# That DRESS, Mrs Obama... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 5, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216 "2008-11-05T05:24:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/21 "2008-11-05T05:49:23Z")
I think that dress would have looked a lot better if the red portion was continuous; however her great smile overcame the dress. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/22 "2008-11-05T05:49:59Z")
> [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > Either way, yes that dress was horrible!!! ([A good photo here](http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2008-11/43199461.jpg) and [here](http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2008-11/43199353.jpg).) Good lord! It looks like her brassiere is on the outside, and has slipped down to her belly. Well, at least white house fashion isn’t going to boring for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/23 "2008-11-05T05:52:31Z")
> [@Queen\_Bruin](#): > > I think that dress would have looked a lot better if the red portion was continuous; however her great smile overcame the dress. Yes, my thoughts exactly. The red part was just on the front - just on the bust and below the waist. It should have continued all the way around. Also in the photos I linked, she is wearing a little black sweater with 3/4 length sleeves. She takes it off after the speech when they all come back out, and you see that it is a sleeveless dress, and it looks even worse. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/24 "2008-11-05T05:53:28Z")
> [@warmgun](#): > > Yeah but doesn’t she make up for it with that fine ass? In that dress, there was plenty of it to evaluate, and no shape. And it was equally unflattering for the rest of her figure. I don’t think it’s Mrs Obama. It’s the dress. I think the designer thought the red patches would be construed as the limits of the figure profile, and the black would be lost in the background. Thus, slimming. He may be right for stills. But on TV it made her more than plump. It made her frumpy and saggy and shapeless. Alas, the denouement after the excitement of the win has reduced me to criticizing a woman’s dress. I will go kill myself now. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/25 "2008-11-05T06:07:21Z")
> [@warmgun](#): > > Yeah but doesn’t she make up for it with that fine ass? Yes, yes she does. I would be all over that ass like Andrew Dice Clay. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/26 "2008-11-05T06:08:52Z")
Fuck off. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/27 "2008-11-05T06:10:38Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Fuck off. Lighten up, asshole, I’m celebrating. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/28 "2008-11-05T06:12:47Z")
I second the idea that the designer thought the odd color combo would slim her curves. An idea that should have died in its cradle. The woman has a nice body. She just has a bit more hip than Mrs. McCain And yet, she keeps picking outfits that give her a back porch. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/29 "2008-11-05T06:14:32Z")
> [@Annie](#): > > I hear Sarah’s going to be taking some nice things to the consignment shop soon… yeah, I thought, “now _she_ needs a new wardrobe…” ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/30 "2008-11-05T06:36:12Z")
She obviously chose the dress for colors that would match her daughter’s dresses who were in red and black. She also doesn’t shop at Neiman Marcus so I think I’d cut her some slack. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/31 "2008-11-05T06:42:51Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > a) Michelle Obama is a stunningly attractive woman. > > b) I don’t think the dress is that terrible. The cut is very stylish and looks great on her, it’s just the colour–it needs to be one solid, not two-tone. > > Lime green should not be worn by anyone, ever. I don’t think the dress is terrible, either. It certainly wasn’t as bad as I was expecting from the things being said here (haven’t seen any TV tonight). And I have to say, even though the election didn’t go as I hoped, it is heart-warming indeed to see that beautiful African-American family headed to the White House. I wish we conservatives didn’t have this image as racists because most of us are not. Roughly half the country votes conservative, and very few of us are, or ever have been, the angry hate-filled racists that fought tooth-and-nail against racial equality. Most of us have long recognized the basic inhumanity involved in slavery and in the racism that came in its wake, and we have been very supportive of the struggle for racial equality itself despite occasional disagreement as to how that struggle should be waged. So, even thought it might mean Supreme Court nominations and social programs that I oppose, I find that Obama’s election has made me very proud to be an American tonight. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/32 "2008-11-05T06:45:10Z")
I just came online, came directly to the Dope, and came directly to the Pit, knowing there’d be a thread about that dress. When I saw it I said out-loud, “OMFG, no!” It looked like she had leaned against something with wet paint on it. Or someone had spray-painted her. I was so relieved that there wasn’t red on the ass too. But I’ve gotta admit, they’re gonna be the classiest couple in the White House since the Kennedys. Or more so. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/33 "2008-11-05T07:00:30Z")
I like it. I have a soft spot for the ombre effect. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/34 "2008-11-05T08:55:23Z")
Somebody probably should have re-thought the dress. It was…distracting. I was digging on her earrings, though - real dangly hoopy things, not chaste boring pearls. Those little girls are _stunning_. I loved when she and Biden’s wife came out holding hands. It was just such a great image. ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/35 "2008-11-05T09:51:15Z")
The dress didn’t bother me at all. It was different and refreshing, like she always is, and as a family they all looked picture perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/36 "2008-11-05T10:12:12Z")
Don’t you guys know why she was wearing that dress? It was the signal to launch Operation Kill Whitey. You guys aren’t still in the country, are you? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Professor\_So\_And\_So](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/87869e/32.png) [@Professor\_So\_And\_So](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Professor_So_And_So)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/37 "2008-11-05T11:32:35Z")
At the election party I was at, we all kinda made a weird noise when she walked out in that dress. I thought it was hideous, personally. A moment later, a woman comes out of the bathroom, glances at the TV and Said, “Oh my God, she’s wearing Prada!”. I haven’t fact-checked her statement, but she’s knee-deep in the fashion world. I think if she’s correct, it just goes to show how worthless these designers are. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/38 "2008-11-05T12:24:54Z")
The issue with the dress is the satin and the cut of the waist. Had the black portion at the waist been matte, it may well have looked slimming, or at least not looked chunky. The cut of the waist was such that it did not cling to her or drape gracefully, but looked bunched, with the satin catching the light and drawing attention. It may have looked better in person, but it was a failure for television. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/39 "2008-11-05T12:30:12Z")
Been a long time since we had a FLILF. More seriously, I like Michelle Obama more than any First Lady since Rosalynn Carter. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216/40 "2008-11-05T12:31:03Z")
And I am a big fan of fades and graduations from one color to another, but even that part did not work for me, partly because the black changing to red was matte and the rest of the dress was satin. Then there was the little sweater. The dress might have looked better had she not been wearing a cardigan that spoiled the silhouette, but it was a fall evening, so what else was she going to wear? Going bare armed has its own problems. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-dress-mrs-obama/471216.md?page=3)