Earl Gibson III/Getty ImagesMichelle Obama's latest look has earned her a gold star.
The Princeton- and Harvard-educated attorney attended the Congressional Black Caucus Awards dinner with President Barack Obama Saturday night. The fashionable First Lady stood out in a strapless Naeem Khan ball gown, which featured hand-painted gold leaf on black tulle. Twitter users described Michelle's ensemble as "gorgeous," "perfect," "stunning" and "unreal."
The event was hosted at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. During the banquet, Barack gave Michelle a shout-out from the stage. "I've been so blessed to have a wife and a partner on this journey who makes it look so easy," he told the attendees, adding that Michelle has always been "so strong and so honest and so beautiful and so smart."
In her day-to-day life, though, Michelle's outfits are admittedly less glam. Describing her aesthetic as "very casual," she tells InStyle she typically wears "no makeup, a T-shirt, and a pair of ripped jean shorts or workout pants because I'm always on the verge of going to or coming from [a workout]. I love color and pieces that make me feel good, but it's much more informal." While Michelle may have more fun with fashion than prior First Ladies, including Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton, even she has her limits. "I tend not to worry about the trends," she says in the magazine's October issue, "because what works for an 18-year-old selfie queen may not for a 52-year-old First Lady who is a mom of teenagers she is trying to be a good role model for."
Michelle won't always make headlines for her trendsetting style—and that's OK by her, as her family will soon leave the White House after spending eight years at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. When they do return to civilian life, she says, "My hopes are to recapture some of the everydayness, some anonymity. And we know that will take some time. But I always joke that I dream of opening up my front door and walking out without any notification, without any security."
Most of all, Michelle confesses, "It will be nice to open up the paper, look at the front page, and know that you're not responsible for every headline...It's sort of like, 'It's not my job.'"