Anyone remember when the media slammed Ann Romney for wearing a $990 shirt on television?
Exhibit A: this 2012 article from the Washington Post, which all but blatantly accuses former presidential candidate Mitt Romney's wife of being a rich prude who’s completely out of touch with the millions of average Americans who buy their shirts at J.C. Penney.
From the completely unbiased article:
The Obama campaign may be playing nice, but that doesn’t mean the American people will. Will the $990 T-shirt remind people of past presidential faux pas, such as John McCain’s confusion in 2008 about how many houses he owned?
Fast forward four years to last night’s State of the Union address, where First Lady Michelle Obama showed up wearing an off-the-shoulder form-fitting dress the color of Tang. That dress, designed by American fashion guru Narisco Rodriguez, is featured on the Neiman Marcus website (although it suddenly went out of stock after last night’s event) and sports a hefty price tag of $2,000.
To put it in perspective, the value of the First Lady’s designer duds equals the equivalent of 333 Meals on Wheels, could bring clean water to 571 people in Africa (according to the average per-person cost from Water Wells For Africa) and could have supplied 16 Americans with food stamps for a month (based on the average monthly SNAP benefits).
Completely forgetting how they crucified Ann Romney, the media fell over themselves in praise for the First Lady’s apparently impeccable taste.
From ABC News:
President Obama may have had the spotlight for his last State of the Union, but all eyes were on Michelle Obama's dazzling dress. The mid-length marigold frock that the first lady donned to her husband's final State of the Union address lit up the internet with a flutter of interest on Twitter.
From the Huffington Post:
The world watched as President Obama delivered his final State of the Union address Tuesday night. But most importantly (if you ask us), the night marked Michelle Obama's last appearance as acting first lady at the event.
Well, FLOTUS did not disappoint for her grand finale. Dressed to the nines in an orange/yellow (on sale!) Narciso Rodriguez dress and a purple coat with her bangs side-swept, she looked as bold and as beautiful as ever.
And TIME:
Twitter users immediately took notice when she entered the room wearing the marigold dress, remarking that the First Lady once again had a hit.
It’s not the first time the media has held the First Lady up as a paragon of fashion despite the price tag attached to her designer pieces. Back in July of 2012, the Washington Post gushed over the “princely” jacket Obama wore to a reception for the heads of state – despite its $6,800 value.
That's enough to build a well in Africa for 2,000 people. Just saying.