Cover Girl: Michelle Obama for Vogue Magazine

Posted on Mar 14, 2013 in Fashion

FLO gets to play dressup for Vogue.

Michelle Obama covers the April 2013 issue of Vogue magazine photographed by Annie Leibovitz in a Reed Krakoff dress.

Love the dress. Hate the hair.

There. We said it.

On what she’s learned from her husband: “Well, patience and calm I’m borrowing. Or trying to mirror. I’ve learned that from my husband, that sort of, you know, ability to not get too high or too low with changes and bumps in the road. . . to do more breathing in and just going with it. I’m learning that every day. And to the extent that I’ve made changes in my life, it’s just sort of stepping back and seeing a change not as something to guard against but as a wonderful addition. . . that can make life fun and unexpected. Oftentimes, it’s the way we react to change that is the thing that determines the overall experience. So I’ve learned to let go and enjoy it and take it in and not take things too personally.”

On her mother: “My mother doesn’t do interviews but let me tell you: She is not long on pretense. She’s the first one to remind us who we are. And it’s been very helpful having her living with us. . . We can check reality against her sensibilities.”

On the importance of family: “Our job is, first and foremost, to make sure our family is whole. You know, we have small kids; they’re growing every day. But I think we were both pretty straightforward when we said, Our No. 1 priority is making sure that our family is whole.”

She’s gotten really good at marrying the corporate-speak she was trained to master in her pre-FLOTUS career and the more touchy-feely stuff the American press and public expects from her. It’s an appealing combination of warmth and directness.

But all y’all need to bow the fuck down for THIS:

Michael Kors Sweater and Ball Skirt

DIVA.

You WERQ that FLOTUS shit, Shelley! DOLLEY MADISON SNAPS.

[Photo Credit: Annie Leibovitz for Vogue]

Tags:

http://twitter.com/foodycatAlicia foodycatAlicia

That picture actually brought a tear of joy to my eye. So beautiful, so regal! What a woman.
- Sobaika
  
  Amen.
- lovelyivy
  
  She is SO my role model. I like Barack okay (more than I actually think I’m comfortable with liking a politician- any politician) but I LOVE her, and I can’t even dredge up any skepticism to shield me.
  - http://twitter.com/foodycatAlicia foodycatAlicia
    
    Completely. I’d like to be a bit cynical and say “oh well, she’s a politician’s wife, she’s had media training” but I DON’T CARE. I love her.
    - ConnieBV
      
      I think it’s the first truly equal marriage we’ve had in the White House. Sign of the times. This isn’t a woman used to censoring herself, or weighing the importance or validity of her thoughts. She is a lady, she conducts herself as one, but she will set you straight. I love that.
      - lovelyivy
        
        Exactly. I know she’s had the training, but I relate to her, her working-class background, and the things she’s done with her life in a way that I’ve never related to any First lady. Somehow she seems genuine in a way that you almost never see in politics- you can’t teach or train that kind of ability to connect (and I’ve sat through enough media training for executives and academics to know).
      - Lilithcat
        
        “This isn’t a woman used to censoring herself, or weighing the importance or validity of her thoughts”
        
        Seriously? This is a woman who graduated from Harvard Law School, worked for a major Chicago law firm, the Mayor’s Office, and then for the University of Chicago Hospitals at a very high level. All of which require one to “weigh the importance and validity” of one’s thoughts.
      - SassieCassy
        
        YEA
        
        like i love her but i do not see some of the things other people see. i think she is a down to earth, warm, but SMART and TOUGH lady who knows how to work the press and her public image. i think she bites her tongue a lot bc giving ppl a piece of her mind would not work with her position.
        
        like look how much flack the eye rolling with jon boehner gave her! and it was a split second thing that had nothing to do with anything.
      - ConnieBV
        
        I’m not sure how you read that, but it was meant as a positive affirmation of how past generations would think better of expressing themselves lest it affect their marriage, their husband’s job and livelihood, any number of things. I’m saying she very obviously was not a woman who grew up thinking that this was the way to be. I also have no idea of your age, so who knows, you may have never experienced that, either?
      - Lilithcat
        
