Former first lady Michelle Obama, 61, is speaking out against what she feels is “pure hypocrisy” when she faced criticism for her fashion choices during Barack Obama’s terms in office. During that time, Michelle Obama was scrutinized for her wardrobe, particularly when she wore sleeveless dresses that showed off her well-toned arms. The stories about her sleeveless tops became so prolific that writers dubbed it “Armgate.”
Michelle Obama claps back at double standard over her sleeveless dresses
When asked about the criticisms she received for her bare arms in an interview with People, Michelle Obama thought it was about “politics.”
“I took it for what it was, pure hypocrisy,” she said. “I could pull up pictures of Jackie O in a second and see this fashion icon in sleeveless dresses as first lady. So at a point you’re like, ‘Oh, this is politics.'”
The former first lady said the criticism was a form of scare tactics. “If you can’t beat them, make everybody scared of them,” she explained. “That was the motto. If it wasn’t the clothes, it was ‘that terrorist fist bump.’ It was every word that we said. It was my husband’s tan suit.”
Michelle Obama shared that the seriousness she took as first lady reflected in her clothing. “I was a famous person, but I wasn’t a starlet. And so that meant that the clothes could never speak louder than anything I had to say.”
While her style choices had a major impact on fashion, as items she wore would frequently sell out after she wore them, Obama says she needed to stay grounded and take the criticism in stride.
“I didn’t want to go down that rabbit hole of listening to other people’s comments about my physical self, whether good or bad. But I liked the fact that, in hindsight, people identified with what I was wearing. Because if I wore something and it could sell out, that meant that most women could afford to buy it.”
Michelle Obama’s new book, The Look, releases on November 4.
According to a source, she will not tolerate Barack Obama running for president again, amid calls to change presidential term limits. A presidential historian claims that the married couple are “living separate lives.”
