So, with regards to yesterday’s post, I just want to clarify that I didn’t make up or misremember the thing about the elbows being covered. It was reported as being part of guidance issued for THIS visit, mere days before the Pope arrived. To quote the Yahoo News article (backed up by the Associated Press) about it:
The office has also let government workers know that “dress should be modest and respectful — both men and women in dark colors, clothes that cover knees and elbows, hems below the knee,” the officials said. “It’s not mandatory, but it’s the guidance.”
Perhaps Michelle Obama is not considered a government worker, which is fair enough? And it’s NOT mandatory, but then, why bother issuing the memo? I’m not trying to be a stickler — I had just read the stuff about the rules, and then saw the blue dress, and it made me genuinely curious what the internal discussion was about what to do and where, and why. Because for the official White House greeting, MO appears to have picked something in a dark color that covers her knees and elbows:
I don’t even know. Maybe the the Air Force base where he landed is considered semi-formal. ANYWAY. What do we think? For me, it’s the type of dress that might not render in photographs because the details require a better up-close look. Or maybe that’s my laptop, which doesn’t ever show me the highest definition of these images, which drives me nuts. Here is a forced close-up:
You can also enlarge the images and stare. Either way, it reveals that this is rather lovely and ornate, and quite fancy. It’s for sure appropriate for the meeting at hand — stately, classy, but not without glamour — and PRAISE BE, there is no bunching. She beat the bunch. I’m calling it a win.
[Also: Insert the same caveat here about the comments remaining politics-free. Thank you!]
[Photo: Getty]
