Michelle Obama, whom French fashionistas regard as the best-dressed American first lady since Jackie Kennedy, lived up to her sartorial reputation during her trip to Paris, sporting a wardrobe of fashion-forward classics by top American designers. But the woman who put unstuffy retailers like J. Crew on the fashion map also showed a weakness for high-end fashion “a la francaise,” taking her two daughters on a private shopping trip to the exclusive children's couture house Bonpoint. Mrs. Obama's visit to the City of Light pitted her in a glamour contest against France's first lady, the former supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. The two faced off before the cameras only once during Mrs.Obama's latest visit, from Friday through Monday. For D-Day commemorations in Normandy, the first ladies chose strikingly similar looks, both in creamy white, knee-length dresses with contrasting belts and kitten heels. Bruni-Sarkozy's outfit, which also included a swingy black cashmere coat, was signed Christian Dior. Also true to form, Mrs. Obama's dress was by Narciso Rodriguez. Britain's Daily Telegraph said photos of the two on the red carpet at Saturday's commemorations were “surreally interchangeable with shots from a catwalk show. They could almost have been modeling some designers' collection named ‘First Lady Spring 2009'.”
