After all the hand-wringing and carping and critiques and obsession with Michelle Obama’s wardrobe choices of  little-known American designers (and Azzedine Alaia) she showed up for two recent high-profile events in fab outfits by Michael Kors.

Early last week, she rocked the Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential people gala with a gorgeous black Kors gown, all sleek and flattering. She topped it with a mix of varied beaded strands around the neck , and her hair was sleek, pulled back and gorgeous. (Initial reports were that the black dress was by Alaia! Woops!)

Then, at the White House Correspondent’s event last night, she showed up in a bright pink Kors sheath dress, sleeveless and simple, but topped with a jumbo diamond-encrusted necklace. (By the way, if you want obsessive blanket-coverage of Mrs. O’s daily wardrobe picks, check out New York Magazine’s online “Mobama” blog posts).

Of note (and you can see this at the always-current Mrs-O.org) was a big, black pleated satin corset belt, above, complete with cinched ties in the back atop the black Kors gown. The corset was by one of her favored new designers, Peter Soronen, so she didn’t leave all the young designers in the closet.

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We’ve been on a Michelle Obama fashion de-tox because we were just exhausted trying to figure out who made her every dress, skirt, shoes, belts, jewelry and on and on.

But we’re breaking the fast to mention that at a Food Bank event yesterday in D.C., Mrs. O. had on a very cool pair of sneakers, at right, that turned out to be by Lanvin and a similar style (which aren’t even as cool as hers) costs $540 at Barneys.

Uhhm, we’re good with Michelle’s mix-and-match philosophy most of the time, but sometimes pairing a cute little J.Crew cardigan (it’s on sale for $100) with wildly overpriced sneakers may not be exactly the fashion statement the First Lady wants to project.

Maybe we’re just jealous. But if we were going to spend $540 on a pair of shoes, we’d go for these blue suede Miu Miu platform sandals for $595 (below left), or these Brian Atwood starlette printed pumps (below right) for $600, or

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The election of Barack Obama may have exhilarated the nation with hope and new energy €” but who knew the fashion implications? Elect a president and get a bonus: the most stylish, sophisticated and fashion-conscious First Lady since Jacqueline Kennedy cat-walked through the White House.

Michelle Obama is beautiful, strong, elegant, a career woman, wife, mother, and now — subject of her own style book, Michelle Style: Celebrating the First Lady of Fashion. The author is Mandi Norwood, an award-winning women’s magazine editor (Company, Cosmopolitan UK, Mademoiselle, and Shop Etc.).

Michelle Style celebrates the distinctive style of the First Lady, featuring color photographs, exclusive illustrations and descriptions of her most iconic looks. Get a new look at the sleeveless Maria Pinto purple silk crepe sheath that she dazzled the crowd with on the night Barack clinched the Democratic nomination. Or admire, again, the ivory fairy-tale gown by Jason Wu worn for the inaugural balls.

The book also has quotes from world-famous designers, stylists, and fashion insiders €” and inspired advice on everything from dressing to suit your body type to shopping at Target.

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We are loving little cardigans right now. Partly because First Lady Michelle Obama is such a fan; seeing her wear them so often makes us remember how cute they are. (She’s wearing her favorite cropped Azzedine Alaia black cardigan here during her visit to Europe. Photo from New York Magazine.)And partly because this time of year is notorious for buildings not getting the a/c quite right. You go to work and it’s cold at your desk, but by the afternoon you’re hot and bothered (and not in the good way).

So we’ve dropped by a bunch of our favorite stores to check on their cardigan supplies. Our only sweater rule, besides the fact that they must be irresistible, is that they be appropriate for work. We chose (more…)

We’ve been trying to ascertain the labels the First Lady wore yesterday during the White House egg roll, to no avail. No luck today, either, with the slightly zany look (cropped aquamarine jacket over a striped purple T-shirt and a familiar brooch at the collar) she donned for a speech.

We wanted to know about Sasha and Malia’s cute outfits too, but no luck.

We have, however, found a few interesting tidbits here and there:

Oscar de la Renta, long revered as a top designer for first (more…)

It is a major news day in Washington, D.C. We can hardly get our minds around it all.

Of course, the city is all atweet about the new First Dog, Bo, a Portuguese water dog that’s about six months old. We can hardly wait to hear all the details — the dog walking, the dog feeding  and, especially, the White Housetraining (we nearly had an “accident” ourselves, when we saw the puppy, because he is so cute). Apparently the official unveiling is to come tomorrow, if you believe the leaks.

No pun intended.

OK, maybe it was.

But we’re to be forgiven, because as if the puppy wasn’t enough, yesterday was Easter Sunday, which meant the President and First Lady attended church. The President wore a pinstripe suit and a silver tie, but enough about him.

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Did you hear the opening salvos?

Last week a WWD.com story (subscription only, sorry, you’ll only get a peek) with no small amount of slant held forth on the fact that Michelle Obama is championing the cause of little-known American designers and ignoring the big players: Oscar de la Renta, Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, to name a bunch.

With the fashion industry in an economic crisis of its own, it’s not a surprise that the bastions of American style are wondering why the First Lady won’t deign to don some of their beautiful clothes. We can feel — and appreciate — their frustration. Still, most of the designers quoted — Wang, Hilfiger, Karan, Herrera – tempered their comments with support for a fashionable First Lady breaking boundaries.

Another story, in the New York Times, took issue with the fact that Mrs. Obama is relying apparently exclusively on the design choices of retailer Ikram Goldman, the owner of Michelle O’s favorite Chicago boutique for years (a picture from the store below).

Arnold Scassi (hmm, we remember that name from somewhere) chided her, (more…)