        I think there is a difference between “censoring one’s thoughts” (which I think is what you mean when you say “think better of expressing themselves lest it affect their marriage, etc.”?) and weighing their validity, which is something we all ought to do. ”Think before you speak” is always good advice!
      - ConnieBV
        
        I meant weighing and finding lacking. May have been the wrong word choice since I am trilingual and sometimes the wires cross. When I was growing up, the phrase “think before you speak” was never uttered to a male. It was just taken for granted that they spoke their minds, while us ladies were expected to care more for feelings. I think somewhere in the middle is a good place for both sexes.
      - Lilithcat
        
        “since I am trilingual”
        
        Oh, you are fortunate! I just wish. I’ve been studying Italian (and just started trying to refresh my college French), but it’s not easy at my age (64 ). It’s too bad that we didn’t start languages at an earlier grade when I was growing up, but we had to wait until high school.
      - ConnieBV
        
        I was fortunate to have a father who couldn’t stay in any one country for any length of time and a bilingual upbringing. Third one came easier after that.
      - Thomas Jones
        
        Don’t give up. I grew up a typical monolingual American. Started Spanish at my local community college (and yes I get compared to Chevy Chase all the time). Mastered Spanish enough to have interesting conversations and now am learning French. The downside side is I answer Spanish questions in French and French questions in Spanish
      - Tapetum
        
        That seems to be a common bit of cross-wiring. I am middling fluent in French, and have started learning Japanese, and have discovered that if I run out of Japanese vocabulary, I end up automatically filling in with French. Sometimes even with French words I had forgotten knowing!
      - http://twitter.com/foodycatAlicia foodycatAlicia
        
        I was at lunch at a Spanish restaurant with friends on Sunday and one of them ordered “Dos cervezas, Danke” – they have a German au pair and get very confused!
      - SarahAreBee
        
        Yup. Learned Hebrew in Kindergarten and became more or less fluent by late high school. As I started to learn French, I would lapse into Hebrew before English. Then, as I started to learn Spanish for work last year, I go to French first (even French I’ve long since forgotten since high school) and then Spanish, and then English. Brains are weird.
      - Kayceed
        
        Yes. And look at the topics – what I’ve learned from my husband, my mother, my family. She is ferociously intelligent, but we don’t hear her thoughts on the many heavy topics of the day. It is not her role at this point.
      - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1234087433 Jen Freeman
        
        I think what Connie was trying to say is that she never worries about whether her thoughts are important or if they matter. She knows that she is educated, intelligent, and has something valid to say. Not every woman feels that way.
      - http://twitter.com/foodycatAlicia foodycatAlicia
        
        I think the Clintons were pretty equal. Or at least, they had agendas keeping them pointing in the same direction.
      - ConnieBV
        
        I have great respect for Hilary, but I’m not sure she was the person she wanted to be while Bill was in office. She tried it early on and got the royal smack down from the media, nothing like the lurrve Shelly O gets. That lady was never meant to play second fiddle, and I say that admiringly. She is much better out of the White House. I felt like she was hiding her light under a bushel there.
      - zuzu
        
        And you don’t think Michelle is hiding her light under a bushel? I mean, I think she’s great, but she can’t help but be aware that whatever criticism Hillary and Eleanor Roosevelt got for speaking their minds, she’d get worse because she’s the first black First Lady. She’s kept a very tightly controlled, noncontroversial agenda — you rarely hear her talk about anything but fitness, food, her kids, her husband, her mother and military families. And yet people still get the vapors because she plants an organic garden or suggests that kids should get more fresh fruits and vegetables in their diets — Antonin Scalia even brought up the imaginary “broccoli mandate” during oral arguments on the health-care-law suit.
        
        Both she and Barack have years of experience not being the people they really want to be. Don’t mistake not getting a foot wrong with being authentically one’s self.
      - ConnieBV
        
        I disagree with the last statement.
      - oohsparkley!
        
