Michelle's Fashion Mandate

Barack isn't the only Obama bringing change: "the era of first lady-as-rectangle had ended," Robin Givhan declares in today's Washington Post. Michelle Obama's Isabel Toledo gown reached into the "loftiest corners of the fashion industry." "Recent first ladies seem to have tried—at least during the first term—to hold on to the idea of normalcy. At their husbands' first inaugurations, Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush wore uninspired clothes that didn't make them seem unique. Obama's mere presence on the Capitol steps yesterday was an anomaly—and her clothes celebrated that. Her coat and dress made her look exceptional—and vaguely regal."