The Look

“Michelle Obama’s new book is a historical document dressed up as a coffee-table tome. . . . It lays bare, in an unprecedented (and easy-to-read) way, how a wardrobe was transformed into a vehicle of soft political power. . . . The Look should be studied by generations to come because of what it reveals not about fashion, but about politics.”—Vanessa Friedman, The New York Times

“[Obama] writes well, and honestly, about the havoc it can wreak on one’s sense of self to have to dress every morning for what would be, for the majority of people, the most visible day of their lives. . . . The Look, an unprecedented project among first ladies, may be the only first-person book to give such devoted treatment to the place of image-making in presidential politics. Some of the The Look’s best commentary on that topic comes from the members of Obama’s style and beauty team, who contribute writing about the nuts and bolts of zhuzhing up one of the most famous women in the world.”—Slate

“A delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A fashionista’s fantasy come true . . . But The Look is more than just fashion mood-board fodder. . . . In The Look, [Obama] is holding a mirror up to the culture that has ogled her and women like her for years.”—Oprah Daily

“The evolution of Obama’s personal aesthetic, from the time Barack was elected for his first term in office to now, is finally given its due in The Look. Reading it grants an unedited look . . . at her sartorial choices—outside of the external commentary–backed echo chamber that cropped up while she served in one of the most important and public-facing positions of our time.”—Women’s Wear Daily