![Michelle Obama photo in a stylin' green velvet(?) gown in a red room of the White House](/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/michelle-obama-in-gown-photo-730x504.jpg)
Bess Truman never looked quite like this.
First Lady Michelle Obama has posed for a few great photos for an April cover story in Vogue. Hard-hitting journalism it’s not — the title is “How the First Lady and the President are Inspiring America” — but even haters will have to admit that she can wear the clothes.
![Michelle Obama hugs Barack as he sits in a chair and she leans over the back](/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/michelle-obama-hugs-barack-in-vogue-730x487.jpg)
That’s a “Michael Kors sweater and ball skirt” in the first photo, and this blue number is a “Reed Krakoff dress.” They’re in the Red Room of the White House.
![Barbara Bush and Jenna Bush sit laughing in chairs in ball gowns](/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/bush-twins-in-vogue.jpg)
It’s not the first time that White House residents have shown up in Vogue, of course. Twins Jenna and Barbara Bush posed for the August 2004 issue.
![Photo of Laura Bush in Vogue, sitting in a blue gown on a yellow couch](/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/laura-bush-in-vogue-photo.jpg)
Their mother, First Lady Laura Bush, looked good in the January 2005 issue. (A few months after her husband was reelected — just like Michelle Obama now.)
![Photo of Bess Truman looking askance between a man in a suit and a woman with a mink stole](/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/bess-truman-in-photo-730x543.jpg)
And not to diss Bess Truman, who was awesome, of course. (Harry Truman called her “The Boss.”) That’s her at center, above, next to some truly old-school high fashion. Yes, that’s a dead mink (?) in the grand old style.
![Photo of Bess Truman in a gown outside a theater](/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/bess-truman-with-president-730x489.jpg)
Bess actually could wear the clothes, as when she and Harry (both at right) attended an opening for Tales of Hoffman. More furs! So forget we said anything.
![Michelle Obama Vogue cover photo, in blue dress](/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/michelle-obama-vogue-cover-photo-537x730.jpg)
Bet Bess never had biceps like the current First Lady, though. But then, who does? That’s why she’s inspiring America.
Leading by Example: First Lady Michelle Obama »