The Look

Michelle Obama s new book is a historical document dressed up as a coffee-table tome. . . . It lays bare, in an unprecedented (and easy-to-read) way, how a wardrobe was transformed into a vehicle of soft political power. . . . The Look should be studied by generations to come because of what it reveals not about fashion, but about politics. Vanessa Friedman, The New York Times

[Obama] writes well, and honestly, about the havoc it can wreak on one s sense of self to have to dress every morning for what would be, for the majority of people, the most visible day of their lives. . . . The Look, an unprecedented project among first ladies, may be the only first-person book to give such devoted treatment to the place of image-making in presidential politics. Some of the The Look s best commentary on that topic comes from the members of Obama s style and beauty team, who contribute writing about the nuts and bolts of zhuzhing up one of the most famous women in the world. Slate

A delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures and power of glamour. Kirkus Reviews

A fashionista s fantasy come true . . . But The Look is more than just fashion mood-board fodder. . . . In The Look, [Obama] is holding a mirror up to the culture that has ogled her and women like her for years. Oprah Daily

The evolution of Obama s personal aesthetic, from the time Barack was elected for his first term in office to now, is finally given its due in The Look. Reading it grants an unedited look . . . at her sartorial choices outside of the external commentary backed echo chamber that cropped up while she served in one of the most important and public-facing positions of our time. Women s Wear Daily