Michelle-esque Style

Late Tuesday night, the United States made history as it acknowledged its first African-American president. Barack Obama entered the beginning of the rewriting of history books. And by his side, his wife Michelle and two lovely daughters, Malia and Sasha.

Magazines and newspapers are already looking at the possibility of the Obama women becoming fashion trend-setters, and with good reason. Let's look at Michelle's dress on Tuesday night. The original is unique, both in its color scheme and design. Red melds with black in an interesting mottled effect, with a satiny material crossing the middle. However, the material becomes sheer as it moves towards the knees, giving it a daring edge. The neckline is also daringly low, but on a stick-thin model, who can tell, right? Michelle, however, by means unbeknownst to us, took that same dress, raised the neckline and got rid of the sheer material at the bottom, replacing, or perhaps backing, it with a solid black material, shown here and here. The effect is still daring, and I think she pulled it off famously.

Now, you may not be able to judge the entirity of a book by its cover, but you can certainly get a feel for the contents. In Michelle's case, her style manifests an inner strength, a quiet confidence that clearly shines through in her countenance. Not just in Tuesday's dress, but in many others, such as her NAACP Image Awards gown, and the blue boatneck dress she wore during her interview with Stephen Colbert on his late night talk show.Colbert likened Michelle's strong fashion sense to that of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. From all appearences, Mrs. Obama will stand up to that likeness not only in a fashion sense, but also in her apparent passion for the people of this great nation. Future, here we come. And we're going in style.