        I agree with most of what you’re saying. Except I think she is being authentically herself, she’s just not showing us her whole hand and possibly censoring herself on occasion because she knows the game. By the way, she looks gorgeous in the second dress!
      - lovelyivy
        
        Agreed- it’s why I was pleased she didn’t take VP when Barack got the nom- she did not run to be VP- I’m still holding out for her to be our next President.
      - zuzu
        
        The first truly equal marriage? Hillary would like a word.
      - ConnieBV
        
        LOL. Well, played, zuzu.
    - http://twitter.com/PhDKnitter marlie
      
      Politician’s spouses certainly get training regarding what to say and how to act, but it’s way harder to teach someone poise and elegance. Those are characteristics that she brought to the table herself.
      - http://twitter.com/foodycatAlicia foodycatAlicia
        
        Oh yes – those are definitely from her mother!
- MilaXX
  
  It’s an unusual combination of regal yet still approachable.
- ccinnc
  
  I gasped.
- https://twitter.com/Gayer_Than_Thou Gayer Than Thou
  
  In that black dress in the Red Room? Omigod yes. What an amazing picture, for so many, many reasons.
  - Barbara Woodruff
    
    It’s a fantastic dress, but I don’t think it’s black. It looks like a deep green – on my monitor anyway.
clatie

LOVE.
thecitysleeps

I love the combination of a more casual top with a diva esque skirt and this works amazingly. She’s an inspiration.
MoHub

Wowie, wow, wow wow!
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QFW22QV426LUOEPGASPZJWJMDE MishaFoomin
  
  I only said one “wow” but it was a big one. This many is good too!
http://twitter.com/SillyGrrlJen Silly Grrl

That is stunning. Sigh.
http://profiles.google.com/dorothymichael Dorothy & Michael n/a

I can’t go so far to say she’s damn perfect, but she comes about as close to perfection as anyone I’ve ever seen in the public eye.

Edit: OOOPS – forgot to say I agree 100% about her hair. Really dislike that cut. Can’t wait for her to grow in those bangs!
- zuzu
  
  Though whatever Vogue did with her hair on the cover makes it look much better than it has. I think the bangs are shorter, and the sides are swept away from her face, opening it up.
http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd

Holy Effing Shit! Not since Jackie have we had a FLOTUS with such a commanding presence, combined with style. She looks Awesome! And I will agree with you guys about the hair. It hides too much of her lovely face.
- https://twitter.com/Gayer_Than_Thou Gayer Than Thou
  
  This is a case of scroll-down GASP! I don’t really love the cover — don’t think it’s a flattering shot of her, don’t like the hair — and then you scroll down and . . . WOW!
  - http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd
    
    So true. That color and shape are Stuh-Ning on Shelley. And I admit to loving me some Victorian referenced bustley realness.
    - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000905542323 Rhonda Shore
      
      Exactly. She looks amazing.
- ballerinawithagun
  
  The length of the bang is perfect here, but very difficult to maintain, by tomorrow they will be too long. I wear bangs. I have to because my hair naturally grows forward. I always trim my bangs a week or so before an event, then they seem to be the correct length.
  She is perfection here!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Julie-Chase/731391326 Julie Chase

Oh my god, “Dolly Madison snaps” made me laugh SO HARD.
- Kristin McNamara
  
  Me too! Plus, I’m a James Madison alums, so I’ve heard lotttttts about Dolly in my day, but never in this context! hahaha
http://twitter.com/hugandpint Courtenay P

YES. FLOTUS ain’t playing.
Sobaika

They should have curled the hair at the ends a bit. Other than that Mrs. O is and will always be a WERQ in action.
- SassieCassy
  
  i lvoe that! a werq in action!
Annabelle Archer

The guns are back! – Was my first thought.

DAMN! – Was my second thought.

She is so regal and warm. A true treasure.
Beardslee

Dolley Madison snaps, indeed! Lovely.
Not so much a fan of the cover. She looks altered, and while I don’t much like that on anyone, it bugs me more when it’s the First Lady. Seems disrespectful somehow.
- l_c_ann
  
  Her face is much prettier and more symmetric than it appears to be on the cover. Whoever touched the negative/file needs to be chastised.
- lovelyivy
  
  Yup. Her facial shape looks weird, and oddly enough so does the color and shape of her hair. I already knew I disliked her mid-life crisis bangs (as she described them) but they’re even worse on the cover. They should have gone with that second image for the cover- it is ridiculously awesome.
gabbilevy

Dolly. Madison. Snaps.

