First lady Michelle Obama re-wears Michael Kors dress for election night

The first lady kept it simple in a burgundy dress by American designer Michael Kors paired with a bolero sweater.

Nov 7, 2012

Before President Obama gave his election acceptance speech, he was escorted onto the stage with the three most important women in his life, his daughters and his wife Michelle. The girls looked fresh and young in blossoming full skirts and cute separates. The first lady kept it similarly simple in a muted dress by American designer Michael Kors paired with a bolero sweater.

“Kors is pleased to announce that the First Lady, Michelle Obama, wore a Michael Kors magenta silk chine pintucked dress,” according to a release obtained by ABCNews.com. Fashion watchers noted that her selection was quite demure compared to the show-stopping Narciso Rodriguez dress Michelle chose in 2008.

The first lady has often been chided for supposed fashion forward excesses. Did her choice send a statement to her critics? Perhaps so.

“The new Michelle is all about restraint,” The Daily Beast noted about this possible evolution. “[The dress] was an understated, economical choice at the culmination of a campaign that, for the first lady, has been about just that.”

While the look was a hit with style aficionados, for Michelle Obama, composing it was an afterthought.

“She said that she was so busy with the campaign and their kids that she had no time to think about an outfit and decided at the last minute,” an Obama aid reported to People.com.

Continuing with a flattering theme for her, Michelle’s ensemble recreated that feminine silhouette she has worn with aplomb throughout the campaign. In another consistent touch, the first lady accented her outfit with a brooch, this one by House of Lavande.

Another thing repeated was the dress itself, which Mrs. Obama has worn before twice before, once in 2009 and then again in 2010, for formal White House events.

Michael Kors is one of the first lady’s most frequently worn designers. She wore his frock for her official White House portrait, and more recently selected a dramatic off-the-shoulder gown from his collection for her appearance at a Congressional Black Caucus gala.

Follow Alexis Garrett Stodghill on Twitter at @lexisb.