First Lady Michelle Obama's Inaugural Gown On Display At Smithsonian

A First Lady's Debut

First Lady Michelle Obama's Inaugural gown is now on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History along side the gowns of former U.S. First Ladies.

In a ceremony today in the Smithsonian's Flag Hall, Mrs. Obama said of the occasion, "I'm a little embarrassed by all the fuss being made over my dress."

"Like many of you, I’m not used to people wanting to put things I’ve worn on display. When we look at the gown that Jackie Kennedy wore 50 years ago, or the one that Mary Todd Lincoln wore more than a hundred years before that, it really takes us beyond the history books and the photographs, and it helps us understand that history is really made by real live people", added the First Lady.

The event featured the dress' designer, Vietnamese born, Jason Wu, along with the students from New York City's Huntington High School.

We asked Wu what it feels like getting this much attention to his work. "I feel like I'm dreaming. I've got to pinch myself", Wu said, laughing. "To be in this kind of company of so many great First Lady inaugural gowns and to be in the company of Michelle Obama, it's really a humbling experience."

Omar Wynn, the builder and installer of the Smithsonian's First Ladies exhibit was surprised at how beautiful Mrs. Obama's gown is. "It's more stunning in person than it was on television", described Wynn. "But when I saw it here, I said, Whoa! What a beautiful princess dress. Elegant!"

Sunae Park Evans is the Smithsonian's curator for the First Lady gowns and told us Jason Wu's design was "really smart".

"It was really well designed and well formed." Park Evans, also seeing the gown for the first time, said of the gown, "Wow. This is really pretty."

Her work has her putting in many hours ensuring the gowns remain as close to their original form and style. While she tells us she doesn't have a favorite gown herself, she did say one gown in particular was very challenging.

"I had to put in 300 hours for Martha Washington's gown because it was deteriorated. It was torn, so I had to work on that. The 1800th century body shape is totally different from now, so to make a supporting form, it was very challenging."

Students from Huntington High School were delighted to be a part of the day. The students sent in drawing ideas for the First Lady's 2009 inaugural gown. The drawings impressed the First Lady prompting her to write them a letter, praising them for their creativity, effort, and hard work.

"We put effort in, and we should have been proud of that, and that effort will take you places in life and open up new doors for you", Huntington teacher Kristen Singer said critiquing Mrs. Obama's letter. "It's been an amazing learning experience for our kids to understand that. You work hard on something and you put in the effort and something might come out of that."

For those efforts, the students were rewarded with a visit to Washington, D.C. and a visit to the White House.

"Today has been such an amazing day, because I got to meet Michelle Obama. I got to meet my favorite designer", said former Huntingon High's Akeem Muhammad who admits being a Wu fan since he was in middle school.

Like Wu, Muhammad - now a student at FIT - also designs doll clothes and has followed Wu's style. "I follow his footsteps and hope to be just like him soon." Muhammad said if he had to change one thing about the Wu design, "I would have made it strapless. I still love his design, but if it would have been me, I would have just taken the strap off. But it was so gorgeous."

The First Lady's white-silk chiffon gown was embellished with organza flowers with Swarovski crystal centers. The shoes are Jimmy Choo.

"I’ll never forget the moment that I slipped on this beautiful gown. I remember how just luscious I felt as the President and I were announced onto the stage for the first of many dances. And I’ll cherish that moment for the rest of my life", the First Lady recounted.

You can see behind-the-scenes video on all the inaugural gowns here. For our photos on the event click here.

Visit the Smithsonian's website for more details on the gowns of the First Ladies and the expansion of the gown exhibit.

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