Michelle Obama's clothes: Every minute, every hour, every day, for five years

Whenever she steps out—whether it is to host a state dinner or to walk Bo the dog—she is studied. No fashion detail is too small to escape worldwide scrutiny.

Those who care—and they now number in the millions—know her love of bright colors and her recent penchant for stacking multiple bangles on one very buff arm. She has worn a sleeveless dress to a winter joint session of Congress, a cardigan sweater to tea with the Queen of England, and a funky Hawaiian print frock with flats to the National Cathedral. She's gotten down and dirty in the White House garden, shod in Puma sneakers. And she has mixed together silver with gold, purple with cobalt blue, and even a print Gap dress (approximately $30) with a lime green Lambertson Truex tote (approximately $900).

Michelle Obama has a unique sense of style, putting together readily available, accessible clothing with insider fashionista picks. The result is fresh and unexpected—and now frequently copied. Many off-the-rack or off-the-net choices have quickly sold out after she was first spotted in them. For the past four years, her name has ranked on international best-dressed lists. No First Lady since Jacqueline Kennedy has aroused this much passion about her wardrobe. Multiple books, magazine articles and websites have centered on her fashion choices, analyzing them in minute detail—and I have been an active participant in those three categories: writing about Michelle Obama's clothes for Chicago magazine, blogging on the website Mrs. O (mrs-o.org) and contributing to the book Mrs. O—The Face of Fashion Democracy.

Perhaps only the finely tuned Michelle-watchers can tell whether she's wearing Michael Kors or Merona for Target (and she has donned both); but we already know that she dresses differently from the political women and candidates' wives we were so used to seeing, the women with their helmeted hair and matching suits in pastels or boring beige. Clearly, there has been a seismic change. Her style is less formal and more personal than we are used to seeing in a First Lady, combining a sense of humor with a sense of glamour. Coco Chanel once said, "Fashion fades, only style remains." So now—after several years of closely observing Michelle Obama and what she wears—it is a good time to look beyond her fashion choices and think about what her style means.

Daily report

The national attention to Michelle's clothes started early in the 2008 presidential primary season, when she began appearing onstage with her husband. As a writer for Chicago magazine, I had already profiled designer Maria Pinto and boutique owner Ikram Goldman, the two biggest fashion names in the Midwest. So it wasn't surprising that the day after Barack Obama's South Carolina primary win, I received a call from Politico.com. At the victory celebration, which had been televised nationally, Michelle had stood next to then-Senator Obama. She wore a flirty raspberry-tweed suit by Peter Soronen, a one-time Chicagoan who had gotten his start at the now shuttered Oak Street boutique Ultimo under the late Joan Weinstein. The question from Politico: could Michelle be the next embodiment of Jacqueline Kennedy's famously chic style? I said I thought it was a distinct possibility.

After all, she had been campaigning in noteworthy clothes—a boldly pin-striped Alexander McQueen jacket and pants; a fitted Sonia Rykiel black suit; and a tailored Oscar de la Renta dress. All beautiful and all highly appropriate choices for a graduate of Harvard Law School with a $300,000-a-year job as vice president of community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals. But they didn't necessarily convey the correct first impression to voters. And, initially, there were other issues, too. "In some of her early appearances, she struck many people as impolitely blunt, impulsive, sometimes overly candid, relaying out-of-school tales about how her husband didn't pick up his socks . . . Tellingly, the wardrobe she favored at the time didn't do much to counteract the spin," writes Kate Betts, contributing editor at Time and author of Everyday Icon—Michelle Obama and the Power of Style.

That began to change a few months later. When Senator Obama secured the Democratic nomination, his wife appeared on stage with him in St. Paul, Minnesota. She wore a purple silk sheath dress by Maria Pinto. It was sleeveless and formfitting, accessorized with a high-riding Azzendine Alaia patent leather belt and an inexpensive jumbo faux-pearl necklace by Carolee. That outfit immediately became iconic of Michelle Obama's style, conveying confidence and comfort. Her clothes looked familiar, somehow, to us. So did the black-and-white floral print dress she wore two weeks later on the television show The View. It was also sleeveless, with a low scoop neck and an empire waistline; she dressed it up by adding an oversize flower brooch on one strap. Made by Donna Ricco and sold in shopping mall boutique White House/Black Market, the dress retailed for $148 and it sold out in 48 hours. Another immediate public hit was the aqua sheath from Pinto that she wore when she spoke at the Democratic National Convention. Elegantly simple, the dress sported a deep V-neck, accented with a large brooch from London jewelers Erickson Beamon (who soon thereafter launched an inexpensive line at Target). That night at the convention was a turning point in Michelle's style, the culmination of a number of small changes she had made, shrugging off her high-powered professional clothes for a more personal style. Gone were the jackets that could come across as formal and armored, and the matching suits that seemed too corporate and rigid. Every woman has a dress that makes her feel pretty; now we saw this candidate's wife wearing something similar to what we ourselves might wear—no matter who we were.

