Michelle Obama’s inauguration outfits will be designed by Isabel Toledo and Jason Wu!

This breaking news just arrived in my inbox one second ago about what Michelle Obama will wear today.

It seems the First Lady will go Latin with her design because she’s chosen to wear an outfit by Isabel Toledo at the swearing-in of her husband Barack Obama as the nation’s 44th president on Capitol Hill this morning.

Toledo is a Cuban-born designer who has worked under her own name for more than 20 years and briefly served as creative director for Anne Klein.

No word yet as to what the outfit will look like, but it surely will be stunning because this is a HUGE day for Michelle Obama and the entire Obama clan!!!

Michelle Obama has worn Isabel Toledo’s designs in the past during the presidential campaign.

Michelle Obama has something for Latin designers (especially those of Cuban heritage), as she seems to like Narciso Rodriguez a lot … so much so that she wore two outfits by Narciso’s to the pre-inaugural events on Sunday.

No one inside Michelle Obama’s office will reveal more details on the dress/outfit, but given this is a historic day and this dress will be photographed for every single magazine and newspaper cover around the world, there is no doubt it will be stunning.

Isabel Toledo MUST be quite excited because this kind of exposure can change her career and take her to the international forefront.

As I get more news today on what Michelle Obama will be wearing, I’ll pass it on to my readers.

In the meantime, you can take a look at the dresses that were submitted to Michelle Obama for the weekend festivities: What will First-Lady Michelle Obama wear at the inauguration of President Obama’s ceremony?

My verdict on Michelle Obama’s fashion choices for the inauguration:

I wrote the first part of this post before seeing the Isabel Toledo outfit. After seeing it from every different angle possible, I have to say that I’m a bit disappointed.

My opinion might not be unanimous, but I personally didn’t like either of Michelle Obama’s choices. The Isabel Toledo outfit in chartreuse (yellow-green) is a hard colour to wear by most people and the whole outfit looked quite matronly. I’d say it made her look 15 years older.

The white gown designed by New York designer Jason Wu was very similar to what Nancy Regan wore on the night of President Ronald Regan’s inauguration in 1981. The style is not fresh or original and since Michelle Obama has dark skin she could have really chosen a bolder or brighter colour than off-white. Also, I could understand the one strap on Michelle Obama’s dress … it almost looked like an after thought.

Here’s Nancy Reagan’s 1981 evening inaugural gown (photo from the Smithsonian Institution)

What about Jill Biden?

No one is talking about Dr. Jill Biden’s selections! I find Jill Biden’s red coat and high black boots during the day and her red gown designed by Reem Acra during the evening were quite flattering.

In the end, I still believe that the selections I had picked for Michelle Obama in my original post were better, but January 20, 2009  was about history more than fashion so I will leave at that!

My original selections for Michelle Obama:

I still recommend the Diana Von Furstenberg dress yellow and white suit for the inauguration and the party dress would still be a toss between Monique L’Huillier’s divine dress gown and Michael Kors’ vision in vivid blue!

All photos of the inauguration from Flickr.