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G20 Summit

Michelle Obama may have been trying to appeal to a certain English eccentricity when she paired an asymmetrical Junya Watanabe cardigan with a full-skirted Jason Wu dress and added debutante-style pearls for a photocall with Sarah Brown this week. 

It was a relaxed look, fun and informal yet stylish. But if she was aiming for the quirky English look, it was not an unqualified success. When canvassed, Dame Vivienne Westwood, doyenne of daring British fashion, said: “I don’t think either of them dresses very well. I’m completely and utterly focused on the danger we face from global warming.” 

For the meeting with Carla Bruni yesterday, Mrs Obama was not taking any risks. The mood was notably more conventional, presidential even. Still feminine, but not girlie – and more than a match for her notoriously soignée counterpart. 

The coordinating coat and dress ensemble, by Thakoon, was quirky – bold colours, clever contrasting design – yet classical. It was also flattering, well cut and with that bateau neckline that so suits Mrs Obama. For her part, Ms Bruni opted for her now trademark interpretation of First Lady chic. That is to say, demure yet sexy. 

The soft grey, three-quarter-length sleeves and pussycat bow (as favoured by Margaret Thatcher in her heyday, although to entirely different effect), worn with French flats might have been a little too coy on any normal female. On Ms Bruni they added up to extreme European elegance, laced with minxish potential. 

For most women the prospect of being photographed alongside Ms Bruni, and having the results beamed around the globe, might easily lead to a crisis of confidence. (The same is not true of most men: look what it has done to Mr Sarkozy’s ego.) Not so Mrs Obama, who has a highly developed sense of personal style. 
 

To read the rest of the article, click here. 

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