And so it has started – detailed analysis of Michelle Obama’s wardrobe
I am no fashionista, but I do want to throw in two comments
First, given that Republicans are Red & Democrats Blue, it was intriguing that the Obamas wore red, while Sarah Palin wore blue on election night
Could there have been consultation between the two camps? Seems unlikely. But if either side had made an approach, who would have given the same answer as did the Queen in similar circumstances?
The story goes that, before her first official State occasion as Prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher asked her Private Office to make discreet enquiries of Buckingham Palace about what the Queen would be wearing, since the Prime Minister was anxious to avoid a clash. The response was that Her Majesty never concerned herself with what others were wearing
There have even been snide comments about the Obama family colour scheme being applied to the daughters as well as the mother. Anna Wintour reportedly sent a “stiff letter on the perils of matchy-matchy” (! – that’s telling them)
Lisa Armstrong in The Times had a different explanation – black & red “reflect Africa’s mourning colours”
All I can say to that is that in the West Indies, women of African origin used to wear purple or white (possibly grey) to funerals
Whatever, it is an interesting shot across the bows of the fashion mavens about the semiotics of fashion in this complex web of origins (Barack East African, Michelle West, mourning a grandmother from Kansas)
My second point concerns the subtle, or perhaps not so subtle, comments that picture editors can make through their choice of pictures from these much photographed events
The (small) picture illustrating Lisa Armstrong’s column makes it look as if a third Obama offspring is due at any minute
The Times chose an extraordinary picture for its front page coverage of the visit to the White House
All four are having to screw up their eyes against the glare – whether of the sun or the media spotlight is impossible to tell
The two couples are looking in opposite directions – the Bushes to their right, Obamas to their left. The Obamas seem greatly amused by someone’s antics, the Bushes more regal & composed – perhaps just more practised
And, for someone who, like me, grew up in an era of home dressmaking & learned a modicum of skill, it was sad to see how the combination of creased up eyes, & the crease across the bodice caused by her turn to the left, detracts from that really clever gathering at the neck of her beautiful red dress
I am no fashionista, but I do want to throw in two comments
First, given that Republicans are Red & Democrats Blue, it was intriguing that the Obamas wore red, while Sarah Palin wore blue on election night
Could there have been consultation between the two camps? Seems unlikely. But if either side had made an approach, who would have given the same answer as did the Queen in similar circumstances?
The story goes that, before her first official State occasion as Prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher asked her Private Office to make discreet enquiries of Buckingham Palace about what the Queen would be wearing, since the Prime Minister was anxious to avoid a clash. The response was that Her Majesty never concerned herself with what others were wearing
There have even been snide comments about the Obama family colour scheme being applied to the daughters as well as the mother. Anna Wintour reportedly sent a “stiff letter on the perils of matchy-matchy” (! – that’s telling them)
Lisa Armstrong in The Times had a different explanation – black & red “reflect Africa’s mourning colours”
All I can say to that is that in the West Indies, women of African origin used to wear purple or white (possibly grey) to funerals
Whatever, it is an interesting shot across the bows of the fashion mavens about the semiotics of fashion in this complex web of origins (Barack East African, Michelle West, mourning a grandmother from Kansas)
My second point concerns the subtle, or perhaps not so subtle, comments that picture editors can make through their choice of pictures from these much photographed events
The (small) picture illustrating Lisa Armstrong’s column makes it look as if a third Obama offspring is due at any minute
The Times chose an extraordinary picture for its front page coverage of the visit to the White House
All four are having to screw up their eyes against the glare – whether of the sun or the media spotlight is impossible to tell
The two couples are looking in opposite directions – the Bushes to their right, Obamas to their left. The Obamas seem greatly amused by someone’s antics, the Bushes more regal & composed – perhaps just more practised
And, for someone who, like me, grew up in an era of home dressmaking & learned a modicum of skill, it was sad to see how the combination of creased up eyes, & the crease across the bodice caused by her turn to the left, detracts from that really clever gathering at the neck of her beautiful red dress
