Michelle Obama support of American designers = payoff

Kudos to the Washington Post.

The newspaper ran a story deftly written by fashion reporter Katherine Boyle enlightening us on how American fashion designers are reaching into their deep pockets to support President Barack Obama's re-election campaign.

Boyle writes:

A look at every American designer label Michelle Obama has worn since 2008, according to Mrs-O.com, a fashion blog that tracks the first lady's daily wardrobe, indicates that many of her favored designers support the president. Excluding jewelry designers and mass-market retailers, nearly 50 percent of American designers worn by Michelle Obama donated to her husband's 2008 or 2012 campaigns, according to Federal Election Commission filings. By early June 2008, only a handful of these designers had donated. In comparison, the number of designers donating by June 2012 has tripled.

Over the last four years we fashion writers have been chronicling the first lady's wardrobe - sometimes to the point of ad nauseum. We were intrigued by her style, her confidence, the unabashed way she mixed and matched clothes.

And unlike fashionable first lady's before her such as Jackie Kennedy (Oleg Cassini)  or Nancy Regan (Oscar de la Renta), Mrs. Obama kept us guessing. We never knew who she's likely to pull out of her fashion arsenals.

But not only did Mrs. Obama accumulate an amazing collection of clothing, she can now count on the support from a vast number of American designers from Philadelphia's own Tory Burch, who donated over $30,000 to the Obama campaign this year,  to Jason Wu.  Mrs. Obama's eclectically curated wardrobe not only inspired women to dress to the beat of their own fashion drum, but may also  play a key role in getting Barack Obama re-elected. That's style at its most genius.

So the next time you think fashion has nothing to do with you, think again.