Did you hear about our super secret surprise birthday party for Lady M last night?
We’ve all been on pins and needles. Not only is MO turning 46 today (as in “officially-closer-to-50-than-40), but when Big Guy dropped the bomb about going to Boston on her birthday to campaign for a blond woman, there was hair (literally) flying around here. I’m not saying she’s touchy about the b-day – it could just be hormones.
But Lady M does think it’s unreasonable of BO to let business get in the way of her private life. Big Guy tried to explain to MO that his entire legacy depends on his being able to win the Kennedy seat for that incompetent Martha Coakley. Even so, I don’t think he’d be going if the race weren’t so close. Toes says it’s definitely within the margin of ACORN. The truth is, like many dudes his age, he really just needs to prove that he’s still got the mojo working. Either way, God help us if it turns out he doesn’t.
Anyway, we had a quiet little surprise organic birthday dinner at the posh Resaturant Nora over on the Circle. Just MO, BO, Grandma, and a dozen of their closest sycophants friends. Pretty much the usual suspects: Eric Holder, Valarie Jarrett and that old Chicago gang of theirs. I have no idea where Desiree was, but someone told me she couldn’t clear security.
As an additional surprise, Big Guy bought MO something really special: another puff piece in the Sunday Los Angeles Times. Not that she really needed another one, but can a gal ever really have too many?
Here’s just a little sample of what BO got for his money:
We couldn't stop talking about her wardrobe, from the one-of-a-kind strapless gold Naeem Khan gown she chose for the first state dinner (the designer appeared on no less than "Larry King Live")
Ha, ha - “no less than ‘Larry King Live’!” Is that a hoot or what? And that’s just the beginning - there’s much, much more; I’m going to say Big Guy got his money’s worth.
She has made it OK for smart women to care about what they wear, and her real-world physique is challenging the runway's ideal.
I never new it wasn’t OK for smart women to care about what they wear. Actually, some of the smart women I’ve worked for in the past seemed to care a whole lot more than MO. And as for the “real-world physique,” well, I don’t think I’ll touch that one. Other than to submit it to the euphemism of the year contest.
As a trendsetter, Obama has helped popularize cardigan sweaters, wide belts and the styling trick of belting an unbuttoned cardigan over a dress or a skirt... and given new life to brooches as an accessory, which had fallen out of fashion after their "Sex and the City" heyday.
Some people call them “styling” tricks, others just call them stupid people tricks. And really, brooches had a heyday during “Sex and City”? Who knew. I would have guessed their last hurrah was sometime pre-mid-century.
"Mrs. Obama is very representative of the way fashion has become more accessible. (If by accessible, you mean wearing the draperies) I see women on the street playing with accessories more, wearing a bold necklace during the day, wearing things that aren't necessarily matched. She's given people the confidence to experiment."
Honestly, can someone tell me why that’s a good thing?
Experimenting with accessories: what could go wrong?
"Mrs. Obama has shown more support for fashion in her diversity of choice," Kors said. "She wears things by me and by Sophie Theallet, who's making clothes in her apartment in Brooklyn."
Is it just me, or does that sound a bit catty to you? Then again, it would explain where all the table cloth dresses come from.
Obama has the same suit by Kors, with a pencil skirt and cap sleeve jacket, in three fabrications -- gold Lurex, yellow boucle and red silk shantung.
Next year we’re doing the entire box of Crayolas.
"She's not driven by labels, she's driven by aesthetics," said Maria Pinto, the Chicago designer.
That reminds me: we really do need to get art back into the public school curriculum.
But here’s my favorite, proof that Big Guy did not scrimp on this puff piece:
Designer Isaac Mizrahi has referred to the first lady as the new Carrie Bradshaw.
My first thought when I read that was, “Oh,oh, that can’t be good.” But then I read Naomi Wolf’s piece about Carrie being an icon, too. So now I don’t know. Maybe Isaac is onto something – in the fashion sense, that is. I don’t think anyone is suggesting that Lady M is a narcissistic, self-involved slutty New York career girl who drinks Cosmopolitans.
Layering is interesting
birds of a feather?
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