She is a goddess.
http://twitter.com/Mlle_D Donyelle

pass the smelling salts! the silhouette…swooon….
Avantika Sharma

Boy, I really don’t like that green Michael Kors. They really couldn’t find something with more impact? Just not working for me. Much as any dress with a big pouf of fabric doesn’t work for me.
- http://profiles.google.com/dorothymichael Dorothy & Michael n/a
  
  That’s green? Looks black on my screen.
  - Avantika Sharma
    
    Looks green to me. Did some research after your comment and some websites are calling it forest green and some black. You could be right though.
    - http://profiles.google.com/dorothymichael Dorothy & Michael n/a
      
      Green is my favorite color so I’d prefer it WAS green. I should look on other websites – or buy the damn magazine to see it in person!
- kimmeister
  
  Looks like a deep olive green to me.
rkdgal

That picture is breathtaking! A perfect marriage between backdrop and pose. Go Shelly!
http://twitter.com/watchinginkdry Krysta

REGAL.
imperfectlaura

It’s amazing to me that the cover and the Michael Kors look are the same story. Not that the cover is bad, but the MK look is jaw-droppingly gorgeous.
EveEve

What a fabulous reference to the past, with a a literal twist of the torso to the future.
I’m with you on the bangs though. They are not as flattering as they could or should be. But hey, her life, her call. Nobody’s going to accuse her of being a fashion victim.
eowyn_of_rohan

I really want to be like FLOTUS when I’m her age, but I suspect she’d tell me to just be myself, and that makes me love her even more. She looks AMAZING in that Michael Kors.
http://www.ellenciompi.com/ NurseEllen

The hair is a little reminiscent of ‘dos worn by the Supremes….can’t decide if I like it or not. I’d like to see a magazine cover with her and her mom together! Love the cover dress, not quite so sold on the other, but boy is she a great ad for it. Nice way to start the day–thanks, TLo.
kikisayshi

LOVE!
MilaXX

I don’t always like how her hair is styled with the new bangs. To me it looks better either flipped up or lightly curled. However, that picture in the black dress is awesome.
Tatiana Luján

hair and makeup are terrible in the cover picture.
She lookes amazing in the other 2.
Little_Olive

That second picture is great.

Now that we are passed the cardigans and belts issue, can TLo please arrange for an eyebrow consultation? They scare me.
hmariec19

I suddenly feel so very patriotic. HELL YES FLOTUS.
mary McCall

A great human being AND a fashion icon…are we lucky or what? Ditto on the Dolly Madison snaps!
teensmom99

One of my big problems with the hair is the length. It all looks like some big wig that overwhelms her face. That’s why even the hair looks great in the pictures in the Kors ball skirt; the hair is tied back. And an example of fashion genius is that the casual top and fancy skirt would look silly on many people but looks perfect on FLO.
SassieCassy

i looooooove her AND her hair! although couldnt the people at vogue do something more vogue-y

psst… why do you guys call her shelley
- MelVT
  
  Michelle. Shell for short. Shelley for long.
  - SassieCassy
    
    eeeep. i feel silly!
- jenno1013
  
  Michelle…Mi-chelle…shell…Shelley…it’s a typically diminutive for Michelle. I have a friend whose given name is Michele (one ‘l’) who goes by Shelly (no second ‘e’). Also Shelley O calls back to Jackie O.
  - http://www.facebook.com/people/Jessica-TallGirl-Freeman/1043623567 Jessica TallGirl Freeman
    
    I think it also calls back to the Jackie O days.
3boysful

I don’t mid the bangs here, where the ends are fringe-ier; makes it less helmet-y.

I am particularly struck at the historic awesomeness of a woman of color standing in that Kors in that White House background, and owning it.
ccinnc

I gasped. (ETA: oops sorry for the duplicate post).
NDC_IPCentral

Totally in the tank for our FLOTUS. I agree with Alicia, my eyes got suspiciously moist when I saw the Red Room photo. Dignified, confident and stunning.

