Michelle Obama reveals her strict White House fashion rule

Michelle Obama has always put her best fashion foot forward; and yet, her time in the White House meant that she had to be thoughtful about the clothes she wore, particularly when it came to certain colors. The mother of two opened up about her new book, The Look, which explores some of her most meaningful and stylish fashion moments since she first stepped into the public eye, and revealed the one color she never wore as First Lady: white.

“I was a famous person, but I wasn’t a starlet,” she told People of her time in the White House. “And so that meant that the clothes could never speak louder than anything I had to say.” She continued: “I was a working, active first lady. On any given day, I could be gardening in the South Lawn, or doing jumping jacks with kids, or sitting on the floor having lunch with some preschoolers, or giving a speech to military moms.”

“That could all happen in one day, so my clothes had to be ready for the moment…I rarely wore white,” Michelle explained. “I didn’t want my clothes to stop me from engaging people. So my clothes had to be welcoming. They had to invite people in. I had to be able to give a hug. I couldn’t worry about whether somebody got makeup on something.”

Michelle didn’t give up the color altogether, though; she glowed in a silk Jason Wu gown for her husband Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009, which kick-started her goal of using her influence to uplift diverse designers. 

See another of Michelle’s major fashion moments below…

“I wanted to lift up all the designers who otherwise wouldn’t have the chance to dress a First Lady. I wanted to break some norms. I wanted to bring some other people into the fold,” she told the publication. “So all that was part of the strategy, and with the help of my [team], we were able to pull it off.”

The 61-year-old got candid about another look that she avoided during her husband’s eight years in office: braids. “I wasn’t sure whether the country was ready for it,” she admitted. “The Crown Act hadn’t been passed yet, and just like fashion, I didn’t want my hair to become a distraction.”

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That choice made it all the more significant when she appeared at the unveiling of her White House portrait in 2022 with a braided hairstyle. “I wanted to send a message, add to the discourse of Black women in places of power, saying, ‘This too is an appropriate and beautiful way to wear your hair,'” she said.

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The author added that “it’s freedom” to wear braids now, as they allow her to be more spontaneous and take back her time. “When I’m out of the public eye, I am swimming, I am playing tennis, and braids represent that kind of freedom for me.” Michelle collaborated with her stylist, Meredith Koop, on the lookbook, which will drop on November 4.