Britain’s obsessed with the Big O

UK media has found a new power couple to gush over US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle. While on a personal visit to London last week, Michelle made headlines more frequently than anyone else

It was a bad week in Britain, with MPs struggling to recover their credibility in the wake of the expenses scandal, a Prime Minister fighting for survival, and a Tube strike. But did we care? No. Michelle Obama was in town. She paid an unofficial visit to London with her daughters for a spot of sightseeing, and that was all we wanted to know about. Where did they go? What did they do? And most importantly of all what did she wear?

This wasn't just a need for some light relief on our part. Even good news such as a predicted end to the recession, a recovery in house prices and England's 6-0 win against Andorra failed to capture our attention as much as America's First Lady.

This was a private trip, so no itinerary was issued, but that rather added to the excitement. Londoners posted sightings of the family on the net. The media duly reported the family's movements and The Daily Telegraph went so far as to put a map on its website with details of times and places.

So we were informed that on Monday Mrs Obama, Malia and Sasha visited 10 Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament, and in the evening they dined on traditional British food at The Audley pub in Mayfair. Mrs Obama had sirloin steak, apparently. On Tuesday they were given a tour of Westminster Abbey and in the evening they went to the Lyceum Theatre to see the musical The Lion King. On Wednesday they met the cast and stars of Harry Potter and enjoyed a party on set as a birthday treat for Sasha. Emma Watson, who plays Hermione, was in the news herself this week as the new face of Burberry.

Interest in Mrs Obama reached its zenith with the visit to Westminster Abbey. As one Times reader commented on the newspaper's website: "What the HELL is she wearing in that photo?"

Usually a model of style and elegance, had the First Lady made her first serious mistake? The first point of interest was whether the combination of both trousers and a skirt, and the wearing of two cardigans at the same time, was a fashion statement or a response to the chilly turn in the British weather.

The Daily Mail called her attire "outlandish". It was certainly eye-catching.u00a0 Her yellow cardigan, purple belt buckle and white tunic with three wide, decorated bands around the hips in yellow, orange and pink stood out against the sombre background of the Abbey and the grey-suited security men.u00a0

On Wednesday, the most-read article on the The Times's website wasu00a0 "Michelle Obama's Abbey outfit: stacked like a wedding cake but nice colours". The next day it was still in the top four stories. Her choice of outfit outdid Colonel Gaddafi's historic visit to Rome, MPs being thrown out of the Commons, and commuters' travails as they struggled to get to work without the Tube.

Perhaps we needed to turn to the sagacity of The Times to know what we were supposed to think of this outfit.

Mostly, it got a thumbs-up. The Times said that the bright colours were "bang on the money" as designers' current favourites, and stripes and stacking were also catwalk trends. But it added that the "three-dimensional flowers, strange orange snake working its way around her middle and the yellow curtain pelmet are impossible to defend". The detailing was "too sugary". But it concluded that at least she had the confidence to have fun with what she wears and that "it takes a brave woman to wear pink daisies".

It is hard to imagine Sarah Brown, the wife of the British Prime Minister, or the Duchess of Cornwall getting away with a similar sartorial choice.

The First Lady's style has already received in-depth and appreciative analysis in The Times, and the coverage includes a feature on the development of her style in ten stages since she was in high school.

As a reflection of her allure, on The Daily Telegraph's website she was the only woman newsworthy enough to be a "topic". The Royal Family appear together as a topic, but President Obama and his wife are a topic each.

Click on her picture and there is an archive of stories: her organic garden, her appearance on Sesame Street, her shoes, her thoughts on the First Dog, her beauty. The Obamas' visit to Britain in April can be relived in a series of 12 pictures of memorable style moments. Her teal prom dress, her Argyle patterned cardigan, her bare arms, and most memorable of all, that embellished cardigan and mint green silk skirt. Sarah Brown appears next to her, and while Mrs Obama's outfit "dazzles", Mrs Brown is described as "rather fusty". And of course, there's a picture of that moment at a reception at Buckingham Palace when Mrs Obama broke protocol and slipped her arm around the Queen's back, a gesture that the Queen reciprocated.

Her outfit for Westminster Abbey on this visit attracted heated debate and nearly 200 comments on The Times's website, a mixture of support and criticism.

But it wasn't the clothes that concerned some people, it was the itinerary.

Britons wrote in with suggestions of alternative places that she could have visited, wistfully envisaging her presence in their hometowns. She should visit Scotland, said one. She should come to Stratford-upon-Avon said another. It just goes to show, you can't please all the people all the time. One Londoner even suggested that she should have spent more time in Paris.

As well as reporting where the Obamas actually went, The Daily Telegraph also suggested ten London attractions that it thought the Obama daughters would enjoy.

This week was also testament that even the smallest Obama story can make front-page news with the appearance of what must be, literally, the smallest Obama story. British artist Willard Wigan has created a micro-sculpture of the Obama family in the eye of a 24-karat gold needle. You need a microscope to see it, though an enlarged picture appeared in the papers. The Daily Mail reported the story, among others, writing that such sculptures take three months to make. Needless to say, it isn't easy. The artist said that one occupational hazard was "inhaling my own work by mistake". Readers were suitably impressed, giving comments such as "brilliant", "amazing" and "absolute genius", though one commented: "What a waste. This person would be better using his talent in brain surgery."

The interest in Michelle Obama this week brought to mind both Jackie Kennedy and Princess Diana. An American tourist at Westminster Abbey was reported in The Times as saying that she knew from a comment by a security guard that she was about to see "someone from 'our royal family'".

But a walk in my local park during Mrs Obama's visit put things in perspective. I stopped passersby to ask them what they thought of President Obama and the First Lady. All comments were favourable, but no one admitted to being interested in Mrs Obama's clothes. It is political changes that they care about, not changes in clothing.u00a0

Alison Gibson is a London-based freelance journalist