Pantsuits Are SOOO Last Administration

by Martin Cho

6257665570 Judging a book by its cover is an involuntary act most people engage in daily, albeit striving otherwise. The point is that first impressions do matter. Often your cover means what you are wearing, and like it or not, the associations and messages thus projected precede any subsequent interaction. This is only ordinary, everyday encounters, casual or planned. Now imagine the stakes being at an internationally reported, carefully scrutinized state dinner, in the media-inflated political realm. Désirée Rogers, the White House social secretary, floored us last night during the state dinner at the White House for the Indian prime minister, with her unconventional choice of donning a Commes des Garcon dress (our hearts skipped at seeing a mention of the label in THIS particular context) from its Fall 2009 season. Her thought process and what it could mean, if we are not reading too much into it, intrigues us:

- I LOVE fashion and I am proud of it.
- I am not afraid of blatantly displaying my fashion knowledge, even less so with the myriad subliminal associations about superficiality, frivolity, nor any potential chatter concerning my intelligence, substance, or propriety. I am a woman with real substance to back that all up.

- I am a professional woman of a certain age (not a fashion editor or a gangly blogger), in a very visible, politically- and public opinion-driven position in American politics (not to be confused with France).

The occasion easily was too loaded and involved too much preponderance for most people to take risks, not Désirée.

She pulled the dress off with aplomb: its appliqued bib front with trompe l’oeil pearls embroidery plus the overall nuances of nude didn’t do her justice. But how she looked in it becomes secondary at this point. It’s the gesture, the confidence and the nonchalance of it all with which she carried it – with so much style and ease – that really gets us applauding. Her choice and its message, however subtle and subliminal, scored her bosses and their administration major brownie points for unconventionality and modernity – a befitting, cohesive nod to the modern spirit of the Obamas.