful that she spent so much on shoes and still looks awful...no class or taste

[michaleenflynn]

Yes, babyhugger - proof you cannot buy either one.

[Bystander]

Wow...just like regular people!

[Barbara Randlett]

I have silver Prada sneakers that cost about $400 six years ago.....but, I would have sense enough NOT to wear them to volunteer.

I'm shocked...the devil is in the details... definitely a NO NO for FLOTUS

Otherwise, I think she looks great and I applaud her efforts in the community.

[debkamaine]

Oh for Pete's sake, RELAX....................she has a SHOPPER, a woman who buys her clothes for her..........I doubt that Michelle has even an inkling as to how much things cost............

Repubs are SO uptight........they HAVE to wear jackets in white house, Michelle shouldn't wear sleeveless dress, now it's a pair of shoes, TALK ABOUT NEUROSIS!!

[RobotoND]

I think its great she has $540 shoes. I think its amusing people with such great sense would make an issue about the expense of Sarah Palins clothes, and think nothing of this. It does seem tough to find consistency from "typical" liberals.

[dreamsugar]

These could have been a gift -- but who cares -- her husband is the leader of the free world. They have a job -- they can were whatever they want.

[ElsaIndy]

I thought MO was all about cheap clothes.....it seems MO has a mixed message. Perhapes she is confused about how she wants to represent herself. It is fine if she wants to wear $500.00 sneakers even to feed the homeless but she needs to get her message straight. I think Ms Rogers needs to pay more attention to these small details.

[LittleSanityLeft]

Mechelle has been mixing expensive designer stuff with cheaper clothes since day 1. Her message isn't mixed, here's the message for those like yourself who obviously haven't been paying attention: "I wear what ever the hell I feel like wearing."

By the way, since when is J Crew "cheap". I've been to their website. Their clothes aren't cheap they just happen to be attainable for a middle class working family who's able to focus on both practicality and style.

[longingforla]

When the Obamas released their tax returns, we saw that they gave about $125,000 to charity in ONE YEAR. While it is not a tithe, it is still a substantial amount for a couple with young kids who earned their money, didn't inherit it. Let her splurge on $540 sneaks if she wants to. They are cute, not like some of the horrendous stuff Cindy McCain spent tens of thousands on.

[Sensiblebg]

Interesting how you all gave McCain a hard time about his $500 italian shoes yet no one is calling Michelle an elitist for having $500 sneakers..

[Esot3ric]

I will concede that this was a stupid thing to do. We even?

[sheikwil4]

Yea, but Michele Obama only has one pair of $500 sneakers, John McCain had about 10 pair of those shoes and Michele may have received those shoes as a gift. She doesn't have to wear everything from J Crew. If she is paying for it with her money, who's business is it any way. The American people don't pay for it. Maybe the President brought them for her as a gift. We don't know where she got the shoes from and it's none of our damn business.

[Val49]

sheikwil4, It will be funny if all of these haters found out that the shoes were given to her by the maker or the store, you know they will do that as soon as they find out who the item is going too.

[Sensiblebg]

So who cares if McCain bought his shoes with is own money? He didnt steal them..

[jaielaw]

Why does it matter whether McCain had ten pairs at $500 vs. Obama's one pair of sneakers at $540? Men's shoes are better made and last longer, and men tend to buy fewer, so the high prices tend to be more justifiable. Plus, Michelle clearly has way more than ten pairs of shoes (though probably not ten pairs of ridiculously priced sneakers). And while some of them may be inexpensive, she also wears Jimmy Choos regularly, which now has an average retail price of over $800. This type of argument will get you nowhere.

As for whether it's any of "our damn business" where she gets her shoes, it is if they are gifts, since elected officials have financial disclosure obligations with respect to gifts valued over $335 in the aggregate over a reporting period.

I agree that, as long as they're using their own money, we shouldn't be upset about how much the Obamas spend on their clothes, but the same goes for the McCains. However, if a politician uses price point or related messages for PR purposes, it's fair to take him/her to task for going off message. The McCains never pretended not to be poor or cost-conscious, so I don't see any reason to complain when they spend bucketloads of their own money on clothing. The Obamas sold themselves as people who came from humble roots but who now live well, so I don't see their splurges as an issue either.

[irisda]

That's on top of the 7 houses, 8-9 cars ( I don't remember the exact number).... in a context of foreclosures and telling everyone who would listen that : the fundamentals of the economy are strong! Also mocking all community organisers of the nation. I think the combined wealth and lack of empathy towards Americans was what's criticised.
The Obamas, while wealthy were not so obvious with theirs. And they still aren't. The people who criticise Mrs. Obama's fashion buys were clearly not paying attention. She's always been mixing up high & low fashion. That's what typical women who can afford it do. the Cindy McCains of the this world are the ones who don't know what J Crew, H&M even exist. If you're going to attack someone at least do your research, avoid saying nonsense.

[Mom222]

Don't forget that during World War II, the Queen Mother was widely praised for not only visiting bombed neighborhoods in London but also for appearing in her best finery. Michelle Obama would not be paying Washington's homeless a compliment if she dressed down for the occasion.

[ElsaIndy]

But it is ok to dress down to Great Britain on an official state visit ....wearing J.Crew....

[dreamsugar]

shhhhh -- J. Crew is EXPENSIVE

[jaielaw]

One can be appropriately dressed at any price point. The question should be whether the actual ensembles were appropriate. I found some of her outfits too casual for the specific occasions, but not because isolated pieces were from lower-end designers.