First lady inaugural ball gowns

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First lady inaugural ball gowns

From Atlanta to D.C. for the inauguration. Photos of first lady inaugural ball gowns.

Perhaps the largest looming question surrounding Barack Obama's inauguration: What will first lady Michelle Obama wear this year? As we wait for the answer, take a look at how several former first ladies managed their most important moment in ball gown history.

Michelle Obama wore a one-shoulder, white chiffon gown during the Western Inaugural Ball in Washington in 2009. The gown was displayed in the First Ladies Collection at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.

Four years later, Bush also went with Oscar de la Renta as opposed to a local, opting for this gown which resonated with a wider audience. And come Jan. 20, all eyes will be on Michelle.

Was Laura Bush making a statement as the (first) lady in red? Reagan was known for her penchant for the power color but it was Bush who wore a crystal embroidered lace gown by Texan Michael Faircloth to her husband's first inauguration.

For her husband's 1993 Inaugural Ball, first lady Hillary Clinton went with a violet-and-lace, crystal encrusted gown designed by Sarah Phillips. Who, you ask. So did America. The designer, who had less than two years experience, set off numerous negative responses with her creation.

The negative views followed Clinton for almost four years, forcing her to turn to Oscar de la Renta for this gold inaugural gown in 1997. The reviews that year: elegant, graceful, positive.

Barbara Bush wore a smart coat to the swearing in of husband George Bush in 1989.

First lady Nancy Reagan took a beating for "borrowing" designer fashions such as her James Galanos inaugural gown (price tag: an estimated $10,000). Reagan gets extra style points for wearing the one-shoulder lace and silk satin beaded sheath and becoming the only first lady in the past three decades to bare a shoulder at the inaugural ball.

Mamie Eisenhower waved to the crowd at the inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953.

Lady Bird Johnson wore a yellow frock to the 1965 inauguration of husband Lyndon B. Johnson.

Rosalynn Carter wore a teal coat and black boots for her walk down Pennsylvania Avenue with husband Jimmy Carter after his inauguration in 1977.

Rosalynn Carter was an original recessionista. Her blue chiffon evening gown and coat, trimmed with gold braid, by Mary Matise for Jimmae was the same dress she wore six years earlier when her husband became governor of Georgia. Carter received much deserved criticism for wearing a repeat and taught Americans an important fashion lesson: some outfits just don't warrant a second look.

First lady Pat Nixon's mimosa yellow, double-faced silk satin gown, bejeweled with Austrian crystals, was designed by Karen Stark of the Harvey Berlin Fashion House for the 1969 Inaugural ball.

The success of Jacqueline Kennedy's sleeveless ivory sheath in beaded silk chiffon was a hard act to follow for Lady Bird Johnson. Her 1965 A-line gown in jonquil-yellow double-weave silk, by John Moore, was highly criticized.

Jacqueline Kennedy, still considered by many Americans to be our most stylish first lady, wore an inaugral gown of her own design. In 1961, she dorned a sleeveless ivory sheath in beaded silk chiffon with peau d'ange and a matching cape made by Bergdorf Goodman.

In 1861, Mary Todd Lincoln hoped her lavish clothing would squash Washington society's doubts about her social graces, but the massive off-the-shoulder, floral embroidered gown with three tiers of ruffles at the bodice, along with the flowers in her hair, made her appear as if she were trying too hard.

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Perhaps the largest looming question surrounding Barack Obama's inauguration: What will first lady Michelle Obama wear this year? As we wait for the answer, take a look at how several former first ladies managed their most important moment in ball gown history.

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