Designer Arnold Scaasi has dressed first ladies Mamie Eisenhower, Jackie Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Barbara Bush (who he says he still dresses), Hillary Clinton, and Laura Bush (*see some of his famous gowns below*). But he hasn't yet dressed Michelle Obama, and, in his opinion, she could use a little help in the style department.
Scaasi told WWD's Rosemary Feitelberg and Bridget Foley (Read the full story here):
"She's great-looking, she has a great personality and she's obviously very bright," he stressed. "But..." Scaasi finished the dreaded qualifier with, "something is amiss."
Scaasi agrees with Oscar de la Renta, who recently ignited a firestorm of controversy when he criticized the outfit Mrs. Obama wore to meet the Queen. (De La Renta later appeared on "The View" to clarify his comments.)
"I think it is about looking right in the right situation," Scaasi continued, "And certainly the coat-sweater with the Queen of England was absolutely wrong," he noted of Obama's now-famous black cardigan-and-dress ensemble. "[A jacket] would not take away from [Obama's] good looks or from her personality; it would just photograph better, and it would be more proper for meeting the Queen."
But all is not lost, according to Scaasi, who thinks the first lady should get some style advice from the woman voted "Washington's Best-Dressed Woman" by Huffington Post readers.
...she has a very good-looking social secretary, Desiree Rogers. She's great-looking, and she dresses beautifully from the photographs I see, so why not discuss it with her? I think in making these gaffes, it makes it very difficult for the people [Obama] has to work with in her administration. Here's an idiot designer like me calling you up and saying blah, blah, blah, but the press corps has to answer these questions."
See a few of Scaasi's more famous designs here: