Michelle Obama’s new book, “The Look,” is many things. It is a bestseller on Amazon. It’s a gorgeous picture book, full of fashion. It is the story of the expectations placed on the first black woman to become First Lady of the United States.
It is the third volume in Obama’s trilogy of books focused on self-actualization, including his memoirs, advice on overcoming adversity, and now a reflection on the power of clothing.
But most of all, this book is a historical document, capturing a pivotal moment in the evolution of the role of the First Lady, when clothing became a greater part of communication. In other words, when clothing became an officially recognized part of the job. This is more important than it may seem.
After all, Obama was the first First Lady to have a hairstylist — or “Brave,” as Meredith Cobb was called — on the White House payroll, hired to help determine the First Lady’s visual strategy for everything from public hula hoop displays to major parties.
Before Obama’s election, first ladies such as Jacqueline Kennedy, Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton might work with a designer to design their dresses for inaugural balls or state dinners, but the relationship was one of courtesy and favor rather than formal structure.
It was more about pomp and decorum than diplomacy, and first ladies tended to pick a designer (Oleg Cassini, James Galanos, Oscar de la Renta) and stick with him.
But after Obama, Melania Trump and Jill Biden began hiring fashion designers — Hervé Pierre for Trump and Billy Moon for Biden — who served as a liaison between the fashion brands and the East Wing. They worked with a variety of designers, on almost every occasion, often with a specific set of political priorities in mind. A new paradigm was created and became the norm.
This is largely due to the subtext of “The Look,” which was released by Crown Publishing last month in the United States and is not expected to be published in Brazil. This is why this book is important. It reveals, in an unprecedented (and easy-to-read) way, how the wardrobe became a vehicle for hidden political power. In a way, it was inevitable.
As the first black first lady, Michelle Obama knew her every move would be scrutinized, including her every outfit. She needed to represent all sides in a divided country, and she had to do it as first lady in the age of social media.
The world’s ability to see and follow his every appearance was greater than ever before, and its ability to comment on his every appearance was greater as well. Your image – the images circulating on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook – has become more important than ever, and so the choices involved in creating that image are important. The stakes have changed when it comes to clothing.
This is what Michelle Obama herself admits in the book. There has been speculation about the purpose behind many of her fashion choices as First Lady in numerous books, such as “Everyday Icon” by Kate Bates and “Michelle Obama: The First Lady of Fashion and Style” by Susan Swimmer (not to mention countless articles by critics like myself).
But this is the first time she has publicly addressed the topic of her style and acknowledged the team — designer Cobb; Hairstylists Yeni Damtio, Njeri Radway and Johnny Wright; Makeup artist Carl Ray – who helped make this a reality.
Thus, she wrote, the decision to choose Jason Wu, a young, Taiwanese-born, relatively unknown designer in New York, to design her inauguration dress was a way to demonstrate “that I will stand up for people, voices, and talents that are often overlooked.”
“People who represented the diverse talent of American fashion design that I wanted to show the world,” she says.
Thus, nearly a hundred different looks worn by Michelle Obama as First Lady are immortalized in the book, not counting those she wore during the election campaigns or after the Obamas left the White House. That’s a lot of clothes a woman could wear or buy in just eight years.
Especially when the criteria for choosing each look also includes showing diplomatic respect, as when Obama turned to a designer whose career has linked the United States and its ally to a state dinner or state visit — all, as she wrote, “to pay tribute.”
Take, for example, the dress by Tom Ford, the American designer based in London, that she wore during her official visit to the United Kingdom, or the dress by Versace, the Italian brand, that she wore to a state dinner in Italy.
Especially when there are also practical issues to take into consideration – not just the customs of different countries, but the fact that Obama’s clothing couldn’t restrict her movements, had to allow her to hug someone if she wanted, and had to serve as proof against makeup that could smudge on contact.
Although Michelle Obama writes about all of this in The Look, as well as the racist criticism she often receives for wearing sleeveless dresses, one topic she avoids is cost.
The former US First Lady mentions that she has tried to introduce “chic, affordable brands into her wardrobe,” including J. Crew, but there is no denying that buying too many clothes is a hefty expense — a burden borne by the presidential family, not the state.
One way to manage this cost is for the designer to “gift” the country an outfit for a major public event, meaning that while the First Lady might wear that dress once or twice, it goes to the National Archives or Presidential Library rather than her wardrobe.
However, this does not change the main message of “The Look”. Michelle Obama adapted her own style to what she felt the country needed, and this became evident after she left the White House, with her book tours and other fashion experiments. Canadian suit! Balenciaga thigh-high boots! Chanel straight from the catwalk!
This reinforces the book’s message: For any First Lady, the choice of (multiple) clothing items that will define her tenure in office does not happen by chance. And it shouldn’t be: it’s work.
This article originally appeared in the New York Times.