Barack Obama: Commander-in-fashion
Some of Barack Obama’s most memorable looks in office. Upper left: the infamous tan suit. Upper right: Grabbing a snowcone in Hawaii. Lower left: Throwing out the first pitch in dad jeans. Lower right: Fourth of July Celebration. Photos by: GQ Magazine.
By Liz Reichart// A&E Editor
Much has been said about flawless First Lady Michelle Obama’s fashion sense over her eight-year tenure in the White House. An elegant mix of classic and contemporary, Michelle spotlighted young up-and-coming American fashion designers in her casual and formalwear. However, America seems content to not even take a second glance at what the Commander-In-Chief Barack Obama wears to his state dinners or grabbing Five Guys burgers for his staff in Washington D.C. Unlike other candidates during the 2007 presidential campaign, Obama, a US senator at the time, didn’t have a wardrobe consultant or stylist, according to Obama’s right-hand-man, Reggie Love. His staff has often discussed the challenge of weaning Barack Obama off the habit of wearing his beeper on his belt. Obama has come a long way since his first presidential campaign; GQ Magazine had called the 44th President the “most stylish president since JFK.” To right this wrong and double over this double standard, here’s a look back at some of Barack Obama’s most memorable fashion moments.
Suit Up: Obama, being a Chicago man himself, wears suits that are made and tailored by Hartmarx, a 121-year-old Chicago company that is one of the nation’s largest American suit manufacturers. The “Obama suit” style is a two-button, single-breasted suit jacket and a single pleated pant with inch-and-a-quarter cuffs, and is made of a 97 percent worsted wool and three percent cashmere blend.
That Tan Suit: The man lives in suits, but his suit ensembles don’t come without variation. Few forget the strong opinions both vehemently for and against Barack Obama’s tan suit that he sported on August 28, 2014. If only we could remember the important questions he was fielding in the White House Press Briefing Room about ISIS, Russia and Iraq.
Dad Jeans: Obama loves a pair of loose-fitting, high-waisted jeans every now and then when out in casual settings. In May of 2014, Obama regretfully informed the press that Michelle Obama had retired all of the President’s “dad jeans” after seeing a picture of the President throwing out the first pitch of the 2009 MLB All-Star game in ill-fitting denim. However, the President had repeatedly said that upon leaving the White House in January 2017, he will be looking forward to wearing his dad jeans again.
Vacation wear: While taking a vacation with his family every now and then, Barack Obama has shown off an assortment of polo shirts and short-sleeved oxfords, like the salmon oxford the President wore to a Fourth of July celebration in 2013. He has been seen vacationing in Hawaii, snow cone in hand, wearing a grey and black striped polo shirt and sunglasses that wouldn’t look good on anyone but the Commander-in-Chief.
The Commander-in-Chief dresses like our dads, that is, if our dads had the nuclear codes.