November 07, 2008	Friday	Ziqa'ad 8, 1429

WASHINGTON, Nov 6: Barack Obama’s victory speech may have electrified the nation, but the dress worn by his wife, Michelle, has attracted almost as much feedback in Internet chatrooms and among fashion aficionados.

Michelle Obama appeared onstage at a huge Chicago rally late on Tuesday wearing a black cardigan over a scoop-neck black sheath with splashes of red in the upper and lower half separated by a band of black at the hips.

The outfit was a slightly modified version of a dress presented by designer Narciso Rodriguez in September for the 2009 Spring season.

“I voted for Obama, but I didn’t vote for that dress,” homemaker and mother of three Jessica Bettencourt from Wisconsin told The New York Times.

“I don’t know what was worse,” Chicago lawyer Karla Wright told the paper, “that stupid criss-cross band around the middle or that black sort of border coming up from the hem.” Not all comments were negative.

“That dress was unpretentious,” Julie Gilhart, fashion director of New York’s top-price Barneys clothing store, told the Times. “It said, Be who you are — don’t let someone else tell you how to be.’”

The Italian daily La Stampa dubbed the dress “the look of victory” and said the black symbolised mourning for Obama’s grandmother, who died on the eve of the election, while the red was for passion.

A contributor to the website of the German newsweekly Focus also suggested there was hidden meaning in the colours, perhaps red for the political left and black for the first African-American to win the US presidency.

“It is more about the symbolic effect of the colour combination red/black. Because the daughters were also in red or black. Very unusual and surely no accident,” the reader said.

Others were dismissive, describing the subject as superficial besides the historic importance of Barack Obama’s election win.

“The USA must be doing pretty well if it is worrying about the First Lady’s dress!” one typical Focus posting said.—AFP