Michelle's Ball Gown

Well almost everything that can be said has already been said about Michelle's choice of the Jason Wu ivory crystal-studded ball gown. Most people liked it, some loved it, some hated it. I for one was disappointed AGAIN. Does this look like prom dress to you? Or wedding-cake topper? Why not a pretty jewel tone--sapphire or ruby or emerald? Why not a sleek line that emphasizes all her best parts? For one thing, she couldn't dance in it, she kept arranging the top and then trying to get the skirt out of the way so she could actually move. Oh well. Hooray for Jason--he's only 26 and this will definitely jump-start his already upward-climbing career. And she is young--maybe she can get away with prom dress style at the inaugural ball.

The Empress' New Clothes

Whew!!! Finally my "Bush's Last Day" countdown is finished and I can celebrate Obama's inauguration with my fellow Obama supporters! Yay! What a wonderful day this has been. But I know, this is supposed to be a style column, not a political column, so let's talk Michelle's fashion choices.

Oh, sad. I know lots of people liked her Isabel Toledo inauguration ensemble. I'll let the critics have their say, but my initial feeling is that the gold brocade number leaned a lot more toward Barbara Bush Dowdy than Jackie Kennedy Chic. Who the heck is Isabel Toledo anyway? She's a Cuban-American with a very small following who was let go as the design director for Anne Klein two years ago--whatever. I didn't like the outfit much. The color was ok for her, (they called it gold but it looked chartruese on t.v. ) but I felt the sillouette was unflattering and the rhinestone neckline was a little too cocktail-y for me.

Why? Why? Why, Michelle? For one thing, you looked like you were freezing to death--why not wear a nice warm coat like you wore to Arlington earlier in the week? Now THAT was a fabulous, chic, linear line, a Narciso Rodriguez beauty in such a beautiful lavender color--loved it. And you could have added some cool boots like Jill Biden wore, a fuzzy scarf, maybe even a hat. The world would have been a lot more comforted knowing you were warm out there in that 27 degrees with the wind blowing.

Or you could have chosen the very sleek & sophisticated number you instead wore to the concert at the Lincoln Memorial: also Narciso, camel and black--it looked a lot warmer than the brocade.
Why didn't she ask me first? fail. I suppose she'll have lots of hits & misses, but why does she miss on the most important occasions? Waaaaaah!

But now we're all hanging on to see what she wears tonight! Stay tuned!

Island Style

This is what the well-dressed surfers were wearing on the North Shore of Oahu the other day when we went to see the 25' waves. Well ok. I know it has nothing to do with style but I didn't want to deprive you alert, sun-starved, shivering blog-readers of a chance to see these delicious bods.

Isn't this pretty? It's a scarf dress that can be tied about 50 ways, turned upside down & inside out & become a kite, a brooch, or a pterodactyl. Well not exactly, but this girl was selling them on Kaanapali Beach and she showed us about 99 ways to wear it--until I just got extremely confused. Sure did look cute on her, tho.

Aloha

Byeee! I'll be in Maui for the next two months so keep watching, I'll try to post island style whenever I can. Aloha!

Happy New Year!

We spent New Year's Eve at YCC & even stayed till after midnite--a pretty big effort on my husband's part. He made it, but of course he was "on pure guts." It was a fun evening. Here's a couple photos:

Deanne found this shutter-pleated dress in Portland, it so fabulous! In a silvery gray, it's a different version of the long one Andrea wore to Prez Ball. Very chic on her.

I just had to put in this one of Betty, mainly because this a major fashion departure for her! Betty's always in golf clothes, so for her to wear a skirt is a big deal, but here she's got the whole thing goin on. The skirt is black wool with leather trim, the lime-green sweater has some interesting black stitching detail along the sleeves, and...who knows how many aligators died for this vest? Not shown: patterned hose and very with-it calf-high black boots. Betty! Who knew? What a babe. Pete stole the vest. This was later in the evening. There may have been alcohol involved.

Ok, this is at Pier 66 in Seattle & of course I wasn't there, but this is Amber in her New Year's Eve dress: red satin, ruched, short, strapless---sooooooooo cute! Spicy but not skanky. Now that's what I call New Year's Eve style. OMG wish I was young. And had long legs.