I won’t use the word “regal,” though it came to mind, since we’re not a monarchy. But she’s just off the charts in the best possible way. A marvelous example of intelligence and confidence for women, men, boys, girls, young, old. Our country is fortunate that she’s our First Lady, even if a portion of the population seems to disagree obdurately.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jessica-TallGirl-Freeman/1043623567 Jessica TallGirl Freeman

That photograph made up for the horrible cover. Is it just me, because she really doesn’t look like our beloved Shelly O on the cover.
- shirab
  
  No, I feel like they slimmed her face down on the cover. Unnecessarily, I might add.
http://profile.yahoo.com/37TPKASIMXVUPYK5BNQFOL43KU Carina

Gorgeous cover and she’s stunning in the MK dress. What an amazing woman.
Baditude

Wow. That literally gave me chills. Werq it FLO!
PeggyOC

I love the shot, but I wish you hadn’t zoomed in. Up close because the top is a sweater and a different level of matte from the skirt, it looks like she pulled on a t-shirt to go with the skirt. Not her fault. I blame Michael Kors. I’m just going to bow down to the more distant shot and leave it at that.
Lisa M. (ReVoir) Kramp

She makes the little flag in my heart wave with pride. Perfection.
http://profile.yahoo.com/47S737MGWCAZEZ73QOAFKDFEKQ Jill

I really don’t like her arm positions in these photos. She looks so stiff.
Lisa Salmon

The dress is gorgeous, but that facial expression is silly, come on.
- libraangel
  
  What?! Don’t see silly anywhere
KSuKim

And to think this is the same FLO who schooled Jimmy Fallon on mom dancing.
fringebenefit

Oooooo. Agree 100% TLo, with all of the above. Thank you for this lovely diversion. I hope FLOTUS leaves the mag open on the bed table for POTUS to see and drool over!
Judy_J

That last photo is dynamite! I don’t get the cover shot, though. Has she been photoshopped? It doesn’t even look like her…different nose, different mouth. Weird.
mjude

WOW had no idea about the diva look! BOWING DOWN WITH PLEASURE!
http://profiles.google.com/gillianholroyd gillian holroyd

My admiration for FLO knows no bounds but this shoot does not do her justice. In addition to the criticisms mentioned above, look at how poorly her head is framed in the bottom photo.
jackie cohen

It’s kind of disrespectful to say but I’ll say it anyway …. she has some body on her. Fit and gorgeous, that in and of itself would be an inspiration. Add her grace, intelligence, kindness and she is a knock-out.
- Lilithcat
  
  Why is that disrespectful? She works to get a body like that.
  - SassieCassy
    
    true but i dont think a lot of ppl are used to talking abt a first lady like that
    - TRSTL
      
      Yes, and most of those people still think that women should be silent, gays stoned to death and men should make all the decisions……….
http://profile.yahoo.com/57DSN5XCR5VONZ2JUMQ5M6EF54 Sabrina

Love the hair. She looks younger and hipper, not that she to needed to be more of either.
Winter_White

I love that she changes her hair! (Can’t help but contrast her with Nancy and both Mrs. Bushes: unlike Michelle, each of them put on her hair-helmet at the beginning of her husband’s campaign and didn’t change a lock of it for as many years as they remained in office.)

Beautiful photos. I thought her bangs made her look really young and adorable doing the “Evolution of Mom Dancing” thing with Jimmy Fallon.
DaveUWSNYC

Red Room, Blue Room…Green Gorgeous
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_AYQCICXEN2CCDBFV5HED4Z2RUA Dee B

She looks amazing, but can I say? I’m consistently underwhelmed with Annie Leibovitz work? Like, honestly she’s barely above Terry Richardson level to me in that I. JUST. DONT. GET. IT. But the picture in the doorway is epic.
- SassieCassy
  
  she has a shtick and it is very tired at this point
Emily Giovanni

I love her so much, but I really wish she would take a hardline position against photoshop. I do not think that is her real waist on the cover.
Introspective

this. exactly why the hair now looks incredibly helmet-like, because she has considerably less face to offset the new bangs. im angry with vogue for their mangling of the cover.

but they sure as hell made up for it in the red room pic. if that pic doesnt say FIRST LADY BITCHES, change my name.

SNAPS.
quiltrx

FABULOUS. I say it every time I see her, but I’m so proud she’s our FLOTUS and it makes me feel good when others see her as a representative of our country.

