First Lady Fashion

Is first lady Michelle Obama the hope that the fashion industry is looking for? As the United States continues to work through its current economic crisis, people are spending less on fashion in order to save money. However, the first lady is fashion industry gold because whatever she wears turns into a trend and sells. The first lady is now being called the 'one-woman stimulus plan for the fashion industry.'

Mrs. Obama has been a part of fashion even before she moved into the White House back in January. Prior to becoming the first lady, Mrs. Obama was raising eyebrows with her sleeveless dresses. Since it was uncommon for a potential first lady to wear dresses without sleeves she was a story that was constantly in the news. However, talks of her wardrobe being inappropriate turned to talks of her toned arms as people started to accept Mrs. Obama's style.

Since her husband's inauguration, the first lady has helped many businesses and designers come to the forefront. Retailers such as J. Crew have seen sales rise because of Mrs. Obama and the Obama girls wearing their merchandise. According to Women's Wear Daily, Mrs. Obama wore a beaded cardigan sweater from J. Crew which became popular overnight after photos of her appeared.

Not just retailers but also designers have gained from the Obama touch. At the Inaugural Ball for her husband the first lady wore a dress by an up and coming 27-year-old designer Jason Wu. She recently wore a dress by Project Runway judge and designer Micheal Kors. She wore the black shift dress in a photo shoot that she did in the Blue room of the White House from Kors' 2009 Spring Collection. On May 19th she wore a purple silk dress and jacket by The Fashion Show's host Isaac Mizrahi.

Mrs. Obama is the woman of fashion and definitely affects what is being purchased among women. If her fashion chooses will affect the retail market enough to make a huge difference has yet to be seen. What can be said is that Mrs. Obama and fashion go hand and will continue to get better with time.

(photo via msn.com)