First family's Easter attire to receive added attention

PHILADELPHIA — Michelle Obama got rave reviews this month for the stylish choices she made overseas. With every new day, we saw her wearing another hip designer, like Isabel Toledo, Michael Kors, and Jason Wu.

Yet many of the fashion-conscious are waiting to see what the first lady will don Sunday.

Easter, the holiest of Christian holidays, often has churchgoers breaking out their finest. Not only has the day traditionally meant new clothes, but for African Americans, it historically also has offered a chance to claim dignity within their own communities during times when they weren't respected by society at large.

That means the sartorial choices of America's first hostess of color will not merely make a fashion statement. For many black people, her clothes will communicate something about cultural identity, too.

"I see so much of myself in Michelle Obama," said Leslie Tyler, 40, wife of the Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler and "first lady" of Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church in the Society Hill section of Philadelphia.

"It's not that her outfits will create a new trend for black women, or women in general," Tyler said. "But we will get more of a window of how she identifies herself as an African American Christian."

There is a stereotypical belief that African Americans elevate fashion, sometimes flamboyantly so, at the expense of everything else on Easter. But many black people say the excitement they are expressing reflects something different.

African American culture — with its lifelong existence as a historical afterthought — is now being thrust into the forefront of American living. With the Obamas as America's most prominent family, generations-old traditions vital to African Americans — including Easter fashion — will be displayed on the global stage.

Will Obama go the traditional route and wear a wide-brimmed hat with a St. John-like suit and white gloves? Or will she choose a more modern sleeveless sheath paired with kitten heels and topped off with a shiny fresh bob?

And the questions don't stop there. What will first grandmother Marian Robinson wear? Will Sasha and Malia be decked out in J. Crew again? How about the children's hair: Shirley Temple curls, soft bobs, pigtails, or natural twists?