Michelle Obama's Designer Featured in WSJ

Wall Street Journal piece on the 51 year old Chicago designer, Maria Pinto, favored by Michelle Obama and how the attention has changed her business and her life. Best quote: her clothes appeal to women who value original styles and a custom fit over label status. "My clients aren't into all the Gucci hoo-ha," she says.

And she sells at my favorite New York department store - Takashimaya.

The clothes featured are beautiful so I checked out the Maria Pinto's web site. Awesome! The opener is an gorgeous coral suit with a 50 flip at the waist. The accessories are mostly well structured wraps (that bodes well, I have a few unstructured ones, not as breathtaking). My favorite is this one. There's not a bad one in the bunch.

What a wonderful bonus it'll be to have a beautiful woman in the White House who is a fashion icon!

Maureen Orth, Tim Russert's widow, wrote a piece last December 2007 about Washington society - When Washington Was Fun - The grand hostesses are history, the president would rather be in bed, and there’s a price tag on every evening these days. Who killed Washington society? Ask a few of the local experts. A light piece but a good bit of DC history.