From that day forward, Michelle's approval ratings began to climb.

"At the time, I called her style understated chic," says Pinto today. "She made herself very approachable. She became attractive to people in a very recognizable way. Even Jackie [Kennedy], while stunningly fashionable, seemed more remote, more untouchable. Both women mirrored what their country needed at the time."

Hits and misses

As a contributing editor to mrs-o.org, the website that chronicles "the fashion of Mrs. O, what and whom she's wearing," I frequently found myself writing about the telling details of Michelle's clothes and accessories: the black patent leather purse with turnlock closures; the Dada-based philosophy of Tom Binns' complex jewelry; and once even the challenge of dressing fashionably yet practically for a Midwest winter. (This last post accompanied a snapshot of the pre-Inaugural Michelle heading into a Chicago restaurant wearing a puffer coat and blue suede boots.)

The hallmarks of her style quickly became codified: the statement jewelry, particularly brooches (even three at one time) and multi-strand necklaces; kitten heels or flats; cardigan sweaters instead of jackets; wide belts pulled up to her rib cage; sometimes tights, but never pantyhose; and unexpected touches like bold floral prints, unusual color combinations, or vintage jewelry. Also, there was her love of mixing expensive designer items with inexpensive finds, like pairing snakeskin Jimmy Choo pumps with J. Crew separates. In the fashion industry, that's known as "high-low style."

But through blogging I saw a public hunger for a never-ending stream of information about her clothes, particularly from young African-American women who would comment on the site. Every outfit—from a Kai Milla emerald green cocktail dress to a pair of turquoise jeans paired with a simple T-shirt and Converse sneakers—brought an outpouring of analysis and commentary from readers. "[That's because] black women are rarely celebrated for our beauty or intelligence in mainstream society," says Aminah Hanan, managing editor of michelleobamawatch.com, a site that "shines a bright light on positive portrayals of the women and girls in the First Family." "For me, the First Lady represents a segment of black women who have always existed, but are rarely highlighted—educated and accomplished," Hanan continues. "She's the ultimate role model—a wife, a mother, a humanitarian, and a modern day fashion icon, who just happens to be the First Lady of the U.S."

Even those outfits that seemed off-kilter in some way (and everyone has a different definition of which ones those are) never failed to bring in gracious commentary. Some version of "This may not be her best look, but I see what she was trying to do with it" would be repeated online over and over. For some, it was the day she wore shorts to see the Grand Canyon; for others, it was the donning of the dramatic gown by British designer Alexander McQueen (as opposed to an American choice) for the state dinner for China's president. For me, the shorts were fine; after all, she was on vacation, the temperature was 100-plus degrees, and she has enviable legs. My only complaint about the McQueen gown was that it didn't seem to fit properly in the bodice. Overall, I would argue, the "off" moments only served to endear the First Lady to many observers. We all have bad wardrobe days when nothing looks right or the proportions are off, days when the vision in our heads is a million miles away from the outfits on our bodies. We still have to get up the next day, pick out something else to wear, and go on. And so does Michelle Obama, just with the added pressure of millions of people watching her.

Jacqueline Kennedy used her style to define herself in a striking new manner from those who had gone before her. Along the way, she not only elevated American taste, but she also helped redefine it. In a different manner, Michelle Obama has also used her style to convey a message. But she didn't have to establish through her clothes that she was different than other political wives. She is different—by age, by race, by education. What she has done is filter the differences through her wardrobe, using style as a way that lets us see a bit of ourselves in her, and some of her in us. Beyond high fashion or low, established designers or avant-garde names, she is confident and content in her choices. And all of that resonates with us.