The Important Side of Politics: Michelle Obama's Inaugural Ball Gown

This morning I watched a slideshow of potential designs for Michelle Obama's inagural gown. My thoughts:

• You can tell designers are excited to have someone so young and slender in the White House again. After several years of long sleeves and trying to disguise waists, everyone is jumping all over themselves to design for Mrs. Obama.
• White is a really good color choice. So classic and it looks fantastic on dark skin. Reds and purples also seem to suit Michelle's coloring really well, but we've seen her in a lot of that already. Anything too red-white-and-blue-y is a really bad idea.
• Watching the slideshow and trying to guess who the designer is is a fun game. Even if I only got four right (the easy ones: Oscar de la Renta, Betsey Johnson, Isaac Mizrahi, Zac Posen).
• I think my favorite is Diane von Furstenberg's. I kind of hate that it's a wrap-dress, since that's so cliche from DVF, but I kind of love that it's a wrap-dress, because it's such a unique idea for a formal gown. And it pretty much captures subtle sexy, which is what the occasion calls for, in my opinion.
• I think all these people that are expecting Michelle Obama to be the next Jackie O. are going to end up disappointed. She makes smart fashion decisions, but I really don't see her becoming a fashion icon. She is too...normal (normal isn't quite the right word, but I can't think of anything better).
• Several of these gowns (particularly Carolina Herrera's and Monique l'Huillier's) are beautiful, but too red carpet. An inaguaral gown should be a little more conservative, in my opinion.
• In writing this, I obviously did some research on inaugural gowns throughout history and was surprised to find that one of my absolute favorites is from 1909. Mrs. Taft's dress is lovely. I would wear it today.