Michelle Obama achieved fashion icon status as first lady, and has continued to make bold style choices in her post-White House life as a best-selling author, speaker, and public figure.
Together with her longtime stylist, Meredith Koop, Obama often chooses symbolic outfits where the color, designer, or other details appear intended to make a statement.
Here are some of her best looks.
In 2008, Michelle Obama wore a memorable fiery-red Narciso Rodriguez dress on election night.
She paired the dress with a simple black cardigan.
At the inaugural ball in 2009, Obama stunned in a floor-length white gown by Jason Wu, then an up-and-coming designer.
The dress featured organza flowers.
That same year, Obama solidified herself as a fashion icon when she wore a champagne-colored gown by Naeem Khan to a state dinner.
Obama wore the Indian-American designer to a state dinner honoring the prime minister of India.
To a state dinner in 2011, she wore a bright-red gown that stirred controversy.
At a state dinner with China, Obama wore a gown by British designer Alexander McQueen, despite expectations that she might wear a gown by an American designer with connections to China.
Obama responded by telling reporters, "I don't buy a designer, I buy a dress. I buy the thing that looks good."
She wore a white Tom Ford gown to a banquet with the British royal family.
She accessorized with white gloves and a silver sequined clutch during a 2011 state visit to the United Kingdom.
In 2012, Obama wore a simple blue gown by Marchesa but dressed it up with a statement necklace by Tom Binns.
Obama wore the look to a White House state dinner held in honor of then-British Prime Minister David Cameron.
"First lady Mrs. Obama always looks so chic and modern," Roksanda Ilincic, who dressed Obama for the event, told NBC News at the time. "I love the addition of texture with the Tom Binns necklace."
For her second Inauguration Day parade in 2013, Obama wore a knee-length Thom Browne coat with an embellished belt.
The coat was made from men's neckties.
"I wanted her to feel good in it and to feel comfortable, strong, feminine, and beautiful," Browne told The New York Times.
Obama wore a silver Naeem Khan dress to announce the winner of the Academy Award for best picture in 2013.
She paired it with sparkly dangling earrings.
In 2014, she wore a billowing Carolina Herrera gown to a state dinner with French president François Hollande.
The dress featured a black lace bodice and liberty-blue skirt.
At the 100th annual White House Correspondents' Dinner in 2014, Obama wore a white dress by Marchesa.
The gown had a dropped shoulder and a draped sleeve with embroidered details.
At a state dinner with China's prime minister in 2015, Obama wore Vera Wang.
The mermaid-style dress featured an off-the-shoulder V-neckline, tulle sleeves, and an organza pleated skirt.
Obama chose a simple yellow dress by Narciso Rodriguez for 2016's State of the Union address.
The dress sold out online before the address was even finished, The Washington Post reported.
Obama wowed the fashion world again with her Naeem Khan gown at a state dinner in 2016.
Obama wore the blush off-the-shoulder dress to a state dinner honoring the leaders of Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, and Norway.
At her final state dinner in 2016, Obama wore a glistening Versace dress made of rose-gold chain mail.
"I was thinking, 'This is the last one, we can really go out with a bang," Obama's longtime stylist, Meredith Koop, told Vogue of selecting the dress.
At Donald Trump's inauguration in 2017, Obama wore a red coat dress by Jason Wu.
For her final outfit as FLOTUS, Obama wore the same designer who created her first inaugural gown.
In 2017, Obama kicked the little black dress up a notch with a Cushnie et Ochs look in her first public appearance since leaving the White House.
The black dress with a cutout neckline made a statement at the ESPYS in Los Angeles.
In 2018, Obama embarked on a six-month book tour where she wore some of her best looks, like this white outfit.
During her book tour for "Becoming," her off-the-shoulder top brought some sparkle, while the pants were simple and high-waisted.
Obama sported a black pantsuit by Christopher Kane with an eye-catching accessory on her book tour.
The double-breasted tuxedo suit jacket was embellished with strands of crystals.
She wore one of her boldest looks to a book-tour event with Sarah Jessica Parker: $3,900, sparkly, thigh-high Balenciaga boots.
The gold sequin-covered boots were from Balenciaga's Spring 2019 collection. She paired the look with a long yellow silk shirt dress from the same brand.
On the book-tour stop, Obama told Parker that there was no larger meaning to her footwear choice — she just liked the boots.
"They were just really cute," she said. "I was like, 'Those some nice boots!'"
Obama made a statement on her book tour with a purple Sergio Hudson pantsuit over a custom sequined bustier top from Christy Rilling Studio.
Obama wore the outfit on the final stop of her book tour.
In 2019, Obama wore a daring Schiaparelli haute couture gown to the Smithsonian's American Portrait Gala.
"The inspiration for the shape originally came from the crinoline, which is often found underneath couture gowns, but the real starting point for the overall look was the color," Schiaparelli's creative director, Daniel Roseberry, said in a statement in 2019. "The acidic tone echoes Elsa Schiaparelli's signature shocking pink, and we also felt that it matched the strength and energy of Mrs. Obama. It was such an honor to make this special gown for her."
At President Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021, Michelle Obama wore a symbolic, monochromatic look by Sergio Hudson.
The magenta ensemble included loose pants, a turtleneck, and an ankle-length jacket. Her outfit complemented Vice President Kamala Harris' look, which was also purple, a symbol of bipartisanship.
Obama wore a green silk wrap top and matching pants by Lafayette 148 New York at the groundbreaking of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago in 2021.
She accessorized with a Bychari necklace, the same Black-owned jewelry brand that designed the "Vote" necklace she wore to the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
In 2022, she promoted her new book, "The Light We Carry," while wearing an edgy leather look.
Obama wore a leather jacket and matching pants designed by Palmer Harding, with a white Reiss tank top. Grace Lee jewelry and studded boots from Stuart Weitzman completed the look.
In the book, Obama wrote that Donald Trump's victory 'still hurts' 6 years later and recalled how the teleprompter broke before her first major televised address in 2008, but she had the entire 16-minute speech memorized.
At another book tour stop in Inglewood, California, Obama chose white satin cargo pants and a matching blazer from Balmain.
Obama told People magazine in 2025 that she "rarely" wore white as first lady.
"I didn't want my clothes to stop me from engaging people," she said. "So my clothes had to be welcoming. They had to invite people in. I had to be able to give a hug. I couldn't worry about whether somebody got makeup on something."
She appeared on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in 2023 in a gold look by Michael Kors.
Obama's shimmering Lurex turtleneck sweater and wide-leg pants were both from Michael Kors Collection.
Obama spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in a deconstructed two-piece suit by MONSE.
"Michele Obama embodies the MONSE woman in every way, exuding the strength and confidence that are at the core of our brand," the designer wrote on Instagram. "We are honored to dress such an inspiring leader."
The former first lady campaigned with Kamala Harris in a leopard-print suit by Theory.
Harris and Obama appeared together at a campaign event in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Obama promoted her latest book, "The Look," in a Hervé Léger bandage dress that her stylist called "a throwback within a throwback."
Koop wrote on Instagram that the dress was "Kailua blue," the same color of the Obamas' White House china and the color that Obama wore at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
At an event ahead of the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in 2026, Obama wore a custom skirt featuring her late mother's portrait.
Obama told the crowd that she surprised her husband with the look.
"He didn't know it existed until just a few minutes ago," she said. "I've had a few weeks to settle down in the beauty of this skirt, but it's messing him up."
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Talia Lakritz is a Life correspondent at Business Insider. Talia covers politics and power through a lifestyle and visual storytelling lens. She has reported from the White House as well as military installations, mansions, and museums across the country, bringing readers inside the people, places, and systems that influence American life through immersive features.Previously, she wrote for The New York Jewish Week and SciShow Space.Talia holds a BA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Barnard College of Columbia University and ordination as an interfaith minister from One Spirit Learning Alliance. She hopes to one day visit all 50 states and all 14 public presidential libraries.Talia can be found on LinkedIn, Instagram, and X.Politics and power:
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Frank is currently an editor at Business Insider, focusing on college, parenting, and general health topics. He was also a senior reporter at BI, covering alternative living, travel, entertainment, and the LGBTQ community. Previously, he has written for ABC News, The Boston Globe, RyanSeacrest.com, and Daily Burn. He studied journalism at Emerson College and lives in Philadelphia.Email him at [email protected]Popular Articles:Tiny-house owners are facing evictions or living under the radar because their homes are considered illegal in most parts of the USTiny houses are getting more expensive, and owners are struggling to afford them. But one expert says the price hikes are great for the movement.A family of 4 lives in a private tiny-house village where the kids have their own homes. Take a look inside.I tried living in a luxury camper van for a weekend during the winter, and I'll never do it againAs Hollywood continues to cast straight actors in LGBTQ roles, the LGBTQ community is paying the price
