Style Evolution: Michelle Obama

She claims she's not a natural-born politician. But, when it comes to fashion, America's next First Lady, Michelle Obama, seems to have a strategist's instincts for what will play in Peoria. Her secret lies in knowing how to mix high and low (and we don't just mean her heels). She wears dresses from pricey designers like Narciso Rodriguez (left), Thakoon and Isabel Toledo, whose pieces carry four-figure tabs and are sold in stores like -- yep -- Neiman-Marcus, Barneys and Saks. But she also showed up on the campaign trail wearing designs like the $148 White House-Black Market dress that she chose for "The View" last summer and the J. Crew sweater and skirt that she wore last month on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," insisting in her best every woman voice, "You can get some good stuff online."

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The other big winner: Narciso Rodriguez, whose red-and-black confetti-print dress was Mrs. Obama's choice for her Election Night debut. It's hard to imagine it was anything but warm in Grant Park -- where the President-elect addressed an estimated 100,000 fans -- but Mrs. O added a short black cardigan to the tank dress, which came straight from Rodriguez's Spring '09 runway.

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Sure she has a law degree, a high-powered job and two adorable daughters. But to fashionista fans, Michelle Obama's most striking accomplishment during the presidential campaign has been channeling Jackie Kennedy -- the trademark flip, the simple '60s sheaths, the no-nonsense strand of pearls. She wore a tangerine version of the look last spring at a primary rally in North Carolina.



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While Barack Obama boasts that he owns five of the same suit -- a dark two-button by Hartmarx -- Mrs. Obama is far more adventurous, especially when it comes to color. Usually, she favors bold shades -- blues, oranges, purples -- but she chose a soft, cantaloupe-colored dress earlier this fall for her husband's acceptance of the Harold Washington Award.

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Their fist-bump got the most attention at the Minnesota rally on the night that Barack Obama cinched the Democratic nomination. Second-most-talked about: Michelle Obama's purple dress by her long-time designer and friend, Chicago's Maria Pinto.



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At the first joint appearance of the Obama-Biden families last summer, Michelle wore a purple and grey shirtwaist -- just the sort of thing Donna Reed would have chosen. And, to ensure that she didn't tower over just about everyone at the Springfield, Ill. rally, the 5-foot-11 Mrs. Obama slipped on silver ballet flats.



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Perhaps it was a bid for Red-state votes? At the second Presidential debate in Nashville, Mrs. Obama wore a bright red Narciso Rodriguez sheath, which just happened to blend in perfectly with the carpet.




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Most people have never even heard of fashion designer Isabel Toledo (though she's been at it for more than 30 years). But at a New York fund-raiser last spring, Mrs. Obama looked so comfortable in one of Toldeo's edgy designs (and a Tom Binns necklace) that she sparked gossip she'd be wearing more of the Cuban-born designer's wares if she makes it to the White House.

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Though one of her favorite stores is Ikram -- the high-rent Chicago boutique that carries designers like Alexander McQueen, Balmain, Lanvin and Rodarte -- Mrs. Obama likes to show that she's equally skilled at pulling together outfits from the other end of the spectrum. For an October rally in Miami, she wore this striped dress from H&M with a $34.95 price tag.

The young Thai-born designer Thakoon Panichgul -- who's known, simply, as Thakoon -- calls this his "Tailored Inside Out Dress." And since one of Michelle's favorite tricks is to add a trinket here or there, she altered the silk floral dress with a small bow at the side of the neck for the first Presidential debate.



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