And I notice something subtly smart about these shots. Yes she looks very elegant and put-together–but there’s no splashy jewelry going on. Just her wedding rings and some lovely but not ostentatious earrings. Very conscious of the financial state of the nation as a whole.
- libraangel
  
  Also, many of her “regular”clothes are not designer $$$$$, but clothes all of us would wear. Brava, Michelle!
SapphoPoet

The cover shot doesn’t look much like her, to me, for some reason. But I love that color on her. And the interior shots in the Kors outfit are stunning. Dolley Madison snaps, indeed. Fashion writer Robin Givhan said that those pictures bring her into the category of classic beauty, one long denied to women of color. She looks so regal. If she gets an official photo/portrait, she should use those shots. Incredible.
aquamarine17

love. not a fan of Obama but a big time fan of Michelle. knockout legendary photograph in the black ensemble. beautifully composed shot! congrats to the photographer.
jw_ny

A ball gown WITH a sweater! Shelly musta been jumping up and down with excitement.

M Kors did a beautiful job on that gown. It’s perfect for her.
sweetlilvoice

I love her and this spread. However, I shudder to think of all the horrible comments which will be made about her dressing up for a magazine when there are so many problems everywhere. Personally, I don’t care. She is an amazing person. And I love how happy she and B. always look together.
- TRSTL
  
  She is certainly NOT the first FIrst Lady to appear in Vogue…..of either party.
SassieCassy

she messed with her face. a lot. its a shame because SHE DOES NOT NEED IT AND IT MAKES THE COVER LOOK BAD.
AthenaJ

Can we have Shelly and Hillary be co-presidents? They’d get shit done.
http://gabyrippling.tumblr.com/ Gabriella M

Oh man. Shelley, switch out your twee cardigans for mod long sleeve boat-necks. You can still wear all the chunky belts and be as covered up as you want. These proportions are peeeerfect.

Also, I feel like Halle Berry and Shelley O should switch haircuts. I feel like Shelley could rock that spikey pixie, and the shag would suit Halle’s rock-and-roll style while softening her a little. The pixie is probably too daring and assertive for middle America’s idea of the FLOTUS though. Sadface.
- libraangel
  
  Uh-uh Can’t see Michelle with a pixie
http://twitter.com/thejackanory Charles

Stunning.
http://twitter.com/CaitrinofFenris Caitrin

Very proud of our First Lady! I mean, who hates a first lady? Ok, Nancy Reagan scared me when I was a kid cause I thought her eyes could vaporize you, and also because my dad would usually start to gag if she came on the screen. Michelle, though? She’s first rate.
- warontara
  
  You’d be shocked/probably not so shocked to learn exactly how many people really do hate our current FLOTUS. But screw the haters, I LURVE her!
  - http://twitter.com/CaitrinofFenris Caitrin
    
    Oh, I know I just like to have Muppet eyes every so often (you know, like Kenneth Parcell on 30Rock where it turns out he only sees the whole world as an episode of the Muppets?) and pretend the world is basically all right.
SewingSiren

The gown suits her to a T. I would love go to a party and dish with Mrs. Robinson.
- libraangel
  
  WHOOPS! I think of Mrs. Robinson in a different way!
formerlyAnon

“Dolley Madison snaps” need to be a THING. The WERQ equivalent for first ladies. Let’s all get on it.

I LOVE that skirt.

I also think she looks good (hair and all) on the cover, and admire the line they walked when photoshopping the First Lady. You can tell they did, but they didn’t change her so much as just knock ten or 15 years off of her.
- libraangel
  
  I don’t think the photo of the long gown is photoshopped because you can see some lines on her face
formerlyAnon

I didn’t react the same way to the photoshopping. Maybe because she’s so familiar that my brain filled in the Mrs. O. I am used to seeing. I just thought they’d done a good job of knocking ten or so years off of her.
SassyKansas

Is anyone else bothered by the oh-so-fake eyebrows? Which is a comment on Vogue’s makeup people, not the First Lady.
Anathema_Device

What a great start to my day. Thanks T Lo. I love her in both dresses, and I do agree about the hair on the cover. it looks like a wig of a ’70s shag. The quotes are wonderful. I am truly grateful for her.
kategs

