WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� On any day during her eight years as first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama said she could go from giving a speech to meeting with a counterpart from another country to digging in her vegetable garden with groups of schoolchildren.
And her clothes had to be ready for that. There was too much else to do, including raising daughters Sasha and Malia, and she said she did not have time to obsess over .
鈥淚 was concerned about, 鈥楥an I hug somebody in it? Will it get dirty?鈥欌�� she said Wednesday night during a moderated conversation about her style choices dating to growing up on the South Side of Chicago to when she found herself in the national spotlight as the first Black woman to be first lady. 鈥淚 was the kind of first lady that there was no telling what I would do.鈥�
Obama would become one of the most-watched women in the world, for what she said and did, but also for what she wore. She chronicled her fashion, hair and makeup journey in her written with her longtime stylist Meredith Koop and published earlier this month.
The sold-out conversation was taped as part of 鈥淚MO: THE LOOK,鈥� a special, six-part companion series to the IMO podcast she hosts with her brother, Craig Robinson.
She wanted her clothes to be welcoming as well as versatile.
鈥淭he thing about clothes that I find is that they can welcome people in or they can keep people away, and if you鈥檙e so put together and so precious and things are so crisp and the pin is so big, you know, it can just tell people, 鈥楧on鈥檛 touch me,鈥欌�� she said.
She said she would not wear white to events with rope lines in case someone wanted a hug.
鈥淚鈥檓 not going to push somebody away when they need something from me, and I鈥檓 not going to let the clothes get in the way of that,鈥� Obama said.
Here’s what she said about a few of her notable fashion choices:
The gown for Obama’s first inauguration
The white, one-shoulder chiffon gown was designed by , then an unknown 26-year-old who was born in Taiwan. But when she stepped out at the inaugural ball wearing the gown, the moment changed Wu’s life. That was by design, she said.
鈥淲e were beginning to realize everything we did sent a message,鈥� Obama said, speaking of herself and her husband, . 鈥淪o that’s what we were trying to do with the choices we made, to change lives.鈥�
She would continue to help launch the careers of other up-and-coming designers by wearing their creations.
Chain mail state dinner gown
Obama wore the rose gold gown by Versace for the Obama administration’s , for Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in October 2016.
鈥淪o that was a kind of a, ‘I don’t care’ dress,鈥� she said of the shimmery, one-armed gown.
鈥淚 put that on. I was like, 鈥楾his is sexy.鈥� It’s the last one,鈥� she said, meaning their final state dinner. 鈥淎ll of my choices, ultimately, are what is beautiful 鈥� and what looks beautiful on.鈥�
Pantsuit worn to Joe Biden’s inauguration
鈥淚 was really in practical mode,鈥� Obama said, explaining why she chose the with a flowing, floor-length coat that she wore unbuttoned, exposing the belt around her waist with a big, round gold-toned buckle. Her boots had a low heel.
鈥淭he sitting president was trying to convince us that Jan. 6 was just a peaceful protest,鈥� she said.
The inauguration ceremony at the Capitol was held two weeks after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot there by supporters of President Donald Trump who had sought to overturn Biden’s victory.
She said she had been thinking about the possibility of having to run if something else had happened that day.
鈥淚 wanted to be able to move. I wanted to be ready,鈥� she said. But she and her team 鈥渉ad no idea鈥� the outfit 鈥渨as going to break the internet,鈥� she said.
White House East Wing
Obama also spoke about the East Wing, the traditional base of operations for first ladies that Trump last month tore down to make room for a ballroom he had long desired.
Obama described the East Wing as a joyful place that she remembers as full of apples, children, puppies and laughter, in contrast to the West Wing, which dealt with 鈥渉orrible things.鈥� It was where she worked on various initiatives that ranged from combating childhood obesity to rallying the country around military families to encouraging developing countries to let girls go to school.
She said she and her husband never thought of the White House as 鈥渙ur house.鈥� They saw themselves more as caretakers, and there was work to do in the mansion.
鈥淏ut every president has the right to do what they want in that house, so that鈥檚 why we鈥檝e got to be clear on who we let in,鈥� Obama said.
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