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  • Feedback: Fashion First Ladies

    Kurt Soller | Dec 2, 2008 03:45 PM

    Katie's Connolly's Periscope item on whether Michelle Obama is anything like Jackie O. has some great feedback in the comments section, but nary a reader was willing to disagree with the story: "Two such distinctly different personages as Jacqueline Kennedy and Michelle Obama need never be compared," wrote one reader. "Jackie Kennedy and Michelle Obama cannot be put into a slot. They are individuals of their own brilliance and we should be happy that they were."

    Though many agreed with the story's premise -- that these two women have little in common -- many questioned NEWSWEEK's focus on First Lady fashion. As Katie wrote in her piece, "Obama has pledged to focus on complex social issues, such as support for military families, once she gets to the White House. Still, most of her recent headlines have been about her clothes." That's true, but readers wondered whether our reporter was just fanning the flames by comparing Obama's J.Crew with Kennedy's haute couture? "Who cares about dress and style, when there is important work to be done in the country like the economy and terrorism.. get real.. Newsweek.. get something better to write about!," offered up one reader, while another added that "profiling Lady Michelle against Lady Jackie Kennedy is meaningless and superficial." In furthering her argument, that commenter continued: "A dress is still a dress, a wardrobe is only cloth and tinsel. It's what upstairs that counts."

    Luckily for Obama, most of our readers were in support of more than her fashion choices. As one reader put it, "This is a woman of substance. Substance that goes beyond pure fashion. It is about potential and motivation.She will develop her own style which will be a plus, not the center of her agenda." We hope so, too.
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