She looks spectacular and I love her new do!
Nancy Karpen

She is a great role model. She’s smart, well educated, well spoken, beautiful and down to earth real. She connects with people like no other first lady in recent memory. Annie Liebowitz’s photo’s really do her justice.
CT14

KICK. ASS.
GorgeousThings

My issue with the hair is that it’s awfully helmet-y. I’m not a huge fan of the knit top with ballgown skirt, but she certainly can rawk that look.
StellaZafella

Well this ol’ drag queen loves some FLOTUS realness…but…(and it’s a little but):
The hair down would do better sleeker…when they try to zhuzh it out like that it give it a wig-like quality…which isn’t a quality.
Sleeker when it’s down would still look youthful but also have the sophistication that I see in Ms. Obama.

With the second pic: The bangs will always look better to me when the back is put up like this: It’s stunning and gives her back her neck.

And she even made what is really a Tee Shirt/belted over a gown skirt look stunning…I expect her to hit the High C with this pose!
- sojourneryouth
  
  I LOVE that you make that point about “wig-like” not being a quality, at least, not an attractive one. A lot of women with weaves or even natural hair are seeming to seek that strange, unnatural volume that looks really wiggy. I blame porn stars for this!
  - formerlyAnon
    
    Oh, let’s spread the blame. I say news anchors & the hosts of pseudo-news entertainment/commentary shows.
Monday1900

I’m not too keen on the cover dress but the black one is fab. Like her fine but I have to say I’m a little weary of her lately–I thought turning up on the Oscars was a big misstep.
libraangel

Love the clothes, love the hair, love her, and DEFINITE WERQ
Kristy Evans

Damn. That is ART. The way she is framed in the doorway, looking like a queen. AMAZING.
bertkeeter

Love the black topn n skirt…glam w a very American casual estehtic!
Fordzo

My jaw DROPPED when I saw the second photo. Just once, I want to look that regal and powerful.

I like her hair on the cover! It looks much lighter, the bangs don’t seem to be booming. When she first got the bangs, they seemed so harsh, but here they look soft and pretty.
padma sallah

Be still my heart. She looks magnificent on the inside spread!

That hair on the cover though. Eurgh.
- megohd
  
  A wig, right?
  - padma sallah
    
    I hope so. :/
Nariya

This should be her new official portrait.
MaryanneGirl

My FLOTUS obsession is off the charts.
tallgirl1204

That pose– hips to the side, shoulders turned to the camera– is so flattering for we women of generous lower parts. Also, the belt is placed properly– not too high this time. There is a lot of technique to this photo, but her beautiful posture (difficult for so many very tall women) is all her own, and is a graduate-level lesson in how to own one’s body while working its best features.
Sweeney Agonistes

For real. She looks like one of Shangela’s relatives now.
http://twitter.com/kendallbrunson SassyMcFrench

(speechless)
alyce1213

Fuck Vivienne Westwood.
- tinyredlocks
  
  My thoughts exactly…
TRSmith

I know she has great arms and therefore loves sleeveless dresses, but I think I like the second look the best because her proportions are better in a dress with sleeves.
Bwin51

Beautiful in so many ways.
kimmeister

I don’t mind the hair on the cover, but I dislike the cover dress immensely. It’s got a bit of Frankendress going on.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1266410766 Phyllis Craine

In the Red Room too
Therese Bohn

Our American Queen. (And I mean that in the nicest possible way!) Stunning, and regal. Go FLO!
http://twitter.com/Nancer Nancer

Now that’s how you wear a belt! Beautiful, just awesome!
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2CNDPMVO4W23R5TVC2QMTJ5BZE Heather

She is amazing, but that is some serious Carol Brady hair.
unbornfawn

Don’t like the hair either. LOVE everything else. She looks incredible. I also love that she has a brain and uses it.
http://twitter.com/PhDKnitter marlie

I actually gasped when I saw the first photo of her in that Michael Kors outfit. GORGEOUS. Interesting dress on the front cover, and I love the colors. But you can look at her in the Kors, and see how much and how badly the photoshopped her in the cover photo.
TSkot

