5 Times Sasha Obama Channeled Michelle & Had Heads Turning
Sasha Obama has worn some daring outfits since leaving the White House, and it seems that her talent for pulling off bold style choices with ease might be courtesy of her mother. We don't get to see much of Sasha's personality because she maintains a much lower profile than her famous parents. However, according to Barack Obama, the former first daughter is just like her author mom behind closed doors. Over the years, we've also seen some striking similarities between how Sasha and Michelle Obama dress.
Barack explained how Michelle and Sasha are alike during a "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" appearance. According to the ex-president, he has more in common with his oldest daughter Malia Obama, who has rocked some bold outfits of her own. "Sasha is a mini Michelle. ... [She] has the same look, the same attitude," Barack said. He also revealed that he and Malia call Sasha and Michelle "the round faces" because the two women share similar cherubic facial structures, and he admitted to being a bit fearful of his youngest and his wife. "The round faces are a fiercer tribe," he continued. "We're like the vegetarians, the gatherers, and they're the hunters." This is a fitting description for the two women's style as well, as they both slay almost every outfit they rock.
It can't be easy growing up knowing that millions of people will scrutinize everything you wear, but at least Sasha's mom provided her with the best fashion blueprint to follow.
Sasha and Michelle Obama made neutral blazers great again
Sasha Obama graduated from college with a degree in sociology, which is also what her mom studied. Now that she has entered the workforce, she should have no problem dressing for success without blending into the background. One crucial style lesson Sasha has learned from her mother is that a classic workwear staple doesn't have to look boring. The mother and daughter have both paired blazers with black-and-white striped shirts, and to improve upon this clean-cut combo, they've added pops of color to their outfits.
For the White House's annual turkey pardoning ceremony in 2010, Sasha wore jeans with her blazer and shirt. Her top had shorter sleeves than her blazer, which made her outfit look more youthful and trendy. But the real wow factor was her lapel pin — it featured strings of large pearls, gold chains, and a bright orange fabric flower. She also accessorized with pearl earrings that looked like they might have been borrowed from her mother's jewelry box.
Like the tween trendsetter, Michelle used some flower power to elevate her take on the blazer-and-stripes pairing. At the 2013 Easter Egg Roll, she rocked a striped J. Crew top that was also adorned with a spring-appropriate floral print. Her pinstripe blazer from Talbots featured black piping for some additional pizzazz. On one wrist, Michelle wore stacked beaded bracelets. Whether it's spring or fall, the Obama women know how to do holiday wear right.
Their color-coordinated church outfits deserve high praise
In October 2013, Michelle Obama and Sasha Obama were photographed walking hand-in-hand while heading to church at St John's with the rest of the fam. In a further demonstration of their tight-knit bond, the mother and daughter were clad in stunning coordinated outfits. Sasha had on a burgundy, single-breasted swing coat, and both she and her mom wore fit-and-flare dresses in shades of purple. Sasha's lighter-colored lace frock was from Tracy Reese's Plenty line. She wore a wide gold belt around her waist, finishing her look with dark brown tights and tan ballet flats.
Michelle's suede dress was a rich aubergine hue. It featured a V-neck, eyelet cutouts, and a zigzag hem. She paired it with a matching waist-length coat. Her outfit was an Azzedine Alaïa design, and she was setting a good sartorial example for Sasha by taking it to church. According to E! News, Michelle previously sported the dress while filming the 2009 television special "Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special." Kudos to her for demonstrating to Sasha that there's nothing wrong with recycling a look when you know it will be pointed out by the websites that care about that sort of thing. Michelle was also teaching her daughter the importance of investing in timeless designer footwear that looks fabulous. Her navy over-the-knee boots were Jimmy Choos, and it's hard to imagine one of Carrie Bradshaw's favorite brands ever going out of style.
Their yellow cardigans and florals are a winning combination
In a 2016 interview with InStyle, Michelle Obama revealed that her style mantra is to stick to what works for her instead of allowing fashion fads to influence her apparel decisions. "I love color and pieces that make me feel good," she said. The color yellow must really spark joy in her because it's a recurring theme in her wardrobe — and perhaps she's also realized how amazing it looks against her skin.
The sunny hue is the perfect shade to wear for Easter, as it brings to mind baby chicks (and sugary Peeps). For a pre-Easter event in 2012, Michelle wore a lemon-yellow cardigan, coordinating floral top, gray slacks, and a whimsical dragonfly belt. In lieu of a handbag, she carried an Easter basket full of treats to hand out to military families staying at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center's Fisher House.
A few days later, Sasha decided to wear a mustard-yellow cardigan and floral dress to the Easter Service at St. John's Church. So, did she love her mom's style so much that she decided to steal it? Designer Lucy Sykes Rellie weighed in on Sasha's outfits in a 2010 interview with the Daily Beast. "I suspect her fashion choices are basically picked by her mother — but of course most 9 year olds have their own feelings about these things," she said. "Certainly you can see her mom's breezy confidence in the way Sasha carries herself."
They both looked fab in belted fit-and-flares
Sasha Obama and Michelle Obama have both used their accessory choices to brighten up clothing in dark neutrals. When Sasha joined her family onstage at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, she looked adorable in a black-and-gray checkered dress from Anthropologie. It had the fit-and-flare silhouette that she and her mom seemed to favor back then, and she added another Obama signature to it: a vibrant color. Around her waist, Sasha wore a yellow skinny belt.
Sasha's dress had cap sleeves, making it more appropriate for warmer weather. Months later, Michelle rocked a similar look but with a wintry spin. To celebrate Barack Obama's second inauguration, she wore a navy Thom Browne coat dress that featured a grid pattern. Like Sasha, she used a belt to elevate her custom outfit, but hers was blinged-out rather than bright. The dash of color in Michelle's look came instead from a pair of chic gloves in a rich, plum shade.
Browne told The Los Angeles Times [link w/out paywall] that he wanted to give his client a look that exuded strength. "She likes well-tailored clothes so the inspiration was doing something that looked tailored and structured and fitted through the body and somewhat A-line for the skirt," he said. The goal was to capture Michelle's essence in fabric. "She has a really strong sensibility and style of her own," he added.
Michelle and Sasha Obama are colorblocking queens
In a 2020 InStyle interview, Barack Obama opened up about Sasha Obama's strong sense of self. "Sasha is, as Malia describes it, completely confident about her own take on the world and is not cowed or intimidated — and never has been — by anybody's titles, anybody's credentials," he said. It seems he wasn't lying. Sasha didn't look apprehensive at all in 2015 when she met someone with a rather prestigious title: Pope Francis. She did, however, make sure that she was dressed to the nines to greet His Holiness, who was visiting America for the first time. Sasha sported a black blouse and a pleated Kate Spade maxi skirt that featured a color-block pattern in muted tones. On her feet, she wore sensible gray flats.
Michelle rocked a color-block dress with a similar color scheme at the AIA Conference on Architecture in 2017. She paired the Lafayette 148 maxi dress with strappy black stacked heels.
While Michelle and Sasha often dressed alike during Barack's presidency, it seems that Sasha was sporting a different style behind closed doors — and it was not informed by her mother's wardrobe. Speaking to InStyle about her daughters' fashion choices, Michelle said, "They have their own style that's very much connected to that of their friends and their community. How we dress when we're in public may or may not reflect how we dress in our real lives."