By Juli Weiner, Vanity Fair
Photograph by Justin Bishop
Today, Vanity Fair national political editor Todd S. Purdum discussed the "substance" and "words" and "point" of First Lady Michelle Obama's flawless speech at last night's Democratic National Convention. This post will not be covering any of that. We are here to talk about the first lady's outfit, which we liked very much.
Word came early into Michelle Obama's speech -- we believe The Wall Street Journal's Elizabeth Holmes had the scoop -- that Obama's sleek brocade cocktail dress was the creation of young American designer Tracy Reese. It does not appear to be available for purchase on Reese's website.
Michelle Obama's shoes, on the other hand, are J.Crew and do appear to be purchase-ready. Drawing on more than a decade of J.Crew patronage, we immediately identified the shoes as the Everly Suede Pumps. They are rhubarb. Rhubarb is a vegetable, and likely somehow relates (or doesn't!) to Michelle Obama's healthy-eating initiative.
And now for the dress-to-dress matchup: both Michelle Obama and Ann Romney wore Valentine's-Day-card colors; Michelle in a nice rosé and Ann in more of a grenadine. (Political reporters enjoy drinking. It's a trend; mark it!) Pink and red are feminine, mom-like, and may help in gaining the support of media members by subconsciously reminding them of certain cocktails. Michelle also wore a very trendy gray nailpolish. Gray, as in, the color of newsprint. As in, everything I do, I do for you, journalists in the nosebleed seats. While Ann wore three-quarter-length -- more of a three-fifth-length? -- sleeves, Michelle unsurprisingly went sans sleeve. (For the record, it is absolutely freezing in both convention spaces.) Both women had obscenely perfect eyelashes and shiny hair. Winners: Barack and Mitt.
More from Vanity Fair:
The 2012 Vanity Fair International Best Dressed List
Kristen Stewart Gets Glamorous for Vanity Fair
Lady Gaga, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston: Vanity Fair's Classic Nude Portraits
5 Things You Don't Know About Kate Middleton