First Lady in Control of Building Her Image

[babylonsister]

First Lady in Control of Building Her Image

Doug Mills/The New York Times

Michelle Obama has given interviews about her family life, her interest in healthy living and her sense of style, mixing off-the-rack items with designer goods.

By RACHEL L. SWARNS
Published: April 24, 2009


WASHINGTON — Vogue magazine, the fashion world’s chronicler of first ladies, bedecked Hillary Rodham Clinton in black velvet and Laura Bush in blue silk. But not Michelle Obama. She insisted on choosing her own dress (a sleeveless, magenta silk number) and using her own hair and makeup stylists for the glossy photograph splashed across Vogue’s March cover.

This was nothing new for Mrs. Obama, who has pointedly controlled her look on the covers of People, Essence, More and O, Oprah Winfrey’s magazine. Editors at Essence, who suggested colors, styles and accessories, said her staff did not call to acknowledge their overtures. Editors at More said they were dumbfounded when, after painstaking negotiations, Mrs. Obama showed up at the photo shoot with a different dress from the one she had promised to wear. (She ultimately agreed to go back to her first choice, a pink Maria Pinto sheath.)

“We were like, ‘Excuse me, we tell you what to wear,’ ” said Lesley Jane Seymour, the editor-in-chief of More, who said Mrs. Obama refused to wear anything other than her own clothes for their October cover. “She wanted none of that. She was creating the cover. She was creating the image. There’s definitely a will of steel there.”

Indeed, the new first lady is methodically shaping her public image, and in ways that extend far beyond fashion.

She has given coveted interviews primarily to women’s magazines and news outlets that have allowed her to highlight her domestic side: her focus on motherhood and her efforts to settle her family in the White House; her interest in gardening and healthy living; her affinity for mixing off-the-rack and designer goods; and her efforts to open up the White House to ordinary Americans.

Mrs. Obama’s aides meet regularly with the president’s senior communications team and select public events that will maximize her message. She sticks closely to her script, delivering lively, brief speeches that rarely stray from her prepared remarks and steer clear of controversy. She talks about her support for volunteerism and military families, but seldom discusses race, her keen interest in influencing public policy or her place in history as the first African-American first lady.

By focusing on her domestic persona and harnessing the fascination with her family, the first lady and her communications team have emerged as the key architects of one of the most remarkable political transformations in years. Only 10 months ago, Mrs. Obama was described as an angry black woman by some conservatives and as a liability to her husband. Now, she is widely admired for her warmth, and her vibrant and accessible manner, and her race seems almost an afterthought to many Americans. She has the highest favorability ratings of any incoming first lady since 1980, and is even more popular than the president.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/25/us/politics/25michelle.html?hpw

[zeemike]

1. She is probably the smarties first lady we have had.

She is not relying on stylist and advisers to shape her image.
And I think she understands how important it is for her as the first black first lady to get it right.

[Clio the Leo]

2. While there's nothing inherently wrong with a stylist...

.... and perhaps I'm biased because that's what I do for a living lol .... the key is, like everything else, "everything in moderation." It's important (because of the stupid sexist world we live in) for the First Lady to look good .... as long as the costs aren't exorbitant. Thankfully, "wasteful spending" is not even a concept the Obamas understand. :)

I'm still not crazy about that Inaugural ball gown, but whomever dressed her for Europe, professional or otherwise. hit it out of the park. ;)

[tblue37]

8. I love some of her outfits, but I hate others. I wish she would lose the weird belt wrapped over

partially buttoned cardigans and high under her bust--almost under her armpits! I also wish she'd tuck in that bow blouse, which looks good tucked in (I have seen a picture of a black version of it on the runway), but which poufs out awkwardly and makes her look sloppy or pregnant when not tucked in.

Sometimes I thinks her outfits' lines and proportions just don't work.

When she looks good, she looks amazing. But sometimes her outfits just look clunky. She is tall, well-toned, and long-legged. She could easily look amazing all the time.

I will say, though, about that argyle cardigan (which I am not fond of anyway): it does look better in the pink version than in the blue.

[WhiteTara]

9. I saw two 13-14 year old girls wearing their belts

just like that yesterday. It's for the tiny waisters! The rest of us would look like balloons! lol

[Political Heretic]

3. I love her. She's just fantastic.

[Tarheel_Dem]

4. Recommended. (nt)

[Beacool]

5. She is doing great as first lady,

but sometimes we can all use a bit of advice. That outfit demonstrates it. The blouse makes her look pregnant in profile and the belt over the sweater and worn too high adds nothing to her figure. We already discussed this on another thread. But that's minor and trivial. Michelle is proving to be a fine first lady.

:-)

[CakeGrrl]

6. "Minor and Trivial" indeed

When people can stop picking apart personal appearance and focus on character content, then we'll have some progress. That might be slow going in a society that chases vapid, uninteresting "celebrities" all over the place just because they have money to blow on so-called haute couture and expensive cars.

In the meantime, it's great to see her posting the highest approval since 1980 for all the reasons listed in the OP. The GOP slime machine is in Fail mode yet again.

[starroute]

7. Laying a foundation -- establishing trust

I'm quite sure that Michelle, as much as her husband, is thinking three jumps ahead. If she does intend to get involved in social issues -- to be an Eleanor Roosevelt for our time -- it's crucial for her to start off with the American people seeing her as friendly, reliable, non-threatening, and someone the entire nation can be proud of.

She's never going to be a Hillary Clinton and dive into the nitty-gritty of policy-making. But she's made it clear that her heart lies with families, with veterans, with the homeless, with the environment -- and with getting her arms around as many small children as she can possibly hold at once.

All of that (except the hugging part) lies very close to a dividing line between the feel-good and the genuinely controversial. When push comes to shove, I think she knows which side she'll be on -- and right now she's storing up as a large a fund of goodwill as she can to tide her over the more contentious times that clearly lie ahead.

[Kdillard]

10. Very well said.

[Cha]

11. The republicons tried to bring Obama down

with their "really proud of my country attacks" and, of course corporatemedia assisted.

“I wouldn’t say we’re trying to soften her,” Mr. Axelrod said. “But is there an effort to get people to know her? Yes. We want people to know her. There were caricatures of her during part of the campaign.”

"Some people who know Mrs. Obama lament that this side of her is so rarely on public display. Some blame the news media for being more interested in her exercise routines than in her thinking on big issues. Others believe that her aides are placating those voters who prefer more traditional first ladies."

The US media has National Enquirer mentality so it is to "blame" for continuouly thrusting gossip rag reporting on us but Michelle Obama is savvy to slowly let us know who she is..starting with her family, garden, and special project duties.

[struggle4progress]

12. As far as I'm concerned, she can wear what she wants. It's not always to my taste, but that's OK

In the photo above, I think the jacket is delightful but I don't much like the belt. So what? The best fashion statement in that picture is the look on her face.

[lunatica]

13. Whether we like individual outfits or not is not important. What is

important is her unmistakable message that we can all make our own choices and that the clothes we wear don't have to be expensive. I love that message