What does Michelle Obama's style say about the woman and the White House?

To Robin Givhan, the Pulitzer Prize winning fashion editor and critic for the Washington Post, Michelle Obama's much discussed style of dress is a reflection of many things aspects of her personality, her beliefs and the way in which she wishes to appear to the outside world.

Givhan regularly dissects the appearances of politicians and public officials, but also touches on gender issues, power politics, and culture. She routinely writes about these aspects of the Obama administration, and Michelle Obama's appearance in particular.

Givhan sees Michelle Obama's outfits as a symbol of her struggle between two worlds - the private and public - and the First Lady's belief in the importance of conveying an air of approachability, through her role as a mother who keeps in shape and works in her garden.

She stresses the importance of the First Lady's visual representation of her agenda. Through her aesthetic choices, the world interprets the character of the administration as a whole. Givhan notes that Obama has been compared to Jackie Kennedy on several occasions, whose wardrobe items became classic symbols of fashion. Kennedy had "a real casualness and a real femininity to her style," Givhan says, which has evaded the First Ladies who came after.

Even though Michelle Obama wears many of the same items as Jackie Kennedy, Givhan notes the vast difference between the reactions to th two women. She believes that part of the difference relates to "femininity and race, and how it's defined and fits in to the classic world. There is the element of her [Obama] being a very modern woman."

In possession of a famously sharp writing style, Givhan covered the White House fashion in the days of former first ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush, and remembers them as having "grudging relationships towards fashion. Neither of them tends to embrace fashion for truly what it was - they didn't seem to embrace the artistry, the creativity and the pleasure of it."

"Both Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton found themselves uniforms that covered so much that their femininity was lost in them," she says.

She has also given much thought to the issue many have with women in power looking "sexy." Michelle Obama's toned arms portray power and athleticism, and people admire athletic women as they seem strong, Givhan explains. But she says that such women aren't defined as feminine because people have a very narrow view of what is feminine.

She cites the example of a visit by Condoleezza Rice to Germany during her tenure as secretary of state, when people were shocked and confused by her high boots and a long coat. The outfit wasn't revealing or vulgar, but as she had a power job, the look was considered too sexy. Givhan believes that when the words "power" and "sexy" are put together, people think of sexual power and not about political power, and are suspicious of something that deviates from their expectations.

Givhan sees the United States as differing from other countries when it comes to accepting personal style. Europe, for example, is more accepting because there is an interest in fashion there. In the U.S., she asserts, people don't even connect fashion to the other arts, believing the field to be superficial.

Moreover, she says, people who live outside big cities consider the fashion industry elitist. American politicians on television tend to wear happy "all-American" colors, and a woman in a fitted black outfit is associated with East coast style, and therefore a cause for suspicion. "As a politician, being identified as an elitist is the kiss of death, so no one wants to be associated with fashion or with arugula," she jokes.

Givhan, 44, was born in Detroit, and is an only child. Her father was a manager for the post office, and her mother was a youth director for the WMCA. Givhan is tall and skinny, wearing a wide smile and a shiny blue dress. She is very precise with her word choice, and her explanations are sharp and clear.

Prior to her career at the Washington Post, Givhan wrote for the Detroit Free Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Vogue. In 2006, she won a Pulitzer for criticism, becoming the first fashion critic to win the coveted award. The selection committee praised her wit and ability to make fashion criticism into cultural criticism.

With an undergraduate degree from Princeton and a Master's in journalism from the University of Michigan, Givhan stumbled into the world of fashion when she began working at the Detroit paper, where she was offered nightlife and men's fashion. She moved on to fashion in general, and was appointed editor. She says fashion is a "fascinating field because it's a global industry that incorporates many themes as well as creativity."

Givhan claims that pragmatism is the dominant fashion principle in Washington, unlike the creative New York. Politicians hide behind that pragmatism, and only occasionally "different" clothes surface that may send a new message. She recalls an incident with former vice president Dick Cheney at a ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

The ceremony was very formal and symbolic, and Cheney wore "an olive drab parka with a fur-trimmed hood, the kind of attire one typically wears to operate a snow blower." This was an outfit that was completely unbecoming of his position, she says.

The leaders of the world were gathered there to pay their respects, she continues, and Cheney "looked like he didn't know where he was going". He stood out in an outfit which conveyed a level of disrespect, even if it was unintentional.

"His being there wasn?t about him. It was a public event and he was representing the United States. He was representing me and that is not the message I wanted to convey if I was sitting there."

Her critique of Hillary Clinton created much furor following the then senator's outfit for a speech from the Senate floor in July 2007. Givhan describes the Senate as a very conservative environment, in which women only won the right to wear trousers in the 1990s. For a speech on education, Clinton wore a blazer and a shirt with a V neckline, which spurred massive shock in Washington circles.

"I found the incident fascinating for many reasons. She [Clinton] was talking on the Senate floor about education. She was wearing a rose-colored blazer over a black top. The neckline sat low on her chest and had a subtle V-shape. The cleavage registered after only a quick glance."

Givhan says people lack confidence and feel embarrassed when it comes to fashion. One of the things she has discovered during her career is that people take the subject very personally. Even when they say that they don't care about fashion, "they seem to have very instance opinion about it. The depth of their pride, the amount of energy... Everyone makes a personal choice and engage with fashion whether they want it or not. Even if one decides to dress simply, it is also a calculated choice."

	Michelle Obama wearing Narciso Rodriguez on election night 2008. Robin Givhan: The First Lady is the aesthetic face of the administration.
	Photo by: (AP)