Style and influence as First Lady, First Black First Lady,

With the ascent of her husband as a prominent national politician, she has become a part of pop culture. In May 2006, Essence magazine listed her among "25 of the World's Most Inspiring Women." In July 2007, Vanity Fair magazine listed her among "10 of the World's Best Dressed People." She was an honorary guest at Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball as an "young'un" paying tribute to the 'Legends,' which helped pave the way for African American Women. In September 2007, 02138 magazine listed her 58th of "The Harvard 100," a list of the prior year's most influential Harvard alumni. Her husband was ranked fourth. In July 2008, she made a repeat appearance on the Vanity Fair international best dressed list. She also appeared on the 2008 People list of best-dressed women and was praised by the magazine for her "classic and confident" look. As a high-profile darker-complected woman in a stable marriage, it is anticipated that she will be a positive role model who will influence the view the world has of African Americans, seen as "right for the 21st century".



Michelle Obama on the March 2009 cover of VogueShe has been compared to Jacqueline Kennedy due to her sleek but not overdone style, and also to Barbara Bush for her discipline and decorum. Her white, one-shoulder Jason Wu 2009 inaugural gown was said to be "an unlikely combination of Nancy Reagan and Jackie Kennedy." Some consider personal style comparisons meaningless despite their respect for the styles of Obama and some of her peers. While Kennedy's style had been seen as unattainable, Obama's style is described as populist. Her fashion sense generally out-polled those of Cindy McCain and Sarah Palin during the 2008 presidential campaign. She often wears clothes by designers Calvin Klein, Oscar de la Renta, Isabel Toledo, Narciso Rodriguez, Donna Ricco and Maria Pinto, and has become a fashion trendsetter despite the country's economic woes. Despite attempts by designers to outfit her, Obama wears her own clothes at some photo shoots, even when being photographed by renowned photographers like Matthew Rolston.

Many hope that the media will focus more on Obama's serious contributions than her fashion sense. However, U.S.News & World Report blogger, PBS host and Scripps Howard columnist Bonnie Erbe has pointed out that Obama's own publicists seem to be feeding the emphasis on style over substance. Erbe has noted on . The trend of three consecutive educated professional First Ladies has sparked debate about whether the role of First Lady should be a paid position to compensate for the lost earnings surrendered to fulfill the role.

Obama has stated that she would like to focus attention as First Lady on issues of concern to military families and working families.

She appeared on the cover and in a photo spread in the March 2009 issue of Vogue. Every First Lady since Lou Hoover (except Bess Truman) has been in Vogue, but only Hillary Clinton had previously appeared on the cover, in December 1998..According to Vogue editor Andre Leon Talley, Obama chose her own selections from her own wardrobe for the photo shoot; the cover shot features a Jason Wu silk magenta sheath dress. Photographer Annie Leibovitz took the cover shot and some of the photographs inside the issue.