Her hair looks great.
RocknLox

I loooooooooooove it!!!!!
Pants_are_a_must

I just love her.
Le_Sigh

THAT’S MAH FIRST LADY!!!!!!!! Love love love her!
LuvLy01

stunning!
EEKstl

Luv. Huh.
marilyn

This is the best she has ever looked. Her hair and makeup look great.
cowper

WOW. I just had a vision of what Downton Abbey of the future looks like.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=10910518 Erica Woods Tucker

That black dress is hot as Shit!!!! Damn!!!
Jessica Goldstein

The red-room outfit (dress or separates? black or green?) might be the single most flattering thing I’ve ever seen her wear. Someone should do a painting based on that portrait.
http://twitter.com/hamsteaky Maria Smith

I love her and she can do no wrong.
http://twitter.com/Glam_Dixie Glam Dixie

I won’t comment on Shelly O as a person, because this isn’t the place for it, but I like both dresses on her, the green dress is gorgeous. Her eyebrows look much improved on the cover as well. Her lipstick in the green dress, however, is heinous.
http://twitter.com/MichelleRafter MichelleRafter

The hair does have a litte bit of 70s shag thing going on, but it still beats every other FLOTUS haircut of the last 50 years, so cut our girl MO some slack. And that black dress is fine.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_F73LIJ3SJGI5AJQMXMWXCKILHI Pamela

I love the hair. So there, daddies!
Nonmercisansfacon

The cover picture is off somehow, maybe it’s the hair. But man, is she gorgeous in that black diva dress!
MzzPants

Dayum. It just struck me: A formal portrait of a black First Lady. How historic is that? And gorgeous to boot.
CeeQ

I like the hair on the cover – I go back and forth depending on how it’s styled and what she’s wearing. Today I am all for it! She looks fucking fierce as all hell. On the cover and in that black dress. Hot damn. She’s giving some primo face =) All the haterz are gonna haaaaaate it. Sweet =)
Nancy Dunn

The cover photo doesn’t even look like her! They photoshopped her out of existence!

The other picture is the FLOTUS I love!
Anniebet

Cover shot doesn’t do her justice… for one thing the hair is too brown.

But, holy cow, time to set up a throne and grab a fur cape, scepter, and crown. She is THE Empress of The World in the second picture. We need to learn an American version of the curtsey.
http://www.thirteen.org/program-content/downton-dish-season-3-episode-1/ Gotham Tomato

She makes me so proud! And I actually love her new hairdoo. The bangs are very flattering.

But it annoys me that they so over-Photoshopped her. I know they do it to everyone on every cover, but I just hate it.–GothamTomato
sockandaphone

hearts in my eyes at FLOTUS
barbarienne

In addition to her face, they did a little bit on her left arm (right side from viewer’s perspective). She’s still got the “guns,” because people would notice if those were pshopped away entirely, but they shaved a bit off the inside there.
pdquick

Now that I have caught my breath from seeing her in that green gown, which is TO DIE, let me say that I have not been so fond of the bangs, until just this moment. They are lovely in these pics.
http://twitter.com/TVcastingcall Reality TV Casting

cover= awful hair and does she look a little cross-eyed???!! youd think vogue would airbrush that
DesertDweller79

What did they do to her face in that cover shot? Eek? It doesn’t really look like her. This makes her hair look even MORE unflattering.
UglyTalents

BTFD! I love our First Lady.
http://twitter.com/aaa_1188 Joanna Wong

Green dress gorgeous…. cover horrid
librarygrrl64

“Love the dress. Hate the hair.”

Hand to Prada, I was going to type those exact words and only those words.
http://twitter.com/mannahattamamma MannahattaMamma

I adore her, admire her, want those biceps, and as a result it feels sooo small, sooo tiny to say that with those bangs she is looking a whole lot like Gayle King, aka Ophrah’s bestie. But bangs or no bangs, that picture in the black dress gives me shivers. WIthout her, Barack is a far lesser man.
e jerry powell

Oh, HELL yeah.
Lindit

Shelly-O needs to get this shit framed and in the oval office. STAT. A seriously breathtaking portrait of our First Lady <3

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Cover Girl: Michelle Obama for Vogue Magazine

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