The First Fashion

America's fascination with the Obama style continues in the March edition of Vogue Magazine, which features Michelle Obama on its cover. The portrait by Annie Leibovitz features the first lady relaxing on a couch in a magenta Jason Wu dress.

Vogue has often featured presidential spouses, but Mrs. Obama is only the second to appear on the cover, after Hillary Clinton. Most first ladies ask Vogue's fashion experts to choose an outfit for them, but Obama has the distinction of having chosen the dress herself.

High esteem from the fashion world is nothing new for the 45-year-old first lady. She made Vanity Fair's international best dressed list two years in a row and consistently outpolled Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin and Cindy McCain during the election season on her dress.

While political reporters followed her husband's campaign, fashion writers praised Obama's understated style. Newsweek called her "traditional yet forward-looking. Sophisticated yet relatable. Feminine yet strong. A 21st-century woman for a 21st-century White House."

Despite the focus on her outfits, Obama uses most of the feature to talk about her kids and what it means to be a white house mother.