Michelle Obama has been promoting her autobiographical memoir, Becoming, in a literal stadium tour across the country. And for her most recent stop—at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York—she was interviewed on stage by Sarah Jessica Parker. But the real treat came in the form of her outfit for the evening, a full Balenciaga look so out of this world not even Princess Leia could have dreamed it.
Stars, suns, planets—stand down: The new center of our universe has taken her rightful place in the intergalactic realm. And she has on a pair of thigh-high gold boots so incandescent, scientists recommend the use of special sunglasses to gaze at them, lest we burn our retinas.
What I mean is: Michelle Obama wore a head-to-toe look from Balenciaga last night—a silky, long-sleeved yellow shirtdress with boots so gilded that I will soon file a petition to have the Oscar committee recast its statuette in their image.
There’s “getting dressed,” and then there’s slipping into this—so liquid and luscious that it seems to have molded around Obama. It’s an outfit that channels all the Marvel superheroes combined, but makes it fashion.
The dress was featured on Balenciaga’s Spring 2019 runway during Paris Fashion Week, which means it’s not even available for purchase yet.
Her pointed-toe, fully sequined, stiletto-heeled, over-the-knee boots, though, are—and they retail for a cool $3,900.
Balenciaga Knife Sequinned Over-the-knee Boots, $3,900, available at MyTheresa.
In all seriousness, Obama acknowledged in conversation with Parker that she knew no matter what she wanted the focus of her time in the White House to be, attention would be paid to her clothes. Given that, she and her team, including stylist Meredith Koop, decided to use their platform to celebrate newer and less-established designers who otherwise wouldn’t get the same level of exposure.
“You can change their lives, which is one of the reasons why we chose Jason Wu for my inaugural gown,” Obama said, adding that she made an extra effort to recognize work from a diverse range of brands and labels. “There are a whole lot of people out here who are trying to make it—young women and immigrants and black folk.” What good luck that Michelle Obama was there to literally and figuratively light the way.
While she was in the White House, Obama, like other First Ladies before and after her, occasionally faced criticism from the public for the price tag of a few designer garments she wore, which some thought were too expensive for a civil servant. Now that she’s a private citizen, though, she can wear all the runway Balenciaga she wants—and